Junior Team USA's John Szczerbinski and Brent Bowers (left) and Mexico's Aseret Zetter and Patricia Contreras teamed up to earn the gold medal in the Under-20 boys and girls Doubles Tuesday afternoon at the 2008 Pan American Bowling Confederation Youth Championships.

Fueled by Szczerbinski's 299 in the fourth game, the Americans totaled 2,740 and won the boys title by 76 pins over silver medalists Daniel Melo and Juan Rodriguez (right) of Colombia. Puerto Rico's William Navas and Francisco Valiente took bronze with 2,538.

Szczerbinski shot 1,398 for six games, while Bowers totaled 1,342, including 256 the final game as the pair pulled away. Both players said the turning point was Szczerbinski's 299 game, which Bowers complemented with a 224.

"I felt like I made pretty good shots and got the 10th and 11th and then the 12th one I thought was pretty darn good but the 10 pin just decided to stay up," Szczerbinski said. "I couldn't complain, though, because that was a good shot."

Despite shooting 523 in Game 4, the pair entered Game 6 leading the Colombians by just seven pins but by the final frame the Americans had locked up the title.

"I felt like we were on top of the world after that 523, and I honestly didn't think anyone was even close to us," Bowers said. "When they told us Colombia was on our tails, I was surprised that we had a lot of work to do. It was six games of non-stop, in your face just good bowling."

In girls doubles, Mexico's Aseret Zetter and Patricia Contreras (r-l) won the gold as the pair combined for 2,639. They were propelled to the gold by matching 279s in Game 2 and never looked back. Contreras led the duo with a 1,340 series while Zetter shot 1,299.

Junior Team USA's Christine Bator and Josie Earnest jumped from third to second in the final game and earned the silver medal with 2,547. Earnest shot 1,288 while Bator had 1,259. The other Mexican pairing of Gabriela Hernandez and Lilia Robles took bronze with 2,495.

In the all-events race, Geoffrey Young, United States, leads with a 12-game total of 2,764, an average of better than 230 a game. Costa Rica's Alberto Lizano is second, 119 pins back. Szczerbinski is third with 2,630,

Josie Earnest leads girls all-events with 2,551, an average of 212.58. Bator is second with 2,485,

The gold medals in the Under-16 division went to Colombia and Guatemala. Juliana Franco and Alejandra Barreto, Colombia, led from game one and never looked back to win the girls title with 1873 five-game total and an average of 187.30.

Mexico's Valeria Corpeño and Mariana Alvarado finished second with 1803, while Kristie López and Neishka Cardona, Puerto Rico, earned the bronze medal with 1770.

The Boys U-16 Doubles title was decided in the final game. Jose Andres Leal and Juan Pablo Castillo from Guatemala, who started the fifth game in second place five pins behind Wilfredo Maldonado and Cristian Azcona, beat the Puerto Ricans by 11 pins, 380 to 369, to claim the gold medal with 1879.

Maldonado/Azcona settled for second place with 1873. Rodrigo Del Campo and Andre Fors, Mexico, took the bronze medal with 1807.