Team USA men capture silver in doubles at 2024 PANAM Champion of Champions
October 08, 2024
FULL RESULTS
LIMA, Peru – Team USA bowlers Matt Russo of Ballwin, Missouri, and Chris Via of Springfield, Ohio, placed second in the 17-team men’s doubles field and walked away with silver medals during Monday’s opening day of competition at the 2024 PANAM Bowling Champion of Champions, which is being contested at the VIDENA Bowling Center of La Villa Deportiva Nacional (VIDENA) in Lima, Peru.
The American duo combined for an eight-game total of 3,132 thanks to 1,623 from Russo (217, 199, 190, 209, 172, 236, 197 and 203) and 1,509 from Via (179, 212, 192, 216, 183, 164, 163 and 200).
That allowed Team USA to finish in silver-medal position just 17 pins ahead of Peru’s Alejandro Ishikawa and Adrian Guibu, who took bronze with a mark of 3,115.
The gold medal in men’s doubles went to the Canadian duo of Mitch Hupe and Francois Lavoie, who put up scores of 1,787 and 1,515, respectively, to cruise to the top of the podium with an eight-game score of 3,302, which made it the only squad to finish the block with an average above 200 (206.38) on the 2024 Champion of Champions’ challenging 39-foot oil pattern.
Although Russo and Via certainly would have loved to have bested the Canadians for gold, neither man was disappointed with Monday’s runner-up finish.
“The lanes played hard just as I expected, but my spare shooting was fantastic today and my execution was solid,” Russo said. “Chris and I worked well together, picked each other up mentally and kept one another in it. We fed off one another’s energy and executed well.
“It’s always incredible to win a medal for the United States, so I’m proud to be bringing home a silver in doubles,” Russo said. “That’s a strong start to the week, and it allowed us to get a feel for the lanes heading into singles. Now, I’m just looking forward to grabbing more medals with Chris.”
Via’s take on Monday’s performance was largely similar.
“The lanes are hard. I felt like I bowled fairly well overall, but I had a hard time stringing together strikes,” Via said. “Still, bringing home a silver is a great feeling. I’m super proud to be a part of the team this year. It’s a great group of guys that I know are supporting us back home, so I’m excited to share this medal with them all.
“As for singles, we got some good information on the lanes and ball selections today that will hopefully allow us to bowl even better. It feels a little odd to bowl singles last since we usually gear up throughout the week for a team event, but I know Matt and I will continue to work together in hopes of bringing home a few more medals.”
Team USA’s Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona, and Crystal Elliott of Palm Bay, Florida, also will be hoping to pick up medals in singles and all events after failing to reach the podium during women’s doubles on Monday.
The Americans fought hard from start to finish on opening day with Coté notching an eight-game total of 1,577 (158, 190, 202, 211, 266, 162, 191 and 197) and Elliott contributing 1,519 (244, 181, 149, 191, 158, 161, 235 and 200) to bring the Team USA squad in with a mark of 3,096.
Unfortunately, that left Coté and Elliott six pins shy of the 3,102 authored by El Salvador’s Roxana Fajardo and Edith Quintanilla en route to the women’s doubles bronze medal.
Aruba’s Kamilah and Abigail Dammers claimed silver with 3,126 while gold went to the Venezuelan duo of Joan Gonzalez and Alicia Marcano, which reached the top of the podium thanks to an eight-game score of 3,131.
With doubles completed, the focus will shift to individual performances on Tuesday with competitors in both the men’s and women’s fields completing the first of two eight-game blocks of singles competition.
The final eight games of singles will be rolled on Wednesday, after which medals will be awarded to the top three finishers in each division based upon their 16-game totals.
Singles hardware won’t be all that’s up for grabs on Wednesday’s final day of competition, however, as all events medals will be distributed that evening as well. All events medals will go to the top three men and top three women based upon their 24-game total pinfall at the 2024 Champion of Champions.
Russo found himself in third place in the men’s all events standings after Monday’s opening round of competition while Via sat in 11th.
The results were similar on the women’s side after Day 1 with Coté residing in third place in the all events race and Elliott holding down 10th.
CLICK HERE for more information on Team USA.
LIMA, Peru – Team USA bowlers Matt Russo of Ballwin, Missouri, and Chris Via of Springfield, Ohio, placed second in the 17-team men’s doubles field and walked away with silver medals during Monday’s opening day of competition at the 2024 PANAM Bowling Champion of Champions, which is being contested at the VIDENA Bowling Center of La Villa Deportiva Nacional (VIDENA) in Lima, Peru.
The American duo combined for an eight-game total of 3,132 thanks to 1,623 from Russo (217, 199, 190, 209, 172, 236, 197 and 203) and 1,509 from Via (179, 212, 192, 216, 183, 164, 163 and 200).
That allowed Team USA to finish in silver-medal position just 17 pins ahead of Peru’s Alejandro Ishikawa and Adrian Guibu, who took bronze with a mark of 3,115.
The gold medal in men’s doubles went to the Canadian duo of Mitch Hupe and Francois Lavoie, who put up scores of 1,787 and 1,515, respectively, to cruise to the top of the podium with an eight-game score of 3,302, which made it the only squad to finish the block with an average above 200 (206.38) on the 2024 Champion of Champions’ challenging 39-foot oil pattern.
Although Russo and Via certainly would have loved to have bested the Canadians for gold, neither man was disappointed with Monday’s runner-up finish.
“The lanes played hard just as I expected, but my spare shooting was fantastic today and my execution was solid,” Russo said. “Chris and I worked well together, picked each other up mentally and kept one another in it. We fed off one another’s energy and executed well.
“It’s always incredible to win a medal for the United States, so I’m proud to be bringing home a silver in doubles,” Russo said. “That’s a strong start to the week, and it allowed us to get a feel for the lanes heading into singles. Now, I’m just looking forward to grabbing more medals with Chris.”
Via’s take on Monday’s performance was largely similar.
“The lanes are hard. I felt like I bowled fairly well overall, but I had a hard time stringing together strikes,” Via said. “Still, bringing home a silver is a great feeling. I’m super proud to be a part of the team this year. It’s a great group of guys that I know are supporting us back home, so I’m excited to share this medal with them all.
“As for singles, we got some good information on the lanes and ball selections today that will hopefully allow us to bowl even better. It feels a little odd to bowl singles last since we usually gear up throughout the week for a team event, but I know Matt and I will continue to work together in hopes of bringing home a few more medals.”
Team USA’s Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona, and Crystal Elliott of Palm Bay, Florida, also will be hoping to pick up medals in singles and all events after failing to reach the podium during women’s doubles on Monday.
The Americans fought hard from start to finish on opening day with Coté notching an eight-game total of 1,577 (158, 190, 202, 211, 266, 162, 191 and 197) and Elliott contributing 1,519 (244, 181, 149, 191, 158, 161, 235 and 200) to bring the Team USA squad in with a mark of 3,096.
Unfortunately, that left Coté and Elliott six pins shy of the 3,102 authored by El Salvador’s Roxana Fajardo and Edith Quintanilla en route to the women’s doubles bronze medal.
Aruba’s Kamilah and Abigail Dammers claimed silver with 3,126 while gold went to the Venezuelan duo of Joan Gonzalez and Alicia Marcano, which reached the top of the podium thanks to an eight-game score of 3,131.
With doubles completed, the focus will shift to individual performances on Tuesday with competitors in both the men’s and women’s fields completing the first of two eight-game blocks of singles competition.
The final eight games of singles will be rolled on Wednesday, after which medals will be awarded to the top three finishers in each division based upon their 16-game totals.
Singles hardware won’t be all that’s up for grabs on Wednesday’s final day of competition, however, as all events medals will be distributed that evening as well. All events medals will go to the top three men and top three women based upon their 24-game total pinfall at the 2024 Champion of Champions.
Russo found himself in third place in the men’s all events standings after Monday’s opening round of competition while Via sat in 11th.
The results were similar on the women’s side after Day 1 with Coté residing in third place in the all events race and Elliott holding down 10th.
CLICK HERE for more information on Team USA.