Ausec wins 2023 USBC Senior Queens
April 26, 2023
FULL RESULTS
LAS VEGAS – Many people dread turning 50, but that wasn’t the case for Dana Ausec of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Instead, she looked forward to it because once she celebrated that milestone birthday back in August, she became eligible to compete in the United States Bowling Congress Senior Queens.
Ausec certainly made the most of her debut performance as she defeated top seed Tish Johnson, also of Colorado Springs, 211-157 and 190-184 Tuesday night at Gold Coast Bowling Center to become the 2023 USBC Senior Queens champion.
The victory allowed Ausec to leave Las Vegas with the coveted tiara awarded to the champion and the $8,000 top prize. Johnson earned $6,150 for the runner-up finish.
All rounds of competition at the 2023 Senior Queens were broadcast live at BowlTV.com, and the at-home audience and capacity crowd in attendance Tuesday night were certainly treated to a thrilling title match.
Because Johnson entered the bout as the only undefeated player from the tournament’s double-elimination bracket, Ausec had to beat her twice in the finals in order to win the tournament.
Nobody in attendance expected that to be an easy task as Johnson had dominated the field since competition began on Sunday, leading qualifying by more than 160 pins and breezing through most of her bracket matches enroute to a 5-0 record and the top seed for the stepladder finals.
Nevertheless, Ausec wasn’t intimidated heading into the title match. Perhaps that’s because Johnson wasn’t just another opponent; she’s also a teammate and friend.
Johnson and Ausec are doubles partners and league teammates in the Colorado Springs area, and that helped take a bit of the edge off for the Senior Queens rookie heading into the finals.
“Twenty years ago, when Tish (Johnson) moved to Colorado Springs, I was in awe when she came to sub during a league that I bowled in,” Ausec said. “Now, we bowl doubles and leagues together, so that intimidation factor that she holds over a lot of people probably isn’t there for me anymore.”
Ausec made that fact quite clear during the title match.
She and Johnson were tied midway through the first game of the championship bout, but after Johnson suffered back-to-back opens in the seventh and eighth frames, Ausec pounced, striking on four of her last five shots to secure a 211-157 victory that forced the second and deciding game.
The final 10 frames of this year’s tournament definitely lived up to the hype as Ausec jumped out to a 12 pin lead after four frames only to open twice and allow Johnson to erase the deficit and establish a 14 pin advantage of her own after seven.
That’s when the excitement really ratcheted up.
Johnson’s ball crept high in the eighth frame, leaving the 2-4 standing, which she easily converted.
That’s when Ausec, who had only struck once up to that point in the game, got a fortunate break by carrying very light mixer strikes in both the eighth and ninth frames.
Despite Ausec’s double, Johnson stepped up for her last two frames with a chance to lock up the win.
If the USBC and Professional Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Famer could strike in the ninth, 10th and 11th and take eight or better on her fill ball, she would claim her second Senior Queens title – she won her first in 2018.
Johnson delivered a quality shot in the ninth frame, but the 7 pin refused to fall. She converted the spare and then proceeded to strike in the 10th and 11th before her last shot went high for an eight count.
Still, the double brought Johnson’s score to 184, which meant that Ausec had to throw a double of her own in the 10th frame or else she’d lose the tiara to her doubles partner and league teammate.
Despite being a Senior Queens rookie, Ausec showed the poise of a seasoned veteran as she stepped up and calmy delivered the two strikes she needed and then took seven on her fill ball to emerge with a hard-fought 190-184 title-clinching victory.
“When I carried that second strike, I just thought, ‘oh, my god; I just won the Senior Queens,’” Ausec said. “Bowling in this tournament was the main reason I was excited about turning 50. This feels amazing.”
Ausec was pretty amazing in her own right during her three days of Senior Queens competition, averaging more than 215 over 33 games through qualifying, match play and the stepladder on the event’s 42-foot oil pattern.
She finished bracket play with a 4-1 record with her only loss coming during a 706-697 heartbreaker to Johnson during the battle for the top seed for the stepladder.
Ausec had a golden opportunity to win that match, but a vicious pocket 7-10 during the 10th frame of Game 3 allowed Johnson to hang on for the No. 1 spot.
Many bowlers would have dwelled on the unfairness of that missed opportunity, but not Ausec.
“I took about 10 to 15 minutes to be upset, frustrated and mad because that was a bad break at a really bad time; however, I had gotten some good breaks during that match as well,” Ausec said. “After I wrapped my head around that, I thought maybe it was better to be the second seed so that I would get more than one game to get comfortable on the lanes.”
It didn’t take long for Ausec to look comfortable during her semifinal victory over Sandra Shultz of Macomb, Michigan, as Ausec stayed clean and recorded two doubles and a turkey to cruise to a 235-202 win.
Up to that point, it looked like maybe Schultz was going to have a memorable night of her own by running the ladder.
She kicked off the finals with an easy 247-164 win over No. 5 seed Pamela Pancoast of Lomita, California, before eliminating reigning Senior Queens champion Jodi Woessner of Oregon, Ohio, (212-202) during Match 2.
Nevertheless, it was Ausec’s night, and once she hit the lanes, Schultz’s run came to an end, and shortly thereafter, so did Johnson’s seemingly inevitable march to the title.
Despite coming out on top on this night, Ausec still has tremendous respect for Johnson. Also, she expects to possibly get a little bit of grief from her teammate the next time they hit the lanes together back in Colorado Springs.
“My husband wasn’t a bowler when he was a kid, so he didn’t know who Tish was or anything about her. I grew up watching Tish, so I told him about all about her accolades and how incredible she is,” Ausec said. “She drills all my bowling balls now, so I’m sure I’m going to hear about it the next time we see each other.”
All competitors at the 2023 Senior Queens bowled 15 games of qualifying over two days to determine the top 32 players advancing to the bracket. As defending champion, Woessner was guaranteed no worse than 32nd position in the bracket; however, she improved her seed by qualifying 11th.
Advancers bowled match play Monday and Tuesday to determine the five athletes for the stepladder finals. All bracket matches leading up to the stepladder were three games with total pinfall determining who advances.
The final three earned their way into the finals by battling through the Elimination Bracket and then surviving a four-bowler, three-game shootout Tuesday afternoon. The top three advanced to the stepladder and were ranked based on their series totals.
Woessner earned the No. 3 seed with a 620 set while Schultz and Pancoast advanced to the first match of the stepladder with totals of 591 and 550, respectively.
Sharon Powers of Lakewood, Colorado, was fourth in the shootout with a 526 series and was eliminated, finishing in sixth place.
LAS VEGAS – Many people dread turning 50, but that wasn’t the case for Dana Ausec of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Instead, she looked forward to it because once she celebrated that milestone birthday back in August, she became eligible to compete in the United States Bowling Congress Senior Queens.
Ausec certainly made the most of her debut performance as she defeated top seed Tish Johnson, also of Colorado Springs, 211-157 and 190-184 Tuesday night at Gold Coast Bowling Center to become the 2023 USBC Senior Queens champion.
The victory allowed Ausec to leave Las Vegas with the coveted tiara awarded to the champion and the $8,000 top prize. Johnson earned $6,150 for the runner-up finish.
All rounds of competition at the 2023 Senior Queens were broadcast live at BowlTV.com, and the at-home audience and capacity crowd in attendance Tuesday night were certainly treated to a thrilling title match.
Because Johnson entered the bout as the only undefeated player from the tournament’s double-elimination bracket, Ausec had to beat her twice in the finals in order to win the tournament.
Nobody in attendance expected that to be an easy task as Johnson had dominated the field since competition began on Sunday, leading qualifying by more than 160 pins and breezing through most of her bracket matches enroute to a 5-0 record and the top seed for the stepladder finals.
Nevertheless, Ausec wasn’t intimidated heading into the title match. Perhaps that’s because Johnson wasn’t just another opponent; she’s also a teammate and friend.
Johnson and Ausec are doubles partners and league teammates in the Colorado Springs area, and that helped take a bit of the edge off for the Senior Queens rookie heading into the finals.
“Twenty years ago, when Tish (Johnson) moved to Colorado Springs, I was in awe when she came to sub during a league that I bowled in,” Ausec said. “Now, we bowl doubles and leagues together, so that intimidation factor that she holds over a lot of people probably isn’t there for me anymore.”
Ausec made that fact quite clear during the title match.
She and Johnson were tied midway through the first game of the championship bout, but after Johnson suffered back-to-back opens in the seventh and eighth frames, Ausec pounced, striking on four of her last five shots to secure a 211-157 victory that forced the second and deciding game.
The final 10 frames of this year’s tournament definitely lived up to the hype as Ausec jumped out to a 12 pin lead after four frames only to open twice and allow Johnson to erase the deficit and establish a 14 pin advantage of her own after seven.
That’s when the excitement really ratcheted up.
Johnson’s ball crept high in the eighth frame, leaving the 2-4 standing, which she easily converted.
That’s when Ausec, who had only struck once up to that point in the game, got a fortunate break by carrying very light mixer strikes in both the eighth and ninth frames.
Despite Ausec’s double, Johnson stepped up for her last two frames with a chance to lock up the win.
If the USBC and Professional Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Famer could strike in the ninth, 10th and 11th and take eight or better on her fill ball, she would claim her second Senior Queens title – she won her first in 2018.
Johnson delivered a quality shot in the ninth frame, but the 7 pin refused to fall. She converted the spare and then proceeded to strike in the 10th and 11th before her last shot went high for an eight count.
Still, the double brought Johnson’s score to 184, which meant that Ausec had to throw a double of her own in the 10th frame or else she’d lose the tiara to her doubles partner and league teammate.
Despite being a Senior Queens rookie, Ausec showed the poise of a seasoned veteran as she stepped up and calmy delivered the two strikes she needed and then took seven on her fill ball to emerge with a hard-fought 190-184 title-clinching victory.
“When I carried that second strike, I just thought, ‘oh, my god; I just won the Senior Queens,’” Ausec said. “Bowling in this tournament was the main reason I was excited about turning 50. This feels amazing.”
Ausec was pretty amazing in her own right during her three days of Senior Queens competition, averaging more than 215 over 33 games through qualifying, match play and the stepladder on the event’s 42-foot oil pattern.
She finished bracket play with a 4-1 record with her only loss coming during a 706-697 heartbreaker to Johnson during the battle for the top seed for the stepladder.
Ausec had a golden opportunity to win that match, but a vicious pocket 7-10 during the 10th frame of Game 3 allowed Johnson to hang on for the No. 1 spot.
Many bowlers would have dwelled on the unfairness of that missed opportunity, but not Ausec.
“I took about 10 to 15 minutes to be upset, frustrated and mad because that was a bad break at a really bad time; however, I had gotten some good breaks during that match as well,” Ausec said. “After I wrapped my head around that, I thought maybe it was better to be the second seed so that I would get more than one game to get comfortable on the lanes.”
It didn’t take long for Ausec to look comfortable during her semifinal victory over Sandra Shultz of Macomb, Michigan, as Ausec stayed clean and recorded two doubles and a turkey to cruise to a 235-202 win.
Up to that point, it looked like maybe Schultz was going to have a memorable night of her own by running the ladder.
She kicked off the finals with an easy 247-164 win over No. 5 seed Pamela Pancoast of Lomita, California, before eliminating reigning Senior Queens champion Jodi Woessner of Oregon, Ohio, (212-202) during Match 2.
Nevertheless, it was Ausec’s night, and once she hit the lanes, Schultz’s run came to an end, and shortly thereafter, so did Johnson’s seemingly inevitable march to the title.
Despite coming out on top on this night, Ausec still has tremendous respect for Johnson. Also, she expects to possibly get a little bit of grief from her teammate the next time they hit the lanes together back in Colorado Springs.
“My husband wasn’t a bowler when he was a kid, so he didn’t know who Tish was or anything about her. I grew up watching Tish, so I told him about all about her accolades and how incredible she is,” Ausec said. “She drills all my bowling balls now, so I’m sure I’m going to hear about it the next time we see each other.”
All competitors at the 2023 Senior Queens bowled 15 games of qualifying over two days to determine the top 32 players advancing to the bracket. As defending champion, Woessner was guaranteed no worse than 32nd position in the bracket; however, she improved her seed by qualifying 11th.
Advancers bowled match play Monday and Tuesday to determine the five athletes for the stepladder finals. All bracket matches leading up to the stepladder were three games with total pinfall determining who advances.
The final three earned their way into the finals by battling through the Elimination Bracket and then surviving a four-bowler, three-game shootout Tuesday afternoon. The top three advanced to the stepladder and were ranked based on their series totals.
Woessner earned the No. 3 seed with a 620 set while Schultz and Pancoast advanced to the first match of the stepladder with totals of 591 and 550, respectively.
Sharon Powers of Lakewood, Colorado, was fourth in the shootout with a 526 series and was eliminated, finishing in sixth place.