![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/XERIAGWBKRDB3AZX3UVOQXORDE.JPG\")
New Year Singles Classic runner-up Nikolas Boyd prepares to release a roll at the tournament on Jan. 17, 2026.Michael O’Brien<\/p>\nSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 Emerging from a semifinal field of four first-time title contenders at the 50th New Year Singles Classic at Rab\u2019s County Lanes on Saturday, Joe Scianna edged Nikolas Boyd, 247\u2013246, in a thrilling final to claim the $1,000 first-place purse and add himself to the storied list of winners.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I bowled well today,\u201d Scianna said following the nail-biting final, which featured two righties.<\/p>\n
\u201cI missed a big spare there, but I came back. I\u2019ve been around a long time, so I know how to deal with this stuff. He (Boyd) bowled really well, too. I honestly thought I was going to lose,\u201d he went on.<\/p>\n
To Scianna\u2019s point, after Boyd left consecutive spares in the fourth and fifth frames, he closed furiously with seven straight strikes, nearly completing an all-time comeback.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the young bowlers out there, your hands get sweaty and you have to wipe your hands. I didn\u2019t wipe them off. After those two misses, I came back down to reality and I just had to finish strong,\u201d said Boyd, who took home $700 in winnings for himself.<\/p>\n
New Year Singles Classic runner-up Nikolas Boyd prepares to release a roll at the tournament on Jan. 17, 2026.Michael O’Brien<\/p>\n
Tournament director Jim Elliott also offered his congratulations to Scianna and all of the participating bowlers at the borough\u2019s longest-running open tournament, noting that, \u201cHe bowled very well, but he\u2019d bowled well the entire tournament, so it didn\u2019t surprise me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just glad to see him do it in the finals. The finals were excellent \u2014 a lot of competition and a lot of good bowlers. I\u2019m very happy with how it went, without anything going wrong. It went great, and we\u2019re really happy about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elliott also spoke to the longevity the tournament has enjoyed in its fifth decade, saying that, \u201cI just can\u2019t believe it\u2019s been 50 years. We\u2019ve always had good competition; I\u2019m very happy to still be doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Returning to Scianna\u2019s game, the kegler employed a deceptively simple release throughout the tournament, explaining that he adjusted his mechanics to meet the unique challenges Rab\u2019s presents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just one of the styles I can do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could do a lot with the ball. I chose to go straight here since it seems to be a straighter house; I try to keep it simple, especially as I\u2019m getting older,\u201d he added with a chuckle.<\/p>\n
![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2OLUSDOGZZB2DKD6ITKKOL7U3A.JPG\")
New Year Singles Classic champion Joe Scianna prepares to release a roll at the tournament on Jan. 17, 2026.Michael O’Brien<\/p>\n
Scianna, who currently resides on Long Island after previously living on Staten Island for a year, said he learned about the New Year Singles Classic from a friend a few years ago and has returned ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fun tournament. It always feels good to win, and especially at the 50th one here today,\u201d he concluded. <\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
NOTES: Scianna beat Justin Arenas, 236-205, in the quarters, before disposing of Kyle Umahog in the semis 252-182 … Boyd toppled Anthony Arias, 221-206, in the quarters before beating Mike Orlando, 214-145 in the semis … Two-time defending champ Jeff Scire got ousted in the second round by Rob Lampariello … Six-time champion George Cretella looked impressive early on but got knocked out in the quarters. <\/p>\n
Top 8 standings with prize money<\/p>\n
1. Joe Scianna ($1,000)<\/p>\n
2. Nikolas Boyd ($700)<\/p>\n
3. Kyle Umahog ($500) <\/p>\n
4. Mike Orlando ($350)<\/p>\n
5. Rob Lampariello ($275) <\/p>\n
6. Anthony Arias ($225)<\/p>\n
7. Justin Arenas ($185) <\/p>\n
8. George Cretella ($170)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 Emerging from a semifinal field of four first-time title contenders at the 50th New Year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-103671","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}