AMF Thruway Lanes in Buffalo N.Y., United States (July 13-21, 2007)

When the Junior Team USA Boys entered the inaugural United States Bowling Congress Youth Open Championships, they did so because it was their lone chance to compete together as a team. Now, they are part of the event's first group of champions.

Tim Pfeifer of Cranberry Township, Pa., shot a 656 series to lead the Junior Team USA Boys to the Division 1 Team title with 2,480 at AMF Thruway Lanes in Buffalo, N.Y. Josh Blanchard of Upland, Calif., added 651, Matt O'Grady of South Amboy, N.J., shot 648 and Kyle Bischoff of St. Cloud, Minn., contributed 525.

In a year where there are no international youth events scheduled, the Junior Team USA Boys decided to take advantage of the opportunity to compete together and it paid off.

"It's a tremendous honor to be among the first champions of the new Youth Open," said Pfeifer, who won the men's title at the USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships this year. "We had a great time bowling together and to win this event is something that I'm sure none of us will ever forget. It's always a great feeling when you get to work with great teammates and find success. It was an absolute blast."

The Junior Team USA Boys were joined by four other winners in Division 1, which is for bowlers with averages of 190 and above.

Amanda Cortese of Hoffman Estates, Ill., and Amanda Caruso of Palatine, Ill., won Division 1 Doubles with 1,245. Cortese shot a 644 series, including a 267 final game, and Caruso added 601 as the pair won by 12 pins.

Gina Maduri of Tonawanda, N.Y., a suburb of the host city Buffalo, won Division 1 Singles with 674, which included games of 213, 236 and 225.

In Division 1 All-Events, which was broken into two categories by gender, Brittni Hamilton of Webster, N.Y., won with 1,779 while Jason Price of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., was the high finisher on the boys side with 1,915.

The Youth Open Championships, a nine-day tournament that was modeled after the USBC Open and Women's Championships, drew a field of 1,897 bowlers from across the country and even several foreign countries.

In all, 20 champions were crowned in four average-based divisions and an estimated $50,000 in scholarships will be distributed.

 

USBC Youth Open Championships

AMF Thruway Lanes in Buffalo, N.Y.

Final Standings Top 5
(Unofficial, pending verification of scores and averages)

DIVISION 1

Team (760 average and over)
1, Junior Team USA Boys (Tim Pfeifer, Kyle Bischoff, Josh Blanchard, Matthew O'Grady), Moreno Valley, Calif., 2,480. 2, DeCaluwe's Team, Mount Pospect, Ill., 2,431. 3, Turkey Shooters, Ottumwa, Iowa, 2,389. 4, We Strike For Fun, Rochester, N.Y., 2,342. 5, Martinek Team, Colonie, N.Y., 2,333.

Doubles (380 average and over)
1, Amanda Caruso, Palatine, Ill./Amanda Cortese, Hoffman Estates, Ill., 1,245. 2, Jeffery Mueller, Georgetown, Texas/Eston Dilworth, Austin, Texas, 1,233. 3, Andy DeCaluwe, Mount Prospect, Ill./Trey Sands, Ormond Beach, Fla., 1,231. 4, Josh Blanchard, Moreno Valley, Calif./Matthew O'Grady, South Amboy, N.J., 1,229. 5, Nathan Johnson, Waterloo, Iowa/Joshua McBride, Wichita, Kan., 1,223.

Singles (190 average and over)
1, Gina Maduri, Tonawanda, N.Y., 674. 2 (tie), Wesley Edwards, Blue Springs, Mo., and Dean Richards, Tacoma, Wash., 667. 4, Natalie Cortese, Hoffman Estates, Ill., 664. 5, Michael Wodzinski, East Meadow, N.Y., 661.

Girls All-Events (190 average and over)
1, Brittni Hamilton, Webster, N.Y., 1,779. 2, Leigh Pratt, Troy, N.Y., 1,762. 3, Melissa Hurst, Derby, Kan., 1,764. 4, Kayla Bandy, Danville, Va., 1,738. 5, Bryanna Caldwell, Tucson, Ariz., 1,714.

Boys All-Events (190 average and over)
1, Jason Price, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 1,915. 2, Matthew O'Grady, South Amboy, N.J., 1,911. 3, Cameron Weier, Federal Way, Wash., 1,846. 4, Joseph Clevers, Memphis, Tenn., 1,824. 5, Christian Jensen, Anthem, Ariz., 1,184.

DIVISION 2

Team (640-759 average)
1, LaRue (Michael LaRue, Matthews LaRue, Patrick Fitch, Dillon Gross), Roanoke, Texas, 2,238. 2, Exxxtreeeme, West Lafayette, Ind., 2,131. 3, Bowl Rite Strikers, Bayonne, N.J., 2,126. 4, Blackout, Arlington, Tenn., 2,116. 5, Motor City Bombshells, Highland, Mich., 2,106.

Doubles (320-379 average)
1, Alan Williams, Hanover, Pa./Garth Ritter, Fogelsville, Pa., 1,172. 2, Michael LaRue/Matthew LaRue, Roanoke, Texas, 1,155. 3, Joshua Tajiri, Mililani, Hawaii/Suzana Signaigo, Kapolei, Hawaii, 1,125. 4, Leigh Pratt/Elizabeth Pratt, Troy, N.Y., 1,123. 5, Kristine Hofer/Nikki Iozzia, Sunrise, Fla., 1,115.

Singles (160-189 average)
1, Melinda Caldwell, Pembroke Pines, Fla., 652. 2, Vaseem Anwar, Honolulu, 642. 3, Peter McMahon, Sebring, Fla., 617. 4, Kenneth Rittenbury, Azle, Texas, 608. 5, Kristopher Beach, Freeport, Ill., 605.

Girls All-Events (160-189 average)
1, Melinda Caldwell, Pembroke Pines, Fla., 1,683. 2, Sarah Jaeger, Highland, Mich., 1,588. 3, Karla Torres, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, 1,586. 4, Kristine Hofer, Sunrise, Fla., 1,584. 5, Rachel Kreighbaum, Battle Ground, Wash., 1,553.

Boys All-Events (160-189 average)
1, Vaseem Anwar, Honolulu, 1,810. 2, Matthew Lazarus, Sunrise, Fla., 1,665. 3, Justin Tan, Flower Mound, Texas, 1,664. 4, Patrick Golderos, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, 1,649. 5, Michael LaRue, Roanoke, Texas, 1,649.

DIVISION 3

Team (520-639 average)
1, Dick Drews Pro Am Proshop (Jordon Hodge, India Austin, Danielle Oliver, Sheniece Wilborn), East Lake, Ohio, 1,929. 2, Mix Plate, Honolulu, 1,915. 3, Kenmore All Stars, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 1,902. 4, Bliss, Des Peres, Mo., 1,853. 5, Bowling Bunch, Hampden, Maine, 1,845.

Doubles (260-319 average)
1, Tyson Ethridge/Danny Shannon, Meridian, Miss., 1,051. 2, Brandon Hurst, Florence, S.C./Martin Hagood, Nichols, S.C., 1,001. 3, Kevin Truong/Doug Lai, San Francisco, 997. 4, Phillip Martin, Phenix City, Ala./Caitlin Walp, Montgomery, Ala., 988. 5, Kourtnie McCarty, Lagrange, Ga./Lance Lewis, Midland, Ga., 966.

Singles (130-159 average)
1, Steven Allen, Riverview, Mich., 607. 2, Jessica Lai, San Francisco, 563. 3, Lacy Volonino, Zanoni, Va., 558. 4, Preston Greenwood, Lincoln, Neb., 551. 5, Ricky Rehfeldt, Towanda, Pa., 549.

Girls All-Events (130-159 average)
1, Danielle Oliver, Maple Heights, Ohio, 1,511. 2, Kourtnie McCarty, Lagrange, Ga., 1,475. 3, Becky Gerhart, Lititz, Pa., 1,462. 4, Becca Pittser, Huntersville, N.C., 1,447. 5 (tie), Sarah Whitehead, Forth Worth, Texas, and Caitlin Walp, Montgomery, Ala., 1,421.

Boys All-Events (130-159 average)
1, David Robisch, Southgate, Ky., 1,566. 2, Preston Greenwood, Lincoln, Neb., 1,561. 3, Doug Lai, San Francisco, 1,545. 4, Armand West, Ladysmith, Wis., 1,517. 5, Bradley Owen, Pocatello, Idaho, 1,467.

DIVISION 4

Team (519 average and under)
1, Syrupy Pancakes (Chelsea Mills, Joshua Myles, Daniel Yeagley, Amy Spence), Fredericksburg, Va., 1,728. 2, Hubert's Model Railroad Corporation, Montgomery, Ala., 1,644. 3, KCRC, Westminster, Md., 1,617. 4, Megans Maulers, Bayonne, N.J., 1,580. 5, KFM Strategies, Bayonne, N.J., 1,571.

Doubles (259 average and under)
1, Tanisha Williams/Natasha Morrison, Bermuda, 924. 2, Andesha Busby/Giscae Gibbons-Henries, Bermuda, 886. 3, Marc Farren/Katrina Wyatt, Emporium, Pa., 882. 4, Chase McLain/Matthew Hubert, Montgomery, Ala., 874. 5, Jacob Wolkan/Nathan Wolkan, Livonia, Mich., 869.

Singles (129 average and under)
1, Haley Williams, Lowell, Ark., 501. 2, David Armstrong, Bumpass, Va., 499. 3, William Laskowski, Dallas, Pa., 496. 4, Malachi Johnston, Bermuda, 495. 5, Levi Burr, Greendale, Wis., 491.

Girls All-Events (129 average and under)
1, Andesha Busby, Bermuda, 1,476. 2, Haley Williams, Lowell, Ark., 1,365. 3, Natasha Morrison, Bermuda, 1,343. 4, Paige Bolton, Blair, Neb., 1,339. 5, Tanisha Williams, Bermuda, 1,331.

Boys All-Events (129 average and under)
1, Richard Eaton Jr., Walkersville, Md., 1,438. 2, David Armstrong, Bumpass, Va., 1,430. 3, Joshua Dawson, Bermuda, 1,306. 4, Javier Sala, Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, 1,301. 5, Jacob Wolkan, Livonia, Mich., 1,288.