Atlantic East Region wins U15 title in USA Bowling National Championships on CBS Sports Network
July 24, 2024
ALLEN PARK, Mich. – The team representing the Atlantic East region emerged as champions in the 15-and-under division at the 2024 USA Bowling National Championships. The taped finals aired on CBS Sports Network Tuesday night.
The Atlantic East region’s Gratitude team defeated Ohio’s Finest out of the Mideast region, 3-1, to claim the championship contested inside Strobl Arena at Thunderbowl Lanes.
The championship round featured a four-person Baker format with the lead-off bowler bowling the first, fifth and ninth frames, the second bowler bowling the second, sixth and 10th frames, the third bowler bowling frames three and seven, and the fourth bowler bowling frames four and eight.
The Atlantic East region’s Gratitude team brought just four bowlers to the event, so they didn’t have the luxury of any substitutions. The roster for Gratitude featured athletes Matteo Quintero (a current member of the Development Program for Team USA and 2021 U12 Boys Junior Gold champion), Jackson Veitch, Sebastian Vetter and Jos Weems, and head coach LaShaune Darden.
Bowling for Ohio’s Finest out of the Mideast Region were Isaiah Durflinger (2022 U12 Boys Junior Gold champion), brothers Elliott and Miles Gordon, Baylie Massingill (2021 U12 Girls Junior Gold champion) and Andrew Parker, with Andrew’s dad Andy serving as the head coach.
The U15 title tilt found each team struggling to figure out the left lane (Lane 9). In Game 1, it was the Mideast team on the left lane where they suffered a pair of open frames and struck on five shots, but never were able to throw consecutive strikes.
Atlantic East converted single-pin spares in the first, fourth and sixth frames and struck on every other shot (including a closing six-bagger) for a convincing 249-172 Game 1 win.
In Game 2, it was Atlantic East’s turn on the left lane and their fortunes were similar to those of Mideast in Game 1. Atlantic East suffered splits in three of their first five frames and couldn’t convert any of them. Another open frame in the third after a failed 3-6-10 conversion put them at a serious disadvantage through five frames.
Mideast never let them back in the match, striking in seven of their first eight frames on their way to an easy 232-169 win that evened the match, 1-1.
Game 3 saw Mideast put together a much better performance on the left lane, but an unexpected foul by Elliott Gordon on his spare attempt of the 7 pin in the second frame impacted the match. It was the only non-strike in the first seven frames for Mideast.
Atlantic East had an open frame after a split in the first, converted a single-pin spare in the second, then rattled off four consecutive strikes, before converting another single-pin spare in the seventh to keep the match close.
Mideast converted spares in the eighth and ninth frames and struck on their first shot in the 10th before ending the match with a 4-10 split that was not converted. Strikes in the eighth, ninth and on the first shot in the 10th sealed Game 3 for Atlantic East, 237-223.
The good news for Atlantic East is that they now led, 2-1, and were one win away from the championship. The bad news was that they were headed back to the left lane, where no team had registered a win.
Vetter talked about the mindset of the team as they headed back to bowl on that left lane.
“I knew that all of us were on the same page,” Vetter said. “As a team, we knew that we really weren’t that far off. There was just a very small change that needed to happen. After talking it through as a team, it wasn’t that hard to come up with a change that would increase our results. We just needed to change our angles a little bit.”
In addition to that team strategy session, Coach Darden decided to make a lineup change for Game 4, moving Weems out of the lead-off spot to the No. 4 position, switching him with Quintero.
“We knew we needed to see the lane better,” Coach Darden said. “Jos was playing the lane different from everyone else, so by putting Mateo up top, it gave us a chance to read the lane a little bit cleaner and a little bit easier.”
The results were exactly what they were looking for. Atlantic East started Game 4 with five consecutive strikes and never looked back. Mideast suffered open frames after splits in the second and fifth frames. And, despite an open frame of their own in the seventh frame and only striking once in the final five frames, Atlantic East managed to win the game, 220-189, to earn the championship.
Atlantic East entered this event with tournament-tested bowlers. In addition to the accolades noted previously for Quintero, teammates Veitch, Vetter and Weems all have top-five finishes in Junior Gold competition.
“Everybody on this team has a title of some kind under their name,” Coach Darden said. “These guys already knew what to expect going in. A couple of them have been on TV shows before, so being under the lights wasn’t anything new to them. They’re used to winning and they know how to win. All of that just makes my job all that much easier.”
In the end, Weems summed the experience up for everyone.
“This has been great,” Weems said. “I have a lot of fun with these guys and they’re some of my best friends. The way we get along, it’s like no other friendship. Our team chemistry is great, and I think we’re going to have more moments like this. So, I just want to keep creating these moments with my friends.”
The 2024 USA Bowling National Championships in Detroit featured 14 regions that competed in U12 and 16 in U15. Each team that competed in Detroit earned their spot by winning their regional event. For the first time in event history, scholarship money was made available with more than $120,000 awarded in this year’s event.
Qualifying and match play rounds leading up to the CBS Sports Network finals were streamed live on BowlTV.com.
To learn more about the USA Bowling National Championships, visit BOWL.com/youth/usa-bowling.
The Atlantic East region’s Gratitude team defeated Ohio’s Finest out of the Mideast region, 3-1, to claim the championship contested inside Strobl Arena at Thunderbowl Lanes.
The championship round featured a four-person Baker format with the lead-off bowler bowling the first, fifth and ninth frames, the second bowler bowling the second, sixth and 10th frames, the third bowler bowling frames three and seven, and the fourth bowler bowling frames four and eight.
The Atlantic East region’s Gratitude team brought just four bowlers to the event, so they didn’t have the luxury of any substitutions. The roster for Gratitude featured athletes Matteo Quintero (a current member of the Development Program for Team USA and 2021 U12 Boys Junior Gold champion), Jackson Veitch, Sebastian Vetter and Jos Weems, and head coach LaShaune Darden.
Bowling for Ohio’s Finest out of the Mideast Region were Isaiah Durflinger (2022 U12 Boys Junior Gold champion), brothers Elliott and Miles Gordon, Baylie Massingill (2021 U12 Girls Junior Gold champion) and Andrew Parker, with Andrew’s dad Andy serving as the head coach.
The U15 title tilt found each team struggling to figure out the left lane (Lane 9). In Game 1, it was the Mideast team on the left lane where they suffered a pair of open frames and struck on five shots, but never were able to throw consecutive strikes.
Atlantic East converted single-pin spares in the first, fourth and sixth frames and struck on every other shot (including a closing six-bagger) for a convincing 249-172 Game 1 win.
In Game 2, it was Atlantic East’s turn on the left lane and their fortunes were similar to those of Mideast in Game 1. Atlantic East suffered splits in three of their first five frames and couldn’t convert any of them. Another open frame in the third after a failed 3-6-10 conversion put them at a serious disadvantage through five frames.
Mideast never let them back in the match, striking in seven of their first eight frames on their way to an easy 232-169 win that evened the match, 1-1.
Game 3 saw Mideast put together a much better performance on the left lane, but an unexpected foul by Elliott Gordon on his spare attempt of the 7 pin in the second frame impacted the match. It was the only non-strike in the first seven frames for Mideast.
Atlantic East had an open frame after a split in the first, converted a single-pin spare in the second, then rattled off four consecutive strikes, before converting another single-pin spare in the seventh to keep the match close.
Mideast converted spares in the eighth and ninth frames and struck on their first shot in the 10th before ending the match with a 4-10 split that was not converted. Strikes in the eighth, ninth and on the first shot in the 10th sealed Game 3 for Atlantic East, 237-223.
The good news for Atlantic East is that they now led, 2-1, and were one win away from the championship. The bad news was that they were headed back to the left lane, where no team had registered a win.
Vetter talked about the mindset of the team as they headed back to bowl on that left lane.
“I knew that all of us were on the same page,” Vetter said. “As a team, we knew that we really weren’t that far off. There was just a very small change that needed to happen. After talking it through as a team, it wasn’t that hard to come up with a change that would increase our results. We just needed to change our angles a little bit.”
In addition to that team strategy session, Coach Darden decided to make a lineup change for Game 4, moving Weems out of the lead-off spot to the No. 4 position, switching him with Quintero.
“We knew we needed to see the lane better,” Coach Darden said. “Jos was playing the lane different from everyone else, so by putting Mateo up top, it gave us a chance to read the lane a little bit cleaner and a little bit easier.”
The results were exactly what they were looking for. Atlantic East started Game 4 with five consecutive strikes and never looked back. Mideast suffered open frames after splits in the second and fifth frames. And, despite an open frame of their own in the seventh frame and only striking once in the final five frames, Atlantic East managed to win the game, 220-189, to earn the championship.
Atlantic East entered this event with tournament-tested bowlers. In addition to the accolades noted previously for Quintero, teammates Veitch, Vetter and Weems all have top-five finishes in Junior Gold competition.
“Everybody on this team has a title of some kind under their name,” Coach Darden said. “These guys already knew what to expect going in. A couple of them have been on TV shows before, so being under the lights wasn’t anything new to them. They’re used to winning and they know how to win. All of that just makes my job all that much easier.”
In the end, Weems summed the experience up for everyone.
“This has been great,” Weems said. “I have a lot of fun with these guys and they’re some of my best friends. The way we get along, it’s like no other friendship. Our team chemistry is great, and I think we’re going to have more moments like this. So, I just want to keep creating these moments with my friends.”
The 2024 USA Bowling National Championships in Detroit featured 14 regions that competed in U12 and 16 in U15. Each team that competed in Detroit earned their spot by winning their regional event. For the first time in event history, scholarship money was made available with more than $120,000 awarded in this year’s event.
Qualifying and match play rounds leading up to the CBS Sports Network finals were streamed live on BowlTV.com.
To learn more about the USA Bowling National Championships, visit BOWL.com/youth/usa-bowling.