Andrew Ceraulo recovers from tough start with six straight strikes and wins Nassau bowling title

Andrew Ceraulo followed up his best game of the day with a forgettable first frame of the final game of the Nassau individual boys bowling championship.

It didn’t matter. Ceraulo bounced back with six straight strikes and finished with a 236 in Game 6 of his 1,426 series to win the title Wednesday at Garden City Lanes.

The Seaford sophomore bowled a 279 in Game 5, giving him a three-pin lead over Bellmore-Merrick’s Lucas Lam entering the final game.

“You’ve got to forget about the great games just as much as you have to forget about the bad games,” Ceraulo said. “I threw a split on my first throw, but I’ve been practicing making quick adjustments. One split, that’s it.”

Ceraulo is Seaford’s first individual county champion. Seaford has won seven consecutive team titles, making their bowlers ineligible for the individual championship until this year.

“That’s the best series I’ve ever bowled. I bowled out of my mind today,” said Ceraulo, who has a 237.6 average. “I’ve won with the team a couple of times, but I think this is my greatest personal bowling accomplishment.”

Said Seaford coach Scott Nastazio, “We don’t have a middle school bowling team, so I have to recruit kids in ninth grade, I think more kids might come out because of what Andrew did today.”

Brandon Nanoo of Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK stole the show in Game 3 when he rolled a 300.

“There were a few of us that had seven in a row and I saw one of them miss, so I said, ‘Alright, I’ve got to keep this going,’ ” Nanoo said. “My heart was pumping. I wasn’t really in control of myself toward the end. I was just hoping that I would get a strike and the pins kept falling.”

With each strike, Nanoo got more and more excited, pumping his fist and screaming in celebration. The perfect game helped put Nanoo in the thick of things, as he trailed Ceraulo by 10 pins entering the final game.

“I’ve bowled one other 300, but that was just a night out with my friends. This is where it matters,” Nanoo said.

Lam took second with a 1,416 and Nanoo placed third with a 1,415. Lam and Nanoo will be joined by Wheatley’s Joseph Dolezal (1,402), East Meadow teammates Anthony Merrow (1,329) and Erik Rich (1,281) and Clarke’s Jameson Barry (1,298) on the Nassau sectional all-star team, which will compete in the state championships at Strike ‘N Spare Lanes in Syracuse on March 9.

Ceraulo and teammate Matt Mele (1,328) will compete at the state championship with Seaford in the Division II team event, making them ineligible for the all-star team.