The Alro Steel - Michigan Junior Masters Association rolled into Eastland Bowl in Kalamazoo, Michigan for the 20th Annual Greater Kalamazoo Open, sponsored by Alro Steel. This year’s fields of 92 bowlers were all vying for a title and their share of the $3,500.00 in total scholarship purse available.

Competition has been fun to watch this season and this event was no different as the step-ladder finalists included six bowlers who were making their first appearance in the finals out of the nine bowlers left to compete for the titles.

The ladies were up first with Brianne Schmansky (Westland, MI) and Samantha Johnson (Wyoming, MI) both making their first step-ladder appearances. Johnson showed some real poise and completed a clean game but Schmansky closed with 5 of the last 6 strikes to win the match 224-196 to advance to the semi-finals. Waiting for Schmansky was Kayla Blanchard (Livonia, MI) who has already won an Alro Steel – MJMA title. However, Blanchard struggled in the opening frames and a split in the tenth sealed things for Schmansky as she advanced to the finals with a 170-167 win.

In the finals Schmansky faced off against 4 time title holder Felicia Goll (St Clair Shores, MI) who was looking for her second title this season. Schmansky struggled a bit in the early going with opens in 2 of the first 5 frames but was still in the match until Goll threw a four bagger starting in the 5th frame to close out the match and earn her fifth Alro Steel – MJMA title 194-150.

On the boy’s side, four bowlers were competing in the finals for the first time along with last seasons Bowler-of-the-year Adam Jablonski (Sterling Hts, MI). Leo Anthony (Port Huron, MI) led the way from the top spot with Jablonski second, James Koss (Brighton, MI) third, Paul Benedict (Wyandotte, MI) fourth and Aaron Lorincz (Belleville, MI) fifth.

In the first match it was Lorincz showing some striking power with a 5-bagger and 3-bagger to closeout Benedict 221-168 and move on to the next round. Koss was waiting and the match was pretty even early but Koss took control with a 4-bagger starting in the 5th frame to win the match 212-190 and advance to the semi-finals. Jablonski was waiting but a hand injury suffered before the tournament finally started to take its toll as he had trouble keeping the ball on target. Koss took advantage of the opportunity and threw the 5 strikes he needed to win the match 237-223 to advance to his first ever finals.

Anthony was awaiting the victor and he showed why he led the tournament at all the breaks as after an open in the first frame, Anthony strung 7 of the next eight strikes to take control of the finals match and win his first ever Alro Steel – MJMA title 236-184.

The total purse for the event was $3,500.00 and thanks in a very large part to our presenting sponsor Alro Steel and the Glick Family we have been able to award $13,000.00 in scholarships already this season. We have also awarded 12 Junior Gold spots through our first four events as Paul Benedict, Aaron Lorincz and Samantha Johnson all earned their spots from this event.

We are all looking forward to the next event to be held at Royal Scot Lanes in Lansing, Michigan on November 15th and 16th. This year we will be hosting a singles event in Lansing instead of our traditional Adult – Junior event due to the men’s state tournament being there starting the first week of January. We do have room for 180 potential bowlers in Lansing which would eclipse the highest ever total for a single event which was set at Taylor Lanes in Taylor, Michigan in 2007 at 150 bowlers.

We hope to see everyone in Lansing and do not forget that the cookie dough fund raiser is still going on and orders will be turned in Lansing on November 15th. Orders will be delivered to the event in December at Sunnybrook Lanes on December 13th. If you need order forms please look HERE or you can call Jerry Tarabek at (616) 780-2095 to place orders or get more information.