The Alro Steel – Michigan Junior Masters Association rolled into Airport Lanes in Jackson, Michigan, the home of our presenting sponsor Alro Steel, for its annual Adult – Junior tournament. This event has been one of the favorite events on our schedule and once again this year a large field of 108 teams competed for the titles.

Many former Alro Steel – MJMA members and champions came back to the event to bowl as adults including Team USA member Tim Pfeifer (Cranberry Twp, PA) and tournament champions such as Ryan Van Hecke (Sterling Hts, MI), Nathan Adams (Plymouth, MI), John Kelley (Sterling Hts, MI), 21 time champion Michelle Ewald (Sterling Hts, MI) and many others. These bowlers along with Mom’s, Dad’s and other adult bowlers teamed up with our current members to see who could outscore each other and get to the title matches on Sunday.

The girls’ were paced by the team of Kara Richard (Tecumseh, MI) and Kristy King (Warren, MI) through the 6-game qualifying round as they edged out the team of Megan Seavey (Fenton, MI) and Missy Klug (Macomb, MI) by 13 pins. The team of Jon Schiller (Milford, MI) and Tim Pfeifer led the boys’ side with hometown favorite Cory Hines (Jackson, MI) and Chris Marshall (Charlotte, MI) were not far behind.

The match play portion of 6 games for the ladies saw some flip flopping going on but the top four teams after qualifying were the same four that made it to the step ladder final, which were bowled in Baker format. In the first match the team of Richard and King faced off against Josie Bashara (Livonia, MI) and Sarah Jablonski (Sterling Hts, MI) and showed why they led after the qualifying round as they edged out a 224 – 211 win. In the semi-finals, Richard / King matched up against Felicia Goll (St Clair Shores, MI) and Michelle Ewald. Goll / Ewald started out very strong with the first three strikes but opened in the fourth frame to give Richard / King a chance to get back into the match but Goll / Ewald would not leave the door open long as they struck the next eight shots to win the match 267 – 224 to advance to the finals.

In the finals, the leaders Seavey / Klug were awaiting Goll / Ewald and each team traded marks until Seavey / Klug opened midway and Goll / Ewald capitalized by striking in four straight frames to take the lead and hold on for a 229 – 213 win and the sixth title for Goll and 22nd title for Ewald. We also awarded a Junior Gold spot to the girls and Jessica Beach earned her ticket to the national tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana in July.

The guys’ side was a real crazy event as teams jumped around all day on Sunday during the 8-game match play portion of the tournament, with the exception of Schiller / Pfeifer who continued to lead the event going into step ladders. Two teams made big moves during the match play to get to the 4th and 5th positions and face off in the first step ladder matches. Brad Burgess (Sterling Hts, MI) and John Kelley (Sterling Hts, MI) were in 11th after qualifying and jumped to 5th while Josh Power and Scott Brunner, both from Portage, MI, moved from 16th to 4th.

In the first step ladder match Powers / Brunner continued their good bowling as they put together a 4-bagger in the middle of the game to win a very close match 203 – 191. In the next match it was Michael Jacobs (Canton, MI) and nis partner Mason Brantley (Detroit, MI) awaiting Powers / Brunner. Jacobs / Brantley put together a clean game and rooled up a 226 – 189 win to advance to the semi-finals against the team from Holly, Michigan of Matt Anderson and Justin Crosby.

Anderson / Crosby started strong and when a combination of an open in the third frame by Jacobs / Brantley and throwing five consecutive strikes to close the game came together, it was Anderson and Crosby advancing to the finals with a 256 – 210 win. Schiller and Pfeifer were waitng to duel for the title and the tournament leaders stayed clean though out the match, until the tenth, while a couple of early opens hurt Anderson / Crosby as Pfeifer threw a lock up strike in the ninth frame as Schiller / Pfeifer won the match and the title 204 – 179. The win was Schiller’s second Alro Steel - MJMA title while Pfeier adds an adult title to his eight he earned as a junior bowler.

The guys’ side also had Junior Gold spots available and the two tickets to Indianapolis were punched by Cory Hines and Brad Burgess. They will join Beach along with the other 33 Alro Steel – MJMA qualifiers in July that will represent our organization ans try to earn their spot on Junior Team USA.

We awarded over $6,000.00 in scholarships from this event to the 30 junior bowlers who qualified for match play. With that we have crossed over the $25,000.00 for the season as we move forward towards the season ending championships in Monroe, Michigan.

Our next event will be the Junior doubles event held on January 24th and 25th at Candlelite Bowl in Bridgeport, Michigan. This event teams up two of our junior bowlers to compete as they did in the adult – junior event as teams to earn their share of the doubles title and scholarship money that will be awarded. Qualifying will begin on Saturday at 1PM with the match play portion on Sunday starting at 9AM.

Any junior bowler looking to bowl in the event is encouraged to get their entry in as soon as possible since the field will be limited to the first 48 teams that get their entries and money into the tournament director. If you would like more information please contact Jerry Tarabek.