Americans sweep team gold medals on final day of competition at World Senior Championships

(Back row (from left to right): Dana Ausec; Sharon Powers; Tish Johnson and Jodi Woessner.
(Front now (from left to right): John Janawicz; Tom Hess; Kendra Cameron-Curry, USBC Program Director-High Performance; Team USA Coach Kelly Kulick; Parker Bohn III and Chris Barnes.


CALI, Colombia
– Senior Team USA capped off a week’s worth of outstanding performances by sweeping both the men’s and women’s team gold medals on the final day of competition at the International Bowling Federation 2023 World Senior Championships in Cali, Colombia, on Thursday.

The men’s squad that featured Chris Barnes of Denton, Texas; Parker Bohn III of Jackson, New Jersey; Tom Hess of Granger, Iowa; and John Janawicz of Winter Haven, Florida, reached the top of the podium by virtue of a 2-0 (207-189; 247-182) sweep of Mexico in the best-of-three Baker finals at Cali’s sports complex.

One round earlier, Team USA breezed past the Dominican Republic by a score of 2-0 (225-156; 256-210) while Mexico shut out Italy by the same margin (222-194; 246-215).

By falling during the semifinals, the Dominican Republic and Italy both earned bronze medals while Mexico would go on to take home silver. 

On the women’s side, the Team USA quartet that included Dana Ausec and Tish Johnson of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Sharon Powers of Lakewood, Colorado; and Jodi Woessner of Oregon, Ohio, needed three games to win both of its matches en route to gold.

The quest started with a 2-1 semifinal victory over Puerto Rico (224-202; 200-210; 198-184) and ended with a come-from-behind win over Mexico during the finals (201-210; 245-184; 224-187).

Once again, Mexico earned the silver medal, and Puerto Rico and Italy, which fell to Mexico 2-0 (204-189; 166-150) in the other women’s semifinal, each were awarded bronze.

With the completion of the team events also came the end of the tournament’s men’s and women’s all-events competition, which awarded medals to the bowlers in each division with the highest total pinfall during the combined 18 games of singles, doubles and team qualifying.

All three spots in the women’s all-events standings went to Team USA bowlers with Ausec’s 18-game score of 3,865 (Singles – 1,240; Doubles – 1,290; Team – 1,335) leading the way and earning gold. 

Woessner claimed silver with 3,678 (Singles – 1,209; Doubles – 1,261; Team – 1,208), and Johnson brought home bronze at 3,656 (Singles – 1,125; Doubles – 1,270; Team – 1,261).

Bohn earned Team USA’s lone all-events medal on the men’s side, taking home bronze with an 18-game mark of 4,074 (Singles – 1,295; Doubles – 1,422; Team – 1,357). 

Mexico’s Mario Quintero (4,179) captured gold, and Rolando Sebelen of the Dominican Republic (4,130) claimed silver.

To say that Team USA performed well at the 2023 World Senior Championships would be a bit of an understatement; the group was dominant, capturing 23 of a possible 32 medals during the weeklong event.

Individually, the American medal count was as follows:

Men
Barnes – two gold (team; doubles)
Bohn – one gold (team), two bronze (doubles; all-events) 
Hess – one gold (team), two bronze (doubles; singles)
Janawicz – two gold (team; doubles)

Women 
Ausec – three gold (team; singles; all-events), one bronze (doubles)
Johnson – one gold (team), two bronze (doubles; all-events)
Powers – two gold (team; doubles)
Woessner – two gold (team; doubles), two silver (singles; all-events)

Team USA Coach Kelly Kulick was pleased with the group’s performance, but the pride she felt had to do with a lot more than just the high medal count.

“Obviously, whenever we travel to tournaments, we’re looking to put as many bowlers as possible on the podium and to bring home medals,” Kulick said. “However, what I’m most proud of with this group was the way that they picked each other up and were there for one another.

“Every bowler in this group is a talented individual, yet each and every one of them bought into this being one team. They rooted for one another, helped each other make adjustments on the lanes and were just there for one another from start to finish. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. Medals are great, but the bonds that you form with your teammates, the relationships you build and the memories that you make are what’s most special.”

Final tournament standings are available by visiting worldseniors2023.com.

For more information on Senior Team USA, visit BOWL.com/Team-USA/Team-USA-Senior-Bowling.