Team USA claims three golds in singles at 2024 PANAM Bowling Championships
August 20, 2024
Tournament Page
RENO, Nev. – The 20 members of Team USA kicked off competition at the 2024 PANAM Bowling Adult, Senior and Super Senior Championships on Tuesday with singles at the National Bowling Stadium, collecting three gold medals.
The tournament features Adult (Elite), Senior (age 50 and over) and Super Senior (age 60 and over) classifications with a men’s and women’s division for each event. Competition includes singles, doubles, mixed doubles (Super Senior only), trios (Elite and Senior only) and team disciplines, with medals also being awarded for the top scores in all-events for 24 games.
Tuesday’s singles event consisted of six games on this week’s 41-foot lane condition, with total pinfall determining the medalists in each classification.
The top spots in the men’s division for the Senior classification came down to the final frame for Team USA’s Dan Knowlton, Tom Adcock and John Janawicz as they finished within eight pins of each other for gold, silver and bronze, respectively.
Adcock was the first to finish the block Tuesday, leaving a 3 pin on his first delivery in the 10th frame. He covered the spare and struck on his fill ball to conclude his final game with 207 for a 1,312 total. Knowlton, who entered Game 6 in seventh place, needed three strikes to close his game to go around his teammate by a pin. He rolled the necessary strikes to finish with 257 to get to 1,313.
Janawicz had set the pace in singles through the first five games but was unable to get anything going in his final game. He still was in position to secure the gold medal heading into his final frame but split for the third consecutive time, leaving the 4-6-7, to close with 148 for 1,305.
Team USA’s Steve Badovinac finished 20th with a total of 1,161.
Knowlton had games of 235, 175, 245, 194 and 207 before posting his highest score of the day in Game 6 to average more than 218 on the day.
He's been working throughout his time so far in Reno to find a consistent look on this week’s pattern.
“I didn’t feel like I had great ball reaction yesterday (during practice), so today I tried to keep it simple,” said Knowlton, a two-time winner on the Professional Bowlers Association 50 Tour. “I actually threw each of the six bowling balls I brought in, and I got all of my score on three of the pairs and kind of held on for the rest.
“It was just kind of a blind ball change at the end. Nothing else had really worked, and I knew I really needed a big game to try and get into the medal round. I didn’t think I would ever get to the gold. I started with the front four, and a couple things fell into place from there. I hadn’t even looked down to see where John was, since he had been way ahead of us with a couple games to go. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel as good when your teammate opens for you to win, but I feel like this is just unbelievable to win a gold.”
Knowlton collected his second PBA50 Tour win in July at the PBA50 Morgantown Classic, and he finished the season with a fifth-place performance at the PBA50 Tournament of Champions just before making his way to Reno.
He's been spending some time working on his game during the season, and he’s been happy with the results.
“It really felt like I threw the ball well this year,” Knowlton said. “I worked on a lot of different things, especially my speed control, and that came into play here. I used a couple different speeds and rotations, so I’ve added quite a bit to my game. I’m pretty excited with how I’m throwing it.”
In addition to sharing the moment with his teammates, Knowlton also was able to add to the experience by having his family join him in Reno.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Knowlton, who is making his program debut this week. “I have my daughter and wife here, and it’s great to have family here, of course. To get picked is an honor – to be able to win a medal is an even greater honor. For it to be gold in your first tournament is something out of a storybook.”
In the women’s division for the Senior classification, Team USA’s Jodi Woessner rolled to the top spot by 79 pins, posting a 1,369 total for her six-game block (228.16 average).
Team USA took four of the top five spots in the division, with Liz Johnson taking home silver with 1,290. Dana Ausec finished fourth with 1,256, and Kathy Ledford was fifth with 1,240.
Mexico’s Veronica Hernandez claimed the bronze medal with 1,273.
On the way to her third gold medal as a member of Team USA, Woessner had games of 224, 193, 224, 268, 236 and 224.
She made her debut with the program in 2023 at the International Bowling Federation World Senior Championships in Cali, Colombia. Woessner medaled in each event in 2023 and earned gold in doubles and team.
The United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer used that experience to help settle in Tuesday at the National Bowling Stadium, and she felt she worked well with Ledford in communicating moves across the 78-lane venue.
“I think it definitely helped me prepare for what to expect,” Woessner said. “I felt more comfortable and was able to get my legs under me a little quicker. I went out and tried to execute my game, and I think Kathy and I had a good read off each other and helped each other out a lot as far as lane play, because they were different from pair to pair.”
During the final three games, Woessner averaged more than 242 and was able to eliminate any unforced errors on the way to claiming a trip to the podium alongside Johnson.
“The first three games, I had two splits, two splits and one split – I was clean the last three games, which made a big difference,” Woessner said. “My ball reaction got better as the lanes started to settle down. I think it was conducive to my game, and I was a little more aggressive with it and just really saw it well.
“I felt like the first couple games I was close, but I was kind of questioning a couple things. I tried a couple of different balls, and once I switched balls in the third game, I was able to fall into a groove, relax and have fun. Striking is fun. Historically, I have struggled with carry in this place, so that gave me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the week. It’s just amazing. I wanted to do the best I could and let the chips fall where they may. To start off the week going one and two with Liz is just awesome and a great feeling.”
Team USA fell just short of the podium in the women’s Elite classification during singles Tuesday as Jillian Martin (1,334) and Shannon Pluhowsky (1,317) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Lauren Russo posted 1,279 to finish in 13th place, and Hope Gramly finished with 1,248 to also place in the top 20. Crystal Elliott recorded 1,237, and Breanna Clemmer had 1,219 for Team USA.
Costa Rica’s Elena Weinstok earned the gold medal in thrilling fashion in the Elite classification, securing the victory by a pin with a 1,366 total.
Weinstok concluded her set with a 245 game, but she had to wait and see as two challengers tried to go around her score at the NBS.
Guatemala’s Ana P. Morales stepped up first and had started Game 6 with nine strikes, and she recorded another one to start her final frame. Morales rolled an eight count on her next delivery (6-10) and covered the spare to finish with 288 for 1,360.
Moments later, Puerto Rico’s Zoriani Reyes needed a strike on her first shot for a chance at the outright lead. She left a 3-10 split, however, to fall out of contention for gold. She converted the spare and rolled a strike on her fill ball for a 235 game and 1,365 total to claim the silver medal.
For Team USA, the group learned a lot they can take moving forward for the rest of the week.
“Singles is about learning what the lanes are doing, what ball reactions we have and choices we’re going to make,” said Pluhowsky, a 24-time Team USA member. “We’re here for the team event, so we’ll take what happened today, learn from it and make some changes so we can turn those bad games into 200 instead of 180."
Packy Hanrahan collected his first medal as part of Team USA on Tuesday by winning gold in men’s singles in the Elite classification. The two-hander averaged more than 245 across his six games, rolling scores of 268, 269, 219, 268, 247 and 202 for a 1,473 total.
The silver medal went to Puerto Rico’s Israel Hernandez with 1,435, and Wascar Cavallo of the Dominican Republic took home bronze with 1,429.
Team USA’s Jake Peters just missed the podium, finishing in fifth with 1,422. Darren Tang posted 1,346, Spencer Robarge had 1,338, Julian Salinas finished with 1,318 and AJ Johnson closed with 1,292.
Hanrahan is making his Team USA debut this week. Although he was using Tuesday’s experience as a building block for the rest of the tournament, he realized a chance at a medal was in play after his strong start.
“I was just trying to learn about everybody, learn about the coaches – it’s my first time on the team, so I was trying to learn as much as I could,” said Hanrahan, a two-time PBA Tour champion. “With two games to go, I look up and see I have a chance. I had to bowl well in the last two games to hopefully put myself in position to get on the podium, so I tried to stay calm and throw as many strikes as possible.”
Heading into the final game, he had built a 66-pin lead over second place. He assessed his pace with Team USA head coach Bryan O’Keefe down the stretch, and he credited working with O’Keefe and Robarge, who’s also a two-handed southpaw, to helping secure the top spot.
“The blood gets flowing a bit and you can get a little anxious and excited about what could happen,” Hanrahan said. “I tried to refocus and make as many good shots as I could. With that last game, I was up nearly 70 pins on second but it wasn’t the best pair. I missed a couple times out of the gate on shots I liked, so I looked back at Bryan and asked how risky we need to be here. He went down and checked and said to just keep it in front of me. I didn’t need 240 again, I needed a safe score.
“Getting to work with Bryan and bowl with Spencer was awesome. I get to bowl with him again tomorrow, so hopefully we can get back on that podium. We really worked well together. He was helping me with some of the moves, and I was helping him as the day went on. It was nice to have a really good team effort throughout the day.”
Hanrahan’s first gold wearing the red, white and blue will be something he won’t forget, but he knows how important the collective team effort is to make the week a successful endeavor for the entire program.
“It’s unbelievable – being able to win the singles gold medal is awesome,” Hanrahan said. “The real goal is to win as a team. Individually, it’s awesome. It means a ton to me to get any medal while wearing this jersey, especially with it being my first time. But it’s all about being able to win with the guys. Today, I didn’t win – we won. It’s all about how many medals we can get together in these jerseys. It’s not my medal, it’s our medal.”
Team USA did not field a team for the Super Senior classification. Colombia swept the top spots in singles as Gloria Arango (1,144) won gold in the women’s division and David Romero (1,232) earned the victory in the men’s division.
The tournament will transition to doubles Wednesday in Reno. The women’s field in the Elite classification will kick things off at 11 a.m. Eastern, followed by the Senior and Super Senior competitors starting at 4 p.m. Eastern. The men’s field in the Elite category will take the lanes at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Trios and mixed doubles will take place Thursday at the NBS, and the team event will be contested across Friday and Saturday to close the 2024 event.
The 2024 PANAM Bowling Adult, Senior and Super Senior Championships features 19 countries from within the Western Hemisphere.
RENO, Nev. – The 20 members of Team USA kicked off competition at the 2024 PANAM Bowling Adult, Senior and Super Senior Championships on Tuesday with singles at the National Bowling Stadium, collecting three gold medals.
The tournament features Adult (Elite), Senior (age 50 and over) and Super Senior (age 60 and over) classifications with a men’s and women’s division for each event. Competition includes singles, doubles, mixed doubles (Super Senior only), trios (Elite and Senior only) and team disciplines, with medals also being awarded for the top scores in all-events for 24 games.
Tuesday’s singles event consisted of six games on this week’s 41-foot lane condition, with total pinfall determining the medalists in each classification.
The top spots in the men’s division for the Senior classification came down to the final frame for Team USA’s Dan Knowlton, Tom Adcock and John Janawicz as they finished within eight pins of each other for gold, silver and bronze, respectively.
Adcock was the first to finish the block Tuesday, leaving a 3 pin on his first delivery in the 10th frame. He covered the spare and struck on his fill ball to conclude his final game with 207 for a 1,312 total. Knowlton, who entered Game 6 in seventh place, needed three strikes to close his game to go around his teammate by a pin. He rolled the necessary strikes to finish with 257 to get to 1,313.
Janawicz had set the pace in singles through the first five games but was unable to get anything going in his final game. He still was in position to secure the gold medal heading into his final frame but split for the third consecutive time, leaving the 4-6-7, to close with 148 for 1,305.
Team USA’s Steve Badovinac finished 20th with a total of 1,161.
Knowlton had games of 235, 175, 245, 194 and 207 before posting his highest score of the day in Game 6 to average more than 218 on the day.
He's been working throughout his time so far in Reno to find a consistent look on this week’s pattern.
“I didn’t feel like I had great ball reaction yesterday (during practice), so today I tried to keep it simple,” said Knowlton, a two-time winner on the Professional Bowlers Association 50 Tour. “I actually threw each of the six bowling balls I brought in, and I got all of my score on three of the pairs and kind of held on for the rest.
“It was just kind of a blind ball change at the end. Nothing else had really worked, and I knew I really needed a big game to try and get into the medal round. I didn’t think I would ever get to the gold. I started with the front four, and a couple things fell into place from there. I hadn’t even looked down to see where John was, since he had been way ahead of us with a couple games to go. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel as good when your teammate opens for you to win, but I feel like this is just unbelievable to win a gold.”
Knowlton collected his second PBA50 Tour win in July at the PBA50 Morgantown Classic, and he finished the season with a fifth-place performance at the PBA50 Tournament of Champions just before making his way to Reno.
He's been spending some time working on his game during the season, and he’s been happy with the results.
“It really felt like I threw the ball well this year,” Knowlton said. “I worked on a lot of different things, especially my speed control, and that came into play here. I used a couple different speeds and rotations, so I’ve added quite a bit to my game. I’m pretty excited with how I’m throwing it.”
In addition to sharing the moment with his teammates, Knowlton also was able to add to the experience by having his family join him in Reno.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Knowlton, who is making his program debut this week. “I have my daughter and wife here, and it’s great to have family here, of course. To get picked is an honor – to be able to win a medal is an even greater honor. For it to be gold in your first tournament is something out of a storybook.”
In the women’s division for the Senior classification, Team USA’s Jodi Woessner rolled to the top spot by 79 pins, posting a 1,369 total for her six-game block (228.16 average).
Team USA took four of the top five spots in the division, with Liz Johnson taking home silver with 1,290. Dana Ausec finished fourth with 1,256, and Kathy Ledford was fifth with 1,240.
Mexico’s Veronica Hernandez claimed the bronze medal with 1,273.
On the way to her third gold medal as a member of Team USA, Woessner had games of 224, 193, 224, 268, 236 and 224.
She made her debut with the program in 2023 at the International Bowling Federation World Senior Championships in Cali, Colombia. Woessner medaled in each event in 2023 and earned gold in doubles and team.
The United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer used that experience to help settle in Tuesday at the National Bowling Stadium, and she felt she worked well with Ledford in communicating moves across the 78-lane venue.
“I think it definitely helped me prepare for what to expect,” Woessner said. “I felt more comfortable and was able to get my legs under me a little quicker. I went out and tried to execute my game, and I think Kathy and I had a good read off each other and helped each other out a lot as far as lane play, because they were different from pair to pair.”
During the final three games, Woessner averaged more than 242 and was able to eliminate any unforced errors on the way to claiming a trip to the podium alongside Johnson.
“The first three games, I had two splits, two splits and one split – I was clean the last three games, which made a big difference,” Woessner said. “My ball reaction got better as the lanes started to settle down. I think it was conducive to my game, and I was a little more aggressive with it and just really saw it well.
“I felt like the first couple games I was close, but I was kind of questioning a couple things. I tried a couple of different balls, and once I switched balls in the third game, I was able to fall into a groove, relax and have fun. Striking is fun. Historically, I have struggled with carry in this place, so that gave me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the week. It’s just amazing. I wanted to do the best I could and let the chips fall where they may. To start off the week going one and two with Liz is just awesome and a great feeling.”
Team USA fell just short of the podium in the women’s Elite classification during singles Tuesday as Jillian Martin (1,334) and Shannon Pluhowsky (1,317) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Lauren Russo posted 1,279 to finish in 13th place, and Hope Gramly finished with 1,248 to also place in the top 20. Crystal Elliott recorded 1,237, and Breanna Clemmer had 1,219 for Team USA.
Costa Rica’s Elena Weinstok earned the gold medal in thrilling fashion in the Elite classification, securing the victory by a pin with a 1,366 total.
Weinstok concluded her set with a 245 game, but she had to wait and see as two challengers tried to go around her score at the NBS.
Guatemala’s Ana P. Morales stepped up first and had started Game 6 with nine strikes, and she recorded another one to start her final frame. Morales rolled an eight count on her next delivery (6-10) and covered the spare to finish with 288 for 1,360.
Moments later, Puerto Rico’s Zoriani Reyes needed a strike on her first shot for a chance at the outright lead. She left a 3-10 split, however, to fall out of contention for gold. She converted the spare and rolled a strike on her fill ball for a 235 game and 1,365 total to claim the silver medal.
For Team USA, the group learned a lot they can take moving forward for the rest of the week.
“Singles is about learning what the lanes are doing, what ball reactions we have and choices we’re going to make,” said Pluhowsky, a 24-time Team USA member. “We’re here for the team event, so we’ll take what happened today, learn from it and make some changes so we can turn those bad games into 200 instead of 180."
Packy Hanrahan collected his first medal as part of Team USA on Tuesday by winning gold in men’s singles in the Elite classification. The two-hander averaged more than 245 across his six games, rolling scores of 268, 269, 219, 268, 247 and 202 for a 1,473 total.
The silver medal went to Puerto Rico’s Israel Hernandez with 1,435, and Wascar Cavallo of the Dominican Republic took home bronze with 1,429.
Team USA’s Jake Peters just missed the podium, finishing in fifth with 1,422. Darren Tang posted 1,346, Spencer Robarge had 1,338, Julian Salinas finished with 1,318 and AJ Johnson closed with 1,292.
Hanrahan is making his Team USA debut this week. Although he was using Tuesday’s experience as a building block for the rest of the tournament, he realized a chance at a medal was in play after his strong start.
“I was just trying to learn about everybody, learn about the coaches – it’s my first time on the team, so I was trying to learn as much as I could,” said Hanrahan, a two-time PBA Tour champion. “With two games to go, I look up and see I have a chance. I had to bowl well in the last two games to hopefully put myself in position to get on the podium, so I tried to stay calm and throw as many strikes as possible.”
Heading into the final game, he had built a 66-pin lead over second place. He assessed his pace with Team USA head coach Bryan O’Keefe down the stretch, and he credited working with O’Keefe and Robarge, who’s also a two-handed southpaw, to helping secure the top spot.
“The blood gets flowing a bit and you can get a little anxious and excited about what could happen,” Hanrahan said. “I tried to refocus and make as many good shots as I could. With that last game, I was up nearly 70 pins on second but it wasn’t the best pair. I missed a couple times out of the gate on shots I liked, so I looked back at Bryan and asked how risky we need to be here. He went down and checked and said to just keep it in front of me. I didn’t need 240 again, I needed a safe score.
“Getting to work with Bryan and bowl with Spencer was awesome. I get to bowl with him again tomorrow, so hopefully we can get back on that podium. We really worked well together. He was helping me with some of the moves, and I was helping him as the day went on. It was nice to have a really good team effort throughout the day.”
Hanrahan’s first gold wearing the red, white and blue will be something he won’t forget, but he knows how important the collective team effort is to make the week a successful endeavor for the entire program.
“It’s unbelievable – being able to win the singles gold medal is awesome,” Hanrahan said. “The real goal is to win as a team. Individually, it’s awesome. It means a ton to me to get any medal while wearing this jersey, especially with it being my first time. But it’s all about being able to win with the guys. Today, I didn’t win – we won. It’s all about how many medals we can get together in these jerseys. It’s not my medal, it’s our medal.”
Team USA did not field a team for the Super Senior classification. Colombia swept the top spots in singles as Gloria Arango (1,144) won gold in the women’s division and David Romero (1,232) earned the victory in the men’s division.
The tournament will transition to doubles Wednesday in Reno. The women’s field in the Elite classification will kick things off at 11 a.m. Eastern, followed by the Senior and Super Senior competitors starting at 4 p.m. Eastern. The men’s field in the Elite category will take the lanes at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Trios and mixed doubles will take place Thursday at the NBS, and the team event will be contested across Friday and Saturday to close the 2024 event.
The 2024 PANAM Bowling Adult, Senior and Super Senior Championships features 19 countries from within the Western Hemisphere.