38
- Aug/Sep 2017
Alex Aguirre – Boy Scratch, Jorene Camba –
Girls Scratch, Lawrence Buhain – Handicap
Modesto, CA
U20 Champions Determined At 2017 Junior
Gold Championships
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WICKLIFFE, Ohio -
Wesley Low Jr. of Palmdale, California, and Allie Leiendecker
of Wooster, Ohio, find themselves at different stages of their youth bowling careers,
but each are ready for the next step after winning the 20-and-under titles at the
2017
resented by the Brands of Ebonite International.
Low, 20, capped off his youth career with a second U20 boys title after defeating
David Hooper of Greenville, South Carolina, 394-357, at Game of Wickliffe. Leien-
decker, a 16-year-old right-hander who made her debut in the U20 division this year,
averaged 230 in her two-game total-pinfall match against Caitlyn Johnson of Lum-
berton, Texas, to claim the U20 girls title, 460-379.
The championship round in each division aired nationally on CBS Sports Network
on Tuesday.
Low jumped to a commanding lead against Hooper after rolling strikes on five of
his first seven deliveries, but the left-hander had back-to-back 2-4-7-10 splits in the
ninth and 10th frames that cut his advantage to 34
pins after the first game, 202-168.
Although Low still was making adjustments in Game
2, he maintained his lead and sealed the title after
recording a double in the eighth and ninth frames on
his way to a 192-189 finish.
"I thought both of those shots were pretty good, but
that's when I noticed that the fronts were starting to
hook," Low said.
"Throwing a urethane ball with such a high surface,
you expect that to happen at some point. I began
making small moves to the right, since I didn't want to
do something crazy. I ended up finding a good look on
the left lane and gave the shot on the right lane in the
ninth a little air time to make sure it got through the
front part of the lane."
Low recorded his first U20 title as a 16-year-old at
the 2013 event in Detroit. After several close calls, including a runner-up finish in
2014, he finished his Junior Gold career by becoming the first player in the boys
division to win two U20 titles.
"I think the distinction to be the first to win U20 twice is pretty special, especially
when you look at the list of past winners," Low said. "After winning in 2013, my goal
was to win twice. I lost to Tylor Greene in 2014, bowled myself out of the top 16 in
2015 and lost in the first round last year. Those three years served as motivation,
and to come out a winner to end my junior bowling career is awesome."
Leiendecker had been a consistent performer in her previous two trips to Junior
Gold in the U15 division, advancing to the match-play portion of the event. In those
two appearances, however, she was unable to secure a win in the double-
elimination format.
Upon a return visit to match play in her U20 debut, she had one goal in mind.
"I had not won a match the past two years, so that really was the main goal heading
into match play," Leiendecker said. "When I was able to do that, things really started
rolling, and I was able to stay calm and focus on what I was trying to achieve."
In the title match, Leiendecker may have been nervous on the inside, but she
looked like a seasoned veteran as she recorded a total of 16 strikes on her way to
scores of 224-178 and 236-201 against Johnson.
Taking the title approximately 70 miles from home also served as a special mo-
ment for Leiendecker, having family and friends on-site at Game of Wickliffe to cele-
brate the performance with her.
"I was shaking a lot, but I felt like I kept everything under control," Leiendecker
said. "It was fun, though, even with the nerves. Moving up to U20, my goal was just
to make the cut, so to win in my first year really is amazing. Being able to win in
Ohio, with all of my supporters coming to watch, was pretty amazing, too."
Six boys and six girls automatically earned spots on Junior Team USA for 2018
through their performances at Junior Gold this week.
Jeffery Mann of West Lafayette, Indiana, Kristopher Yadao of Pearl City, Hawaii,
Pete Vergos of Apopka, Florida, Ryan Winters of Livonia, Michigan, and Michael
Martell of Brooklyn, New York, earned spots on the boys team through qualifying,
while Hooper also made the team by advancing to the championship round.
Mann, the 2016 U20 Junior Gold champion, and
Vergos each are making their second appearances
on the team, while Yadao, Winters, Martell and
Hooper will represent Junior Team USA for the first
time.
Two-time Junior Gold champion Breanna Clemmer
of Clover, South Carolina, will represent Junior Team
USA for the fifth consecutive year after earning her
spot through qualifying.
Johnson, Alexis Neuer of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania,
Crystal Elliott of Palm Bay, Florida, and Julie Huren of
Westland, Michigan, also made the girls team through
qualifying, while Leiendecker earned her spot by
making her way to the title match.
Leiendecker was part of the U15 Developmental
Team in 2017, while Johnson, Neuer, Elliott and
Huren will make their Junior Team USA debuts in
2018.
The U20 division of the 2017 Junior Gold Championships featured 1,418 boys and
840 girls, who each rolled 16 games across four bowling centers, before the top 203
boys and top 120 girls moved on to a five-game advancers round.
The top 64 boys and top 64 girls advanced to the final advancers round, with 26-
game pinfall totals determining the top 16 to advance in each division to double-
elimination match play, which also featured two-game matches with total pinfall de-
termining the winner.
The Junior Gold Championships features the top youth bowlers in the country seek-
ing national titles in three divisions - 12-and-under, 15-and-under and 20-and-under
- and spots on Junior Team USA. The 2017 tournament was held in seven Cleve-
land-area bowling centers, featured a $320,000 scholarship fund, and more than
3,500 entries, both tournament records.
