Titles claimed at 2024 USA Bowling National Championships
July 12, 2024
ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Teams representing the Coastal South and Atlantic East regions earned titles in the 12-and-under and 15-and-under divisions, respectively, at the 2024 USA Bowling National Championships Thursday.
The best-of-five match finals were taped by CBS Sports Network and will air on consecutive Tuesday evenings in July at 7 p.m. Eastern. The U12 finals will air July 16 and the U15 finals will air July 23. BowlTV provided live coverage of the qualifying and match play rounds leading up to the finals. For the first time in event history, scholarship money was made available with more than $120,000 awarded in this year’s event.
Bowling out of the Coastal South region in U12, Stars and Strikes defeated the South Central region’s No Lane No Gain team, in a 3-0 sweep. In U15, it was the Atlantic East region’s Gratitude team taking home a 3-1 victory over Ohio’s Finest from the Mideast region.
The championship round in each division 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.
2024 U12 CHAMPIONS - STARS AND STRIKES
Bowling for the Coastal South region’s Stars and Strikes team in the U12 finals were Nico Candelero, Vincent Cintron, Kristopher Koehler, Presley Raine and Colton Takas. In charge of the team was head coach Ryan Waters.
Comprising the South Central region’s No Lane No Gain team were head coach Matt Dorsett, assistant coach Rachel Toney, and athletes Matthew Dorsett (coach’s son), Caleb Ebner, Henry Mann, Treavor Mason, Tripp Perkins and Cooper Powell.
Game 1 of the U12 finals saw the Coastal South team, comprised of players all from Florida, overwhelm their South Central region opponent, featuring players all from Texas, 266-172.
Coastal South started the match with a double, then converted a pair of spares, before reeling off seven strikes in a row to put the opening match away.
The situation didn’t improve for South Central in Game 2 as the team suffered opens in the first, third and fifth frames. Conversely, Coastal South sandwiched a pair of three-baggers around a spare in the fourth frame and, despite a late four-bagger by South Central, cruised to a 219-188 victory that put them one win from the championship.
Game 3 was a bit closer. Despite open frames in the second and fifth frames, South Central remained within striking distance, aided by a missed single-pin spare by Coastal South in their second frame. A string of three consecutive strikes in frames six through eight gave South Central some hope, but a foul on the first delivery in the ninth frame, despite the subsequent spare conversion, slowed their momentum.
Coastal South slammed the door with a strike in their ninth frame, followed by a spare and strike in the 10th, that put the icing on a 204-166 win.
It was an outstanding team effort, with Presley Raine and Nico Candelero authoring standout performances. Raine, the only female in the U12 championship match, bowled lead-off in Games 1 and 2 and struck on seven of her eight shots over the three games. Candelero, who bowled anchor in Games 1 and 2, struck on seven of his 11 shots.
Candelero was asked if he felt any pressure being the anchor bowler for the first two games.
“No, I feel no pressure at all,” Candelero said, his voice hoarse from yelling encouragement to his fellow teammates. “I feel comfortable, and I just get up there and make my shots.”
That comfort extended to Raine, and it showed in her performance.
“I was hitting the pocket a lot in practice, so that gave me a lot of confidence,” Raine said. “I was able to use the same ball and the same line, and from there I just knew I had it.”
“They were locked in,” said Coach Waters, when asked if anyone on his team showed any signs of nervousness before or during the televised finals. “It was unbelievable. Even during warm-ups, they were hitting the pocket. They were comfortable and relaxed, just like they’ve been all year long. The TV lights and cameras, nothing seemed to bother them.”
The end result was a performance they will all remember, and one enhanced by the fellowship of the team.
“This team, they really enjoy each other’s company,” Coach Waters said. “They have fun together and are a true team in every sense of the word. You just can’t put people together and expect anything better.”
2024 U15 CHAMPIONS - GRATITUDE
In the U15 division, 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.
To learn more about the USA Bowling National Championships, visit BOWL.com/youth/usa-bowling.
The best-of-five match finals were taped by CBS Sports Network and will air on consecutive Tuesday evenings in July at 7 p.m. Eastern. The U12 finals will air July 16 and the U15 finals will air July 23. BowlTV provided live coverage of the qualifying and match play rounds leading up to the finals. For the first time in event history, scholarship money was made available with more than $120,000 awarded in this year’s event.
Bowling out of the Coastal South region in U12, Stars and Strikes defeated the South Central region’s No Lane No Gain team, in a 3-0 sweep. In U15, it was the Atlantic East region’s Gratitude team taking home a 3-1 victory over Ohio’s Finest from the Mideast region.
The championship round in each division 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.
2024 U12 CHAMPIONS - STARS AND STRIKES
Bowling for the Coastal South region’s Stars and Strikes team in the U12 finals were Nico Candelero, Vincent Cintron, Kristopher Koehler, Presley Raine and Colton Takas. In charge of the team was head coach Ryan Waters.
Comprising the South Central region’s No Lane No Gain team were head coach Matt Dorsett, assistant coach Rachel Toney, and athletes Matthew Dorsett (coach’s son), Caleb Ebner, Henry Mann, Treavor Mason, Tripp Perkins and Cooper Powell.
Game 1 of the U12 finals saw the Coastal South team, comprised of players all from Florida, overwhelm their South Central region opponent, featuring players all from Texas, 266-172.
Coastal South started the match with a double, then converted a pair of spares, before reeling off seven strikes in a row to put the opening match away.
The situation didn’t improve for South Central in Game 2 as the team suffered opens in the first, third and fifth frames. Conversely, Coastal South sandwiched a pair of three-baggers around a spare in the fourth frame and, despite a late four-bagger by South Central, cruised to a 219-188 victory that put them one win from the championship.
Game 3 was a bit closer. Despite open frames in the second and fifth frames, South Central remained within striking distance, aided by a missed single-pin spare by Coastal South in their second frame. A string of three consecutive strikes in frames six through eight gave South Central some hope, but a foul on the first delivery in the ninth frame, despite the subsequent spare conversion, slowed their momentum.
Coastal South slammed the door with a strike in their ninth frame, followed by a spare and strike in the 10th, that put the icing on a 204-166 win.
It was an outstanding team effort, with Presley Raine and Nico Candelero authoring standout performances. Raine, the only female in the U12 championship match, bowled lead-off in Games 1 and 2 and struck on seven of her eight shots over the three games. Candelero, who bowled anchor in Games 1 and 2, struck on seven of his 11 shots.
Candelero was asked if he felt any pressure being the anchor bowler for the first two games.
“No, I feel no pressure at all,” Candelero said, his voice hoarse from yelling encouragement to his fellow teammates. “I feel comfortable, and I just get up there and make my shots.”
That comfort extended to Raine, and it showed in her performance.
“I was hitting the pocket a lot in practice, so that gave me a lot of confidence,” Raine said. “I was able to use the same ball and the same line, and from there I just knew I had it.”
“They were locked in,” said Coach Waters, when asked if anyone on his team showed any signs of nervousness before or during the televised finals. “It was unbelievable. Even during warm-ups, they were hitting the pocket. They were comfortable and relaxed, just like they’ve been all year long. The TV lights and cameras, nothing seemed to bother them.”
The end result was a performance they will all remember, and one enhanced by the fellowship of the team.
“This team, they really enjoy each other’s company,” Coach Waters said. “They have fun together and are a true team in every sense of the word. You just can’t put people together and expect anything better.”
2024 U15 CHAMPIONS - GRATITUDE
In the U15 division, 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.
To learn more about the USA Bowling National Championships, visit BOWL.com/youth/usa-bowling.