The second event of the 2009-2010 Michigan Junior Masters Association season proved to be a real test for the 108 bowlers who rolled into Cherry Hill Lanes North in Clarkston, Michigan on August 29-30th, 2009. The short 34 foot nearly flat lane pattern had a lot of bowlers scratching their heads and talking to themselves throughout the two day event. So much so that not one person averaged over 200 for the entire event.

Dan Ottman, the founder or the organization, had a saying when he would lay down patterns like this and that was “hate me now, thank me later.” He was basically trying to tell the bowlers that keep coming to test yourselves on these types of conditions and in the end you will become a much better bowler, even if you hate what I am doing to you today. This played out later in the day as a number of the alumni from past MJMA season came in to bowl against each other on the same pattern as the youth bowlers did and they scored much better on the same pattern. But, back to the youth event first.

On the boy’s side, a number of new names appeared on the match play list after the first eight games of qualifying but returning players topped the list. Nic Sutherland (Grand Blanc, MI) led qualifying with Michael Gossman (Port Huron, MI) and Aaron Lorincz (Belleville, MI) not too far behind. After the 12 game match play however, the standings really got shuffled. Sutherland was still in the number one spot going into step ladders but Tylor Greene (Davison, MI) had moved from 6th place to 2nd and Travis Hardesty (Zanesville, OH) jumped from 11th place to 3rd. Rounding out the top five were Justin Netherland (Port Clinton, OH) who had qualified 20th and Lorincz who managed to squeek into the top five by eight pins over Ryan Dobie (Springfield, OH).

In the step ladder finals Lorincz faced off against Netherland and it was all Lorincz as he threw 8 strikes over the 12 frames while Netherland struggled with three opens early and could not recover as Lorincz moved on 257-190. Lorincz then faced Hardesty and Lorincz returned the favor as he struggled on the championship pair and could not find the strikes he had in the first match. Hardesty stayed clean throughout the match and with a spare in the ninth and tenth frames closed out his first step ladder win 203-180. Greene was next up and Hardesty started fast with the first three strikes. Greene was going along at a Dutch 200 clip, including a 3-9-10 split conversion in the 6th frame but an open in the 8th frame coupled with a four-bagger by Hardesty sealed Greene’s fate and Hardety advanced to the championship finals 242-171.

In the final match for the title, Sutherland showed why he had led the event all the way through. He started striking and put the pressure on Hardesty right away. Sutherland stayed clean through the ninth and even a split in the tenth frame, which he converted, could not stop him from winning his first MJMA title 220-145.

The girls’ had their share of excitement as well. Four-time champion Sarah Lokker (New Baltimore, MI) led the field through qualifying but after the eight game match play portion on Sunday, Sarah had dropped to 5th place and out of the step ladder running for the title. Aleksandra Hudak (Taylor, MI) jumped from 6th place to the top spot going into step-ladders. Tori Ferris (Kalamazoo, MI) held onto the number two spot with Tawni Vollmer and Jordan Richard, both from Tecumseh, MI., rounding out the top four.

In the first match Vollmer started with a double but ran into some split and open frame concerns in the 3rd and 6th frames. Richard was having convertion problems of her own as she marked in only 4 of the first nine frames. Vollmer was able to keep the game clean after the 6th frame and won the match 184-130 to advance to the semi-finals. Ferris started strong in the match being clean through the first six frames including a couple of strikes while Vollmer was still trying to find the right line on her spares. However, when Ferris opened in the 7th, 8th and 9th frames, Vollmer jumped at the opportunity and found strikes in the 9th, 10th and 11th frames to close out Ferris 180-159.

In the finals Hudak, who averaged 199 in match play, took advantage of bowling out of the top spot and having to bowl only one game. Hudak seemed a lot fresher and when she started marking there was no stopping her march to her third MJMA title and ending the run for Vollmer with a 200-161 victory.

In all 32 bowlers took home a share of the $3425.00 in scholarships offered. We also qualified two more bowlers for the Junior Gold Championships in July 2010. Both Tylor Greene and Aleksandra Hudak received their tickets to Indianapolis for the national event.

Over all, we have been very pleased with the turnouts for our first two events. The fields have been full and the competition has been very spirited. Our next event is in Plymouth, MI. at Plaza Lanes on September 12tha nd 13th. The field will be limited to the first 120 bowlers so entries should get in early. The qualifying on Saturday will start at 12:00 Noon and the match play on Sunday will begin at 9:00AM. Don’t forget, ball weighing will be open starting at 10:30AM and will close at 11:30AM.

We hope to see you at Plaza Lanes in Plymouth, MI for the next Michigan Junior Masters Association event. Come challenge yourselves against some of the best youth bowlers in the midwest. Entry forms are available HERE. For questions please contact Jerry Tarabek at
(616) 780-2095.