A. HudakJ. KossThe 24th Michigan Junior Masters Association season ended on June 13th with the finals of the Daniel C. Ottman Memorial Championships at Monroe Sport Center. The Held family once again proved to be a very gracious host for the field of 78 bowlers who were vying for the title and their share of the $20,000.00 in scholarships to be awarded. After 18 games of qualifying and two rounds of match play for both the girls and the guys, nine bowlers awaited their opportunity to claim this year’s title and their “Eagle”.

The ladies side saw four title holders in the step ladder finals with Aleksandra Hudak (Taylor, MI) leading the way. In the first match Samantha Johnson (Wyoming, MI) faced the defending ladies champion Kara Richard (Tecumseh, MI) and when Johnson opened with four strikes in the first five frames she built up a lead that Richard was not going to be able to over come and our defending champion went out in fourth place 213-183. Johnson next faced off against Victoria Ferris (Kalamazoo, MI) who had made an impressive run in qualifying and the first round of match-play. The run however would stop here as Johnson again opened up with strikes in five of the first six frames to win her way into the finals 212-171. In the finals, it was the girls Bowler of the Year Aleksandra Hudak awaiting Johnson. Hudak opened in the first but Johnson also opened in the second to keep the match almost even. However, it was Hudak that now put a couple of doubles together while Johnson was struggling with the pocket and even had a couple of uncommon missed frames. In the end Hudak had enough strikes and spare together to take home the title in the last MJMA match of her youth career 194-159.

The guy’s had just as much excitement and drama starting with the very first match. James Koss (Brighton, MI) faced off against Jerome Penxa II (Romeo, MI) and it looked like Penxa had the match well in hand in the seventh frame with a 30 pin lead. That lead would soon disappear as Koss strung a double and then filled the tenth with a strike and spare while Penxa would open in the eighth, ninth and finally in the tenth frames to give Koss the victory 168-167. Koss then found some energy, and a line, when he faced Michael Van Peeren (Wyandotte, MI). Fueled by his good fortunes in match one Koss exploded with strikes while Van Peeren found it late but too late and Koss advanced to the semi-finals 234-181.

The semi-finals saw our number two qualifier Kevin Madajczyk II (Shelby Twp., MI) awaiting Koss and he was ready. Opening with a three-bagger Madajczyk built a small lead only to have that disappear with an open in the 5th frame. Koss kept it clean all the way through and ended his side of the match knowing Madajczyk only needed a mark to advance to the finals. Lady luck once again smiled on Koss as a missed ten pin ended the day for Madajczyk II and put Koss in the finals with a 205-201 win.

In the finals our tournament leader Evan Luff (Riverview, MI) who had led the event by over 200 pins was awaiting Koss. Luff showed why he was leading the event as he immediately built a 30 pin lead over Koss by the fourth frame starting with a spare and a three-bagger but once again it was open frames in the 5th and 7th frames by Luff that allowed Koss back into the match. Koss kept it clean again, after an open in the first, and that would be enough to win the match and the Championship title 201-180.

Scholarship money was awarded to all the bowlers who made it to the match-play portion of the tournament and the step-ladder finalists earned their share of the scholarships. For her win, Hudak received $1,100.00, Johnson $850.00 for second, Ferris $650.00 for third and Richard took home $550.00 for fourth. On the guys side Koss earned $1,850.00 while Luff took $1,450.00, Madajczyk II $1,250.00, Van Peeren $1,050.00 and Penxa II $ 900.00 for their second through fifth place finishes.

Along with the Championship tournament scholarships there were a number of year end awards also given out. The Ottman Memorial Scholarship Award was presented to Michael Erlingis and Samantha Johnson who each received a $1,000.00 scholarship. Erik Stanley (Warren, MI) and Aleksandra Hudak each earned $400.00 scholarships for being named the Bowler of the Year, sponsored by Pro-Am Bowling and Trophy. The Rookie of the Year honors went to Andrew Bauer (Bay City, MI) and with a tie on the ladies side both Jordan and Haley Richard (Tecumseh, MI) who each took home a $300.00 scholarship. The Brunswick High Average award and the $100.00 scholarships went to Aaron Lorincz and Samantha Johnson.

One award that the bowlers themselves vote on is the Ottman Sportsmanship award. This year 12 guys and 14 girls received votes and this years winners of the $100.00 scholarships were and Aaron Lorincz and with a tie on the ladies side to Samantha Johnson and Sarah Lokker (New Baltimore, MI). This was the second time Lokker had been voted this award.

In all, we awarded over $20,000.00 over the weekend which took our season awards over $68,000.00. Over the course of our 24 seasons, we have now awarded over $865,000.00 in scholarship money to our members. This would not be possible without the dedication of sponsors like Brunswick, Turbo 2-N-1, Pro Am Bowling and Trophy and our host centers. It takes a team to make all of this happen and with our sponsors and centers we sure do have a winning combination for the future.

One award that has no scholarships attached to it is the Cass Sicilia Memorial Service Award. This is given to a person / persons who have gone above and beyond to help the organization continue to proper. This year’s recipient was the Lokker Family. They have jumped in and helped in numerous ways including working to have centers host our events, making sure shirt orders are in on time and back so the members will have them to wear and all of this while support their daughter during each event. We thank you for your dedication and effort to help make us a better organization.

I also want to thank the Board of Directors for all of their efforts this past season. It has been a challenge this year and without their efforts a lot of what happens, would not happen. They go and do what needs to be done without much fan fare or thanks but they work hard to make sure our members have a strong, safe and professional environment to come to and compete.

We also must say good-bye to a number of our members this year as they have either reached the age limits or will be going away to school or moving on to the adult side of bowling. Losing these members is always hard but I wish them the best in their new ventures and hope they will take advantage of the chance to come back and visit or compete in our two adult events, the Alumni Tournament on August 28th and the Adult – Junior Tournament on January 9-10th.

With each ending comes a new beginning and we are looking forward to our 25th season as we will kick off at Lodge Lanes on August 7th. Information packets will be mailed out to the membership in the coming week so look for those in a mailbox near you.