Team USA sweeps masters medals to close Men's American Zone Championships
06/02/07
Masters Results
Guatemala
By Kevin Hazaert, USBC Communications
Rhino Page (center) of Fresno, Calif., cruised to the Masters gold medal while teammates John Janawicz (right) of Winter Haven, Fla., took silver and David O'Sullivan (left) of Orlando, Fla., claimed bronze Friday, capping off a historic week for Team USA at the Men's American Zone Championships. Click on the image to enlarge it.
The United States became the first country in American Zone Championships history in its current format to sweep the six gold medals in the men's or women's division.
"I don't think there is any way we could've expected this," said Page, who took Masters silver at the 2005 American Zone Championships and Masters bronze at the Men's World Championships last year. "The rookies stepped up to a level I've never seen. We got along really well and worked really well together."
In the best-of-three gold medal match, Page defeated Janawicz, 2-0, powered behind a thrilling 258-256 victory in Game 1 that saw Janawicz force Page to deliver two strikes and nine pins in the 10th frame to win. It was the third medal of the tournament for Page, who also won team gold and all-events bronze.
Rhino Page (left) and John Janawicz congratulate each other with a hug after Page defeated Janawicz in the Masters gold medal match Friday.
Strikes were plentiful Friday at Metro Bowl for Page, who defeated Guatemala's Andres Herrera 2-0 in the semifinals in front of a partisan crowd by striking in six of the first seven frames in the first game and in the first six of the second game.
"We bowled on the patterns all week and sometimes it takes a while to get dialed in," said Page, who also claimed a dramatic 685-630 victory over Canada's Jean-Sebastian Lessard in the three games, total pins format of the quarterfinals by closing with a 279 after entering the final game trailing by 30. "The 260 I had at the end of trios was the turnaround for me. From that point on, it seems like I had a great look and I was getting the hits."
O'Sullivan, who also won four gold medals this week, joined fellow Team USA newcomer Derek Eoff of Greenfield, Wis., with an American Zone Championships record-tying fifth medal by rallying to defeat Herrera, 2-1, in the bronze medal match.
After opening twice early in dropping the first game 233-210, O'Sullivan remained clean for the final two games - winning 221-187 and 215-180 to ensure Team USA's sweep of the Masters medals.
Janawicz, who also was competing in his first event with Team USA, will head home with four medals - including team, trios and singles gold.
"It was an incredible performance by our team," said Team USA head coach Jeri Edwards, who credited the two days the team trained in Houston prior to the event as a large part of their success. "Our rookies worked very, very hard since the start of our training camp in March and they've embraced the veteran leadership and the coaching. They've been a treasure and their unbelievably talented players to begin with."
The Men's American Zone Championships featured 18 countries and consisted of six disciplines (singles, doubles, trios, team, all-events and Masters). The event was in Guatemala for the first time since 1966.
Since the American Zone Championships were first held in 1961, the United States now has won 171 medals between the men and women. The next best showing is from Mexico, which has 92 medals in that time.
Beginning in 2007, the American Zone Championships moved from a quadrennial event featuring both men and women to a biennial event, with separate Women's American Zone Championships and Men's American Zone Championships alternating each year. The first Women's American Zone Championships is scheduled to be held in Chile in 2008.
The United States became the first country in American Zone Championships history in its current format to sweep the six gold medals in the men's or women's division.
"I don't think there is any way we could've expected this," said Page, who took Masters silver at the 2005 American Zone Championships and Masters bronze at the Men's World Championships last year. "The rookies stepped up to a level I've never seen. We got along really well and worked really well together."
In the best-of-three gold medal match, Page defeated Janawicz, 2-0, powered behind a thrilling 258-256 victory in Game 1 that saw Janawicz force Page to deliver two strikes and nine pins in the 10th frame to win. It was the third medal of the tournament for Page, who also won team gold and all-events bronze.Rhino Page (left) and John Janawicz congratulate each other with a hug after Page defeated Janawicz in the Masters gold medal match Friday.
Strikes were plentiful Friday at Metro Bowl for Page, who defeated Guatemala's Andres Herrera 2-0 in the semifinals in front of a partisan crowd by striking in six of the first seven frames in the first game and in the first six of the second game.
"We bowled on the patterns all week and sometimes it takes a while to get dialed in," said Page, who also claimed a dramatic 685-630 victory over Canada's Jean-Sebastian Lessard in the three games, total pins format of the quarterfinals by closing with a 279 after entering the final game trailing by 30. "The 260 I had at the end of trios was the turnaround for me. From that point on, it seems like I had a great look and I was getting the hits."
O'Sullivan, who also won four gold medals this week, joined fellow Team USA newcomer Derek Eoff of Greenfield, Wis., with an American Zone Championships record-tying fifth medal by rallying to defeat Herrera, 2-1, in the bronze medal match.
After opening twice early in dropping the first game 233-210, O'Sullivan remained clean for the final two games - winning 221-187 and 215-180 to ensure Team USA's sweep of the Masters medals.
Janawicz, who also was competing in his first event with Team USA, will head home with four medals - including team, trios and singles gold.
"It was an incredible performance by our team," said Team USA head coach Jeri Edwards, who credited the two days the team trained in Houston prior to the event as a large part of their success. "Our rookies worked very, very hard since the start of our training camp in March and they've embraced the veteran leadership and the coaching. They've been a treasure and their unbelievably talented players to begin with."
The Men's American Zone Championships featured 18 countries and consisted of six disciplines (singles, doubles, trios, team, all-events and Masters). The event was in Guatemala for the first time since 1966.
Since the American Zone Championships were first held in 1961, the United States now has won 171 medals between the men and women. The next best showing is from Mexico, which has 92 medals in that time.
Beginning in 2007, the American Zone Championships moved from a quadrennial event featuring both men and women to a biennial event, with separate Women's American Zone Championships and Men's American Zone Championships alternating each year. The first Women's American Zone Championships is scheduled to be held in Chile in 2008.
Masters Results