Junior Team USA squads selected for 2017 TOA, PABCON Youth

15 July, 2017

Team USA

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The summer of top-tier youth bowling is underway with the start of the 2017 Junior Gold Championships, and a handful of bowlers who already are members of Junior Team USA in 2017 have been selected to represent the United States at two upcoming events.

The 2017 Lee Evans Tournament of The Americas will take place at Strikers Family Sportscenter in Sunrise, Florida, from July 23-29, while the 2017 Pan American Bowling Confederation (PABCON) Youth Championships will be held at Bol Obispado in Monterrey, Mexico, from Sept. 2-9.

Representing Junior Team USA at the 2017 Lee Evans Tournament of The Americas will be Briley Haugh of Faribault, Minnesota, Pete Vergos of Apopka, Florida, Haley Cummings of Huber Heights, Ohio, and Adrianna Stacy of Sebring, Florida, in the Junior A division (under 20), and Anthony Neuer of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Richard Paul III of Winton, California, Mabel Cummins of Elburn, Illinois, and Allie Leiendecker of Wooster, Ohio, in the Junior B division (under 16).

The Tournament of The Americas features bowlers from North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean and also includes adult, senior and super senior divisions.

Participants compete in singles (12 games), doubles (six games), mixed doubles (six games) and team competition (eight games), with medals also being awarded for all-events and national all-events (total of all four team members over 32 games).

The United States won 31 of the 45 possible gold medals at the 2016 Tournament of The Americas. A total of 13 gold medals were collected in the Junior A and B divisions.

The 2017 PABCON Youth Championships, which features countries from the American Zone, will be split into two categories – Under 21 and Under 16 – for singles, doubles, mixed doubles, trios, team and Masters competition. Medals also will be awarded for all-events.

Junior Team USA only will participate in the U21 category, which it dominated in Panama in 2015.

The Junior Team USA boys claimed all six gold medals, three silver medals and four bronze medals in 2015, and the girls earned two golds on the way to an eight-medal haul. Together, the group topped the medal table with 21 total medals (eight gold, seven silver and six bronze).

Representing Junior Team USA on the boys side at the 2017 PABCON Youth Championships will be Brandon Biondo of Carpentersville, Illinois, Jeff Mann of West Lafayette, Indiana, Kennon McFalls of Gastonia, North Carolina, and Cortez Schenck of Phoenix.

The Junior Team USA girls headed to Mexico are Julia Bond of Aurora, Illinois, Sydney Brummett of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Breanna Clemmer of Clover, South Carolina, and Stephanie Schwartz of Racine, Wisconsin.

“We’ve got a couple of opportunities coming up to really test ourselves against the countries in our zone and continue to develop some young talent,” Junior Team USA head coach Bryan O’Keefe said.

“The World Bowling Youth Championships is right around the corner (2018), and we want to be proven and ready to excel at that event on our home soil in Detroit.”

Herbert Bickel