The Michigan Junior Masters Association invaded the confines of Taylor Lanes on March 20th & 21st for the 4th Annual Brunswick Taylor Open. The Dobbins family rolled out a very warm welcome mat as 144 bowlers jammed the building to vie for their share of the scholarship money and the coveted championship title.

Carrie Hopkinson (Drumbo, Ont.) was setting the pace on the ladies side during qualification averaging nearly 200 on the challenging conditions while Nic Sutherland (Grand Blanc, MI) led a group of ten male bowlers who averaged over 200 for the eight gane qualifying section shooting a fine 1713 for his eight games.

Sunday proved to be a bigger challenge for the 24 guys and 8 girls for match play, as it normally does. Scores began fluxuating almost emediately as the leader boards jumped around all morning. When the match play was complete, Hopkinson was still on top of the ladies standings but Kevin Madajczyk II (Shelby Twp., MI) was now sitting in the cat-birds seat on the guy’s side.

Hopkinson had to wait as three others joined her in the step-ladder finals including a duel between two sisters, Kara and Haley Richard (Tecumseh, MI), in the very first match. Kara Richard has won numerous titles in MJMA including last years Ottman Championship event but Haley was still insearch of her first banner. Haley showed she was to be reconned with starting with an early 5-bagger while big sister Kara was struggling and when splits showed up in the 4th and 5th frames, Haley cruised to the win and the semi-finals with a 222-169 win. Next up was two-time winner Samantha Johnson (Wyoming, MI). The match went back and forth the whole way through until the tenth frame when Richard covered a spare to knock Johnson out of the competition 187-183.

This set up a final with two of the younger competitors in MJMA with Hopkinson and Richard. In another very tight match were strikes were very few it was a split conversion by Richard in the 9th frame, making the 5-7 split, that kept the match tight. Hopkinson came up in the tenth frame needing a mark to put pressure on Richard but when she chopped the 6-10 spare it opened the door for Richard. Richard threw a 2-4-10 split and then proceeded to cover the two pins she needed for her first MJMA title in a 161-160 win.

The guys side was just as challenging as two Canadiens faced off in the first match with Brock Finch (Stirling, Ont) facing off against Darren Alexander (Essex, Ont). Finch started fast with a 4-bagger and led all the way through the match to eliminate Alexander 208-198. Next was Erik Stanley (Warren, MI) who now had the overall points lead for Bowler-of-the-Year honors and he showed why he was there.

Stanley started with a spare and then proceeded to throw the next 6 strikes in a row, while Finch was clean all the way through except for an open in the 6th frame, to win the match 225-179. Sutherland was next on the ladder for Stanley and this was a pretty tight match to the ninth frame. Stanley opened in the 9th with a split but when Sutherland also threw a split in the tenth, Stanley needed just to mark to win the game and advance to the championship match, 182-173.

Madajczyk II was sitting in the number one position and was bowling for a title for only the second time in his long career in MJMA. Madajczyk II started with a double but then opened in the third frame while Stanley was clean through the first five frames. Stanley, however, ran into problems after that opening in three of the next four frames while it was Madajczyk II’s turn to stay clean the rest of the way to win his very first MJMA title 188-151.

In all $4,500.00 was awarded in scholarship money thanks in large part to our tournament sponsor Brunswick who chipped in scholarship money to the fund for the weekend and also hosted a clinic prior to the tournament that was attended by over 50 of our members. We want to thank Brunswick for their sponsorship not only for this event but for all they do for us throughout the year with bowling balls to raffle off and other clinincs that are already planned for the future.

With the scholarship payout at this event, it brings our yearly total to over $39,000.00 for this season. With two more regular season events and our Championship tournament in June, we are hoping to be able to award close to $60,000.00 this year in total scholarship money to our membership. This would bring our association total to nearly $850,000.00 over the course of our 24 years.

The next event will be held on April 24th and 25th at the friendly confines of Galaxy Lanes in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Ken Hochstien and all the people at Galaxy Lanes have always been very gracious hosts and once again this year we will have the “Beat the Otter” event in Grand Blanc. This event is where Dan Ottman always gave the members a chance to earn some bragging rights by besting his high score on the same lane conditions the kids bowl on.

Since the passing of Dan Ottman, we have strived to continue the tradition with substitute “Otter” bowlers ranging from Tom Reaume (Detroit Athletic Club), Billy Orlikowski (Brunswick) and even a couple of our adult board members. This years “Otter” will be revealed just before the bowling starts, as we have done in the past. This is a fun event and gives the kids the chance to see how they stack up against some of the best bowlers in the region on the same conditions.

This event will fill quickly so make sure you get the entries in so you do not missout on your chance for scholarships, title banners and to “Beat the Otter”. If you have any questions, please contact Jerry Tarabek at jtar2830@yahoo.com or call (616) 780-2095.