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Juniors descendon Fort Lauderdale

By ERIK MUSKATEVC
Published July 9, 2006

Chris Bolosan of Newport News, Va., will try to become the first male to defend his U.S. Junior Amateur title July 10-14 at the 2006 United States Bowling Congress Junior Gold Championships in Fort Lauderdale.

Bolosan will be joined by a field of 1,458 males and females ages 10-21 from across the country seeking $80,000 in scholarship money and berths on the USBC Junior Team USA.

While no male has successfully defended a title in the eight-year history of the Junior Gold Championships, two females have won the event three consecutive times. Stefanie Nation of Orlando has won the past three events but is no longer eligible to compete after moving up to the adult ranks. Shannon Pluhowsky of Phoenix won the event in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

The ninth-annual Junior Gold Championships will take place at Don Carter University Lanes, Don Carter Tamarac Lanes and Boca Raton Lanes. The field is comprised of players from all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico and U.S. military zones in Europe and the Far East. Most participants qualified through local Junior Gold qualifying leagues and tournaments.

Jon Brady of Clearwater will try to top last year's performance, when he placed a Pinellas-best 16th in the boys division. More than 20 local youths will make the four-hour drive to the event. Also qualifying is Robert Mushtare, the 17-year-old Carthage, N.Y., bowler who recently became the first to record two USBC-sanctioned perfect series twice rolling three consecutive 300 games.

The top five finishers who are U.S. citizens in the male and female divisions will earn a spot on Junior Team USA, serving as U.S. representatives in international competition in 2007. The National Selection Committee will choose six additional Junior Gold competitors, three males and three females, to round out the 2007 team.

The Junior Gold Championships are conducted on Sport Bowling lane conditions. Sport Bowling is an optional program of leagues and tournaments in which lane conditions must meet precise and challenging requirements less forgiving than standard league conditions.

Many premier bowling tournaments - including all four Professional Bowlers association majors - are conducted on Sport Bowling lane patterns, which require bowlers to rely on accuracy, ability to read lanes and spare-shooting skills.

Qualifying competition for the male and female divisions consist of three six-game blocks. After 18 games, one out of every seven will advance to the semifinals.

The semifinalists bowl 12 additional games to determine the top 16 males and top 16 females to compete in the finals. The 32 finalists bowl 16 games of round-robin match play to determine the top five males and top five females who earn automatic berths on Junior Team USA 2007. The national champions (male and female) are the leaders after match play.

NABI: Lori Lloyd of St. Petersburg won her first tournament of the year over the holiday weekend at Countryside Lanes, averaging 165 for Club 570 while defeating Scott Cranford of Port Charlotte 189-168 in the semifinals and Tony Marquez of Tampa 214-181 in the finals, earning the $225 jackpot. Don Wells of Palm Harbor averaged 192 and finished fourth after falling to Cranford 188-168 in match play. Mel Glynn of St. Pete rounded out the cash positions in fifth with a 169 average after losing to Wells 211-180 in quarterfinal match play.

Ten Pins Lanes - Men: Bob Ashmun 266/678, Tony Agostine 257/666, Pete Sahner 257/665, Don Vachon 257/655, Joe Dalton 685, Sean Herrod 660, Paul Doyon 647. Women: Robin Hintz 225/583, Kari Militello 220/578, Dawn Gillingham 203/523, Sandi Lubisco 524, Ester Motzne 203. Senior Men: Tom McKenzie 231/562, Mike Barile 212/533, Jim Callus 208/525, Dave O'Brien 205/536, Rich Erpenbeck 201. USBC Youth: Anthony Yingling 226/579, Randall Klafter 213/571, Alex Penrod 558, Dave Segler 534.

Seminole - David Broughton 247/674 (youth), George King 733, Marilyn Sullivan 631, Christine Srock 611, Chris Rivera 300, Dan Hausdorf 288/719, Mike Pittman 279/795, John Drigan 728, Jason Wolgemuth 702, Monique Dever 225/653.

Countryside Lanes - Phil Peters 299-198-227/724, Darin Baginski 736, Ron Vassallo 780, Ed Roy 727, Sean Morrison 734, Tom Mickelson 728, Scott Howard 729, Brett Pollack 782, Chase Stickels 223-230-290/743, Lou Alessi 722, Craig Gurney 722.

AMF Clearwater - Wednesday Night Scratch Trio: Tom Wheeler 701, Bob Dufour 691, Nicholas Francis 649, Greg Vanderloop 643, Bob Taphouse 639, Chris Payne 618, Jesse Francis 724.

Twedt's Lanes - Men: Dick Yurovick 691, Loy Pryor 755, Tod Janssen 724, Nick Gates 682, John Hacket 675, Dave Lawson 674, Lot Pryor 674, Chris Selleck 673, Bob Marker 668, Danny Bolton 661, Gysin Bardo 649, Loal Campbell 648, Bob Lawson 645, Dick Corria 642, Eric Trembar 636, Doug Jones 611, Jim Main 609, Jayme Dewyer 604. Women: Jacqui Best 572, Michelle Huff 561, Karen Burke 560, Jennie Morris 522, Kathy Kehl 514, Lanie Weaver 504. USBC Youth: Jake Thoma 659.

[Last modified July 8, 2006, 23:44:40]