2026 Junior Gold Notebook - Round 1
July 14, 2026
FULL RESULTS
MINNEAPOLIS – The hunt for national titles got underway at 10 bowling centers in the Greater Minneapolis area on Monday, where nearly 3,500 young athletes in four age-based divisions (U12, U14, U16 and U18) completed their first four-game qualifying blocks at the 2026 Junior Gold Championships.
U18 BOYS
Nolan Martin of Byron Center, Michigan, came in with a four-game total of 965 (a 241.3 average) on Monday thanks to scores of 256, 246, 224 and 239. That performance was enough to put Martin’s name atop the standings in the 915-player U18 Boys field with three rounds of qualifying remaining.
Cameron Morton of Saint Johns, Florida (950), and Brayden Schmechel of Muskego, Wisconsin (936), placed second and third, respectively.
The final two positions in the opening-day top five were secured by Brett Biondo of Carpentersville, Illinois (931), and Jaiden Ng of Syosset, New York (927).
A total of 131 U18 Boys will advance to the first Advancers’ Round after qualifying concludes on Thursday. Currently, Alex Unger of Columbus, Nebraska, and Noah Gibson of Wichita, Kansas, sit tied for 131st position with 796.
U18 GIRLS
Taylor Kretz of Erie, Pennsylvania, rolled games of 246, 202, 245 and 227 for a 920 total (a 230 average) on Monday, which was 90 pins better than the second-place mark of 830 authored by Bailey Secrest of Bellevue, Nebraska.
Grace Zuerner of Terre Haute, Indiana, and Maggie Smith of Ypsilanti, Michigan, tied for third at 824, leaving the final spot in the Round 1 top five to be claimed by Sofia Deluccia of Rockford, Michigan (821).
Of the 363 U18 Girls competing at this year’s tournament, just 51 will continue on to the first Advancers’ Round at the end of qualifying on Thursday. Arielle Clapper of Massillon, Ohio, and Mylie Ramirez of San Antonio are currently tied for 51st place with opening-day scores of 744.
U16 BOYS
Do Hoon Kwon of Vancouver, Washington, posted an opening-round total of 978 (a 244.5 average) on Monday on the strength of games of 237, 258, 215 and 268. That effort was enough to give Kwon the Day 1 lead in the 705-player U16 Boys division.
Blake Glines of Euless, Texas (970), Ryan Carmichael of South Bend, Indiana (958), Michael Martin of Jackson, Missouri (947), and Dawson Kohl of Dyersville, Iowa (940), also authored top-five finishes.
There will be 101 athletes punching tickets to the first Advancers’ Round in U16 Boys action this year. With three rounds remaining before the first cuts are made, five players sit tied for 101st place with opening-round scores of 809.
U16 GIRLS
Two U16 Girls averaged 200 or better on Monday with Emma Lester of Daleville, Alabama, leading the way at 813 (186, 244, 185 and 198) and Briar Graham of Norton Shores, Michigan, finishing close behind at 800.
Leighton Short of Fremont, Nebraska (794), Jennie Vasquez of Hollister, California (793) and Kellen Stephens of Collinsville, Illinois (784), rounded out the Day 1 top five.
With 325 U16 Girls competing this year, 46 will move on to the first Advancers’ Round after qualifying. Chrissa Sondergaard of Colton, South Dakota, and Josie Dambrino of Birmingham, Alabama, currently sit tied for 45th place with identical totals of 697.
U14 BOYS
Calvin Thrash Graves of Alexandria, Virginia, recorded scores of 190, 278, 206 and 162 for a four-game total of 836 (a 209 average) on Monday, which was good enough for first place in the 388-player U14 Boys division.
Second position during Round 1 went to Jaesun Mann of Mount Vernon, Illinois, with 817. The final three spots in Monday’s U14 Boys top five were collected by Thomas Nagy of Depew, New York (815), Ex Ingles of Wayland, Michigan (810), and Nehemiah Keefer of Bellwood, Illinois (799).
Just 55 athletes will continue on to the first Advancers’ Round at the end of qualifying on Thursday. Dawson Whitt of Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Trevor Welker of Wilmington, Delaware, would be the last two U14 boys through to the next round if qualifying ended today. They finished Monday’s opening four-game block with matching marks of 708.
U14 GIRLS
Emma Gearlds of Indianapolis was the only U14 Girls competitor to average above 190 on Day 1, using games of 192, 168, 204 and 219 to come in with a four-game total of 783 (a 195.8 average), which was good enough for first place 179-player field.
Symphony Hill of Kenosha, Wisconsin (750), Caitlin Stahl of Mankato, Minnesota (742), Reese Renth of Aviston, Illinois (738), and Olivia Titus of St. Charles, Missouri (737), also finished in the top five.
There will be 26 athletes moving on to the U14 Girls Advancers’ Round after qualifying. Carly Schimmer of Pittsburgh currently holds 26th place thanks to a Round 1 mark of 646.
U12 BOYS
Gleason Garske of Spokane, Washington, put himself atop the U12 Boys leaderboard on Monday thanks to a 775 total (a 193.8 average), which included games of 216, 179, 169 and 211.
Logan Nguyen of Harvey, Louisiana was second with 752, and Colin Park of San Jose, California placed third at 748. The final two spots in the top five were secured by Aaron Cabiness of Columbus, Ohio, and Kristopher Koehler of Stuart, Florida, who finished the day tied for fourth place with matching totals of 737.
Deklyn Bishop of Gresham, Oregon, and Dylan Glennon of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, currently share the 33rd and last spot in the final Advancers’ Round with 670.
U12 GIRLS
Taylor Morgan of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, led the U12 Girls division on Monday with games of 188, 163, 177 and 221 for a total of 749 (a 187.3 average).
Ava Flaningam of Roscoe, Illinois (716), Hannah Black of Butte, Montana (711), Samantha Ruffin of Fort Wayne, Indiana (709), and Lana Ip of Rowland Heights, California (699), also finished in the Day 1 top five.
At the end of Round 4 of qualifying on Thursday, the top 17 U12 Girls will advance to the final Advancers’ Round. Currently, Arya Rodriguez of Jacksonville, Florida, and Courtney Hein of Egan, South Dakota, sit tied for 17th place at 650.
CALIFORNIA’S GARCIA IMPRESSIVE ON ALL STAGES
The Junior Gold Championships experience can be nerve-racking as, for many athletes, it marks their first time competing on the national stage.
Percila Garcia of Porter Ranch, California, braved a different kind of stage on Sunday when she performed the National Anthem at the 2026 Junior Gold Championships Opening Ceremony, which took place at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center.
Despite some understandable jitters, Garcia was pleased with her performance.
“I was a bit nervous before I started, but I felt really good after I got done singing,” Garcia said.
Garcia kept the good vibes going during Round 1 of U12 Girls qualifying at Lucky Strike Eden Prairie on Monday, using scores of 156, 170, 169 and 180 to record a four-game series of 675 (a 168.8 average), which was good enough for eighth place in the division with three rounds remaining before the first cuts are made.
That performance, too, pleased Garcia, who simply said, “I was really happy with how I bowled today.”
But being happy is nothing new for Garcia; it’s just the way she is.
“I always try to stay positive,” Garcia said. “When you’re negative, you really get in your head, and that just makes you bowl worse. So, I’m just going to keep trying to have fun, make my spares and stay positive.”
MYLA OVER THE MOON FOR NEW U14 DIVISION
Myla Moon of Reeds Spring, Missouri, is making her Junior Gold Championships national finals debut at this year’s event in Minnesota.
Also new for 2026 are the U14 division Moon is participating in and the U16 competition – the 2024 and 2025 Junior Gold Championships featured just three divisions, U12, U15 and U18.
Moon would happily have competed in U15 had the division changes not been made; nevertheless, like many competitors, she is very glad they were.
“I think the changes are pretty cool,” Moon said. “Going from U12 to U15 is a big jump and a lot of people to go through. Now that there’s a U14 division, I feel like I can compete with more people who are around my age and skill level.”
But Moon’s goals for the week involve way more than just reaching a favorable position in the U14 Girls standings.
“I hope to make friends that I’ll be able to see and bowl with in the future,” Moon said. “Also, I want to see more of the sights and cool place in the area. I love Minnesota; it’s so pretty.”
MINNESOTA ATHLETES PUT PRIDE AND PERFORMANCE ON DISPLAY
This year marks the first time the Greater Minneapolis area has hosted the Junior Gold Championships.
Many athletes from the Land of 10,000 Lakes are showing their pride this week by donning jerseys emblazoned with the state’s outline, abbreviation and colorful artwork depicting notable features of Minnesota’s beautiful landscape.
During Round 1 of qualifying on Monday, many also showed that they are capable of beautiful things on the lanes as several Minnesotans authored strong opening-day performances.
One such bowler was 12-year-old Geordan Jones of Rogers, Minnesota, who fired 208 during Game 4 of U12 Boys action at Concord Lanes, the same center in which he previously captured a middle school title.
According to Jones, bowling at Concord definitely represents something of a home-field advantage.
“Bowling here feels pretty good because it’s so easy to get to from where we live,” Jones said. “I feel confident since I’ve been here before; the only difference is the oil pattern and the skill of everybody else at Junior Gold.”
Jones didn’t always live in Minnesota, however; previously, he and his family resided in Wisconsin, which explains the Green Bay Packers spare ball Jones uses despite now living in the heart of Viking country.
Even though he likes Minnesota just fine, Jones doesn’t currently have designs on switching NFL allegiances…or spare balls, saying simply, “I’ll stick with that spare ball because the Packers are still my favorite team.”
Jones and all other Junior Gold competitors will complete three more four-game qualifying blocks – on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – to determine competitors moving on to the Advancers’ Round. U12 advancers will bowl another four-game block before the top eight head into match play, while U14, U16 and U18 advancers will bowl a five-game block. A second cut is made for U14, U16 and U18 for the final Advancers’ Round with an additional five games before the top 16 advance to match play.
Match play will be a double-elimination bracket, with each match being two games and highest pinfall determining who advances. The final two in the Winners Bracket will bowl for the No. 1 seed in the stepladder finals, while the winner in the Elimination Bracket will be the No. 3 seed on the show.
The stepladder finals at the 2026 Junior Gold Championships will be streamed live on BowlTV and on Bowling TV, the new 24-hour channel dedicated entirely to bowling, which can be found on Prime Video, LG Channels, Xumo Play, DISH TV, Bonusview, Sling Freestream, Plex, Free Live Sports and Bowling TV’s Roku app.
This year’s live Junior Gold streams will take place on Saturday at noon Eastern (U12), 3 p.m. Eastern (U14), 6 p.m. Eastern (U16) and 9 p.m. Eastern (U18).
Because the stepladder finals will not be under live national television time constraints, each top seed will have to be beaten twice during stepladder competition in order to be denied their division’s title.
CLICK HERE for more information on the 2026 Junior Gold Championships.
MINNEAPOLIS – The hunt for national titles got underway at 10 bowling centers in the Greater Minneapolis area on Monday, where nearly 3,500 young athletes in four age-based divisions (U12, U14, U16 and U18) completed their first four-game qualifying blocks at the 2026 Junior Gold Championships.
U18 BOYS
Nolan Martin of Byron Center, Michigan, came in with a four-game total of 965 (a 241.3 average) on Monday thanks to scores of 256, 246, 224 and 239. That performance was enough to put Martin’s name atop the standings in the 915-player U18 Boys field with three rounds of qualifying remaining.
Cameron Morton of Saint Johns, Florida (950), and Brayden Schmechel of Muskego, Wisconsin (936), placed second and third, respectively.
The final two positions in the opening-day top five were secured by Brett Biondo of Carpentersville, Illinois (931), and Jaiden Ng of Syosset, New York (927).
A total of 131 U18 Boys will advance to the first Advancers’ Round after qualifying concludes on Thursday. Currently, Alex Unger of Columbus, Nebraska, and Noah Gibson of Wichita, Kansas, sit tied for 131st position with 796.
U18 GIRLS
Taylor Kretz of Erie, Pennsylvania, rolled games of 246, 202, 245 and 227 for a 920 total (a 230 average) on Monday, which was 90 pins better than the second-place mark of 830 authored by Bailey Secrest of Bellevue, Nebraska.
Grace Zuerner of Terre Haute, Indiana, and Maggie Smith of Ypsilanti, Michigan, tied for third at 824, leaving the final spot in the Round 1 top five to be claimed by Sofia Deluccia of Rockford, Michigan (821).
Of the 363 U18 Girls competing at this year’s tournament, just 51 will continue on to the first Advancers’ Round at the end of qualifying on Thursday. Arielle Clapper of Massillon, Ohio, and Mylie Ramirez of San Antonio are currently tied for 51st place with opening-day scores of 744.
U16 BOYS
Do Hoon Kwon of Vancouver, Washington, posted an opening-round total of 978 (a 244.5 average) on Monday on the strength of games of 237, 258, 215 and 268. That effort was enough to give Kwon the Day 1 lead in the 705-player U16 Boys division.
Blake Glines of Euless, Texas (970), Ryan Carmichael of South Bend, Indiana (958), Michael Martin of Jackson, Missouri (947), and Dawson Kohl of Dyersville, Iowa (940), also authored top-five finishes.
There will be 101 athletes punching tickets to the first Advancers’ Round in U16 Boys action this year. With three rounds remaining before the first cuts are made, five players sit tied for 101st place with opening-round scores of 809.
U16 GIRLS
Two U16 Girls averaged 200 or better on Monday with Emma Lester of Daleville, Alabama, leading the way at 813 (186, 244, 185 and 198) and Briar Graham of Norton Shores, Michigan, finishing close behind at 800.
Leighton Short of Fremont, Nebraska (794), Jennie Vasquez of Hollister, California (793) and Kellen Stephens of Collinsville, Illinois (784), rounded out the Day 1 top five.
With 325 U16 Girls competing this year, 46 will move on to the first Advancers’ Round after qualifying. Chrissa Sondergaard of Colton, South Dakota, and Josie Dambrino of Birmingham, Alabama, currently sit tied for 45th place with identical totals of 697.
U14 BOYS
Calvin Thrash Graves of Alexandria, Virginia, recorded scores of 190, 278, 206 and 162 for a four-game total of 836 (a 209 average) on Monday, which was good enough for first place in the 388-player U14 Boys division.
Second position during Round 1 went to Jaesun Mann of Mount Vernon, Illinois, with 817. The final three spots in Monday’s U14 Boys top five were collected by Thomas Nagy of Depew, New York (815), Ex Ingles of Wayland, Michigan (810), and Nehemiah Keefer of Bellwood, Illinois (799).
Just 55 athletes will continue on to the first Advancers’ Round at the end of qualifying on Thursday. Dawson Whitt of Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Trevor Welker of Wilmington, Delaware, would be the last two U14 boys through to the next round if qualifying ended today. They finished Monday’s opening four-game block with matching marks of 708.
U14 GIRLS
Emma Gearlds of Indianapolis was the only U14 Girls competitor to average above 190 on Day 1, using games of 192, 168, 204 and 219 to come in with a four-game total of 783 (a 195.8 average), which was good enough for first place 179-player field.
Symphony Hill of Kenosha, Wisconsin (750), Caitlin Stahl of Mankato, Minnesota (742), Reese Renth of Aviston, Illinois (738), and Olivia Titus of St. Charles, Missouri (737), also finished in the top five.
There will be 26 athletes moving on to the U14 Girls Advancers’ Round after qualifying. Carly Schimmer of Pittsburgh currently holds 26th place thanks to a Round 1 mark of 646.
U12 BOYS
Gleason Garske of Spokane, Washington, put himself atop the U12 Boys leaderboard on Monday thanks to a 775 total (a 193.8 average), which included games of 216, 179, 169 and 211.
Logan Nguyen of Harvey, Louisiana was second with 752, and Colin Park of San Jose, California placed third at 748. The final two spots in the top five were secured by Aaron Cabiness of Columbus, Ohio, and Kristopher Koehler of Stuart, Florida, who finished the day tied for fourth place with matching totals of 737.
Deklyn Bishop of Gresham, Oregon, and Dylan Glennon of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, currently share the 33rd and last spot in the final Advancers’ Round with 670.
U12 GIRLS
Taylor Morgan of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, led the U12 Girls division on Monday with games of 188, 163, 177 and 221 for a total of 749 (a 187.3 average).
Ava Flaningam of Roscoe, Illinois (716), Hannah Black of Butte, Montana (711), Samantha Ruffin of Fort Wayne, Indiana (709), and Lana Ip of Rowland Heights, California (699), also finished in the Day 1 top five.
At the end of Round 4 of qualifying on Thursday, the top 17 U12 Girls will advance to the final Advancers’ Round. Currently, Arya Rodriguez of Jacksonville, Florida, and Courtney Hein of Egan, South Dakota, sit tied for 17th place at 650.
CALIFORNIA’S GARCIA IMPRESSIVE ON ALL STAGES
The Junior Gold Championships experience can be nerve-racking as, for many athletes, it marks their first time competing on the national stage.
Percila Garcia of Porter Ranch, California, braved a different kind of stage on Sunday when she performed the National Anthem at the 2026 Junior Gold Championships Opening Ceremony, which took place at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center.
Despite some understandable jitters, Garcia was pleased with her performance.
“I was a bit nervous before I started, but I felt really good after I got done singing,” Garcia said.
Garcia kept the good vibes going during Round 1 of U12 Girls qualifying at Lucky Strike Eden Prairie on Monday, using scores of 156, 170, 169 and 180 to record a four-game series of 675 (a 168.8 average), which was good enough for eighth place in the division with three rounds remaining before the first cuts are made.
That performance, too, pleased Garcia, who simply said, “I was really happy with how I bowled today.”
But being happy is nothing new for Garcia; it’s just the way she is.
“I always try to stay positive,” Garcia said. “When you’re negative, you really get in your head, and that just makes you bowl worse. So, I’m just going to keep trying to have fun, make my spares and stay positive.”
MYLA OVER THE MOON FOR NEW U14 DIVISION
Myla Moon of Reeds Spring, Missouri, is making her Junior Gold Championships national finals debut at this year’s event in Minnesota.
Also new for 2026 are the U14 division Moon is participating in and the U16 competition – the 2024 and 2025 Junior Gold Championships featured just three divisions, U12, U15 and U18.
Moon would happily have competed in U15 had the division changes not been made; nevertheless, like many competitors, she is very glad they were.
“I think the changes are pretty cool,” Moon said. “Going from U12 to U15 is a big jump and a lot of people to go through. Now that there’s a U14 division, I feel like I can compete with more people who are around my age and skill level.”
But Moon’s goals for the week involve way more than just reaching a favorable position in the U14 Girls standings.
“I hope to make friends that I’ll be able to see and bowl with in the future,” Moon said. “Also, I want to see more of the sights and cool place in the area. I love Minnesota; it’s so pretty.”
MINNESOTA ATHLETES PUT PRIDE AND PERFORMANCE ON DISPLAY
This year marks the first time the Greater Minneapolis area has hosted the Junior Gold Championships.
Many athletes from the Land of 10,000 Lakes are showing their pride this week by donning jerseys emblazoned with the state’s outline, abbreviation and colorful artwork depicting notable features of Minnesota’s beautiful landscape.
During Round 1 of qualifying on Monday, many also showed that they are capable of beautiful things on the lanes as several Minnesotans authored strong opening-day performances.
One such bowler was 12-year-old Geordan Jones of Rogers, Minnesota, who fired 208 during Game 4 of U12 Boys action at Concord Lanes, the same center in which he previously captured a middle school title.
According to Jones, bowling at Concord definitely represents something of a home-field advantage.
“Bowling here feels pretty good because it’s so easy to get to from where we live,” Jones said. “I feel confident since I’ve been here before; the only difference is the oil pattern and the skill of everybody else at Junior Gold.”
Jones didn’t always live in Minnesota, however; previously, he and his family resided in Wisconsin, which explains the Green Bay Packers spare ball Jones uses despite now living in the heart of Viking country.
Even though he likes Minnesota just fine, Jones doesn’t currently have designs on switching NFL allegiances…or spare balls, saying simply, “I’ll stick with that spare ball because the Packers are still my favorite team.”
Jones and all other Junior Gold competitors will complete three more four-game qualifying blocks – on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – to determine competitors moving on to the Advancers’ Round. U12 advancers will bowl another four-game block before the top eight head into match play, while U14, U16 and U18 advancers will bowl a five-game block. A second cut is made for U14, U16 and U18 for the final Advancers’ Round with an additional five games before the top 16 advance to match play.
Match play will be a double-elimination bracket, with each match being two games and highest pinfall determining who advances. The final two in the Winners Bracket will bowl for the No. 1 seed in the stepladder finals, while the winner in the Elimination Bracket will be the No. 3 seed on the show.
The stepladder finals at the 2026 Junior Gold Championships will be streamed live on BowlTV and on Bowling TV, the new 24-hour channel dedicated entirely to bowling, which can be found on Prime Video, LG Channels, Xumo Play, DISH TV, Bonusview, Sling Freestream, Plex, Free Live Sports and Bowling TV’s Roku app.
This year’s live Junior Gold streams will take place on Saturday at noon Eastern (U12), 3 p.m. Eastern (U14), 6 p.m. Eastern (U16) and 9 p.m. Eastern (U18).
Because the stepladder finals will not be under live national television time constraints, each top seed will have to be beaten twice during stepladder competition in order to be denied their division’s title.
CLICK HERE for more information on the 2026 Junior Gold Championships.