USA Bowling National Championships start this week in Detroit
July 08, 2019
ARLINGTON, Texas – When the top youth teams in the country compete in the USA Bowling National Championships presented by Sixlets starting Thursday in the metro Detroit area, several of the participants will be seeking to add another national title to their resumes.
In its fourth year, the USA Bowling National Championships brings together the 32 champions from 16 regional tournaments – 16 teams in the 15-and-under division and 16 teams in the 12-and-under division.
Competition starts Thursday at noon (Eastern) at Astro Lanes, where all teams will bowl 15 qualifying matches using a modified Baker format to determine seeding for the double-elimination match-play bracket. Match play starts Friday at 10 a.m., also at Astro Lanes, and will consist of best-two-of-three Baker matches until the teams for the national title matches are determined.
Thunderbowl Lanes will host the title matches on Friday, July 19, with the U12 final at 5 p.m. and U15 final at 8 p.m. The single-elimination best-three-of-five Baker matches will be taped for broadcast.
CBS Sports Network will televise the U12 title match on Aug. 20 at 8 p.m. (Eastern) and the U15 final will air Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. (Eastern).
BowlTV.com will provide livestream coverage of qualifying and match-play rounds.
Four-person lineups are used in USA Bowling events, so the competition has a modified version of the Baker format. For each Baker game, the first two bowlers in the lineup each bowl three frames (1-5-9 and 2-6-10, respectively), while the other two team members bowl two frames each (3-7 and 4-8).
Nihal Mareedu of Union City, California, who won USA Bowling National Championships titles in 2017 and 2018 with the U12 Pacific Southwest representative, is a member of the U15 team that qualified as the Pacific Southwest champion at Steve Cook’s Fireside Lanes in Citrus Heights, California. Mareedu will be joined by Harley Shene of San Jose, California, who also was part of the 2017 U12 team champion.
Also, in the U15 division, Reece Dunbar of Lafayette, Indiana, and Kyle Toyias of Waterloo, Indiana, are on the Ohio Valley regional champions who qualified at Merri-Bowl Lanes in Livonia, Michigan. Dunbar and Toyias were on the Indiana All-Stars that won the inaugural U12 title in Indianapolis in 2016.
Several former Junior Gold champions also will compete in the USA Bowling National Championships, including Edgar Burgos of St. Charles, Illinois, who won the U12 Junior Gold boys title in 2016 and is on the Lower Great Lakes regional champion, and 2017 U12 boys winner Brandon Bohn of Jackson, New Jersey, who is on the New England regional champion.
Katelyn Abigania of San Diego, who won the U12 girls division at the 2018 Junior Gold Championships, is on the Southwest regional team.
The 2019 Junior Gold Championships presented by the Brands of Ebonite International also will take place in the metro Detroit area. The Junior Gold Championships Opening Ceremony will take place Sunday, July 14, at Eastern Michigan University’s Convocation Center with competition starting Monday, July 15, in eight area centers.
Go to BOWL.com/USABowling to learn more about the USA Bowling program, the regional tournaments and the USA Bowling National Championships.
In its fourth year, the USA Bowling National Championships brings together the 32 champions from 16 regional tournaments – 16 teams in the 15-and-under division and 16 teams in the 12-and-under division.
Competition starts Thursday at noon (Eastern) at Astro Lanes, where all teams will bowl 15 qualifying matches using a modified Baker format to determine seeding for the double-elimination match-play bracket. Match play starts Friday at 10 a.m., also at Astro Lanes, and will consist of best-two-of-three Baker matches until the teams for the national title matches are determined.
Thunderbowl Lanes will host the title matches on Friday, July 19, with the U12 final at 5 p.m. and U15 final at 8 p.m. The single-elimination best-three-of-five Baker matches will be taped for broadcast.
CBS Sports Network will televise the U12 title match on Aug. 20 at 8 p.m. (Eastern) and the U15 final will air Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. (Eastern).
BowlTV.com will provide livestream coverage of qualifying and match-play rounds.
Four-person lineups are used in USA Bowling events, so the competition has a modified version of the Baker format. For each Baker game, the first two bowlers in the lineup each bowl three frames (1-5-9 and 2-6-10, respectively), while the other two team members bowl two frames each (3-7 and 4-8).
Nihal Mareedu of Union City, California, who won USA Bowling National Championships titles in 2017 and 2018 with the U12 Pacific Southwest representative, is a member of the U15 team that qualified as the Pacific Southwest champion at Steve Cook’s Fireside Lanes in Citrus Heights, California. Mareedu will be joined by Harley Shene of San Jose, California, who also was part of the 2017 U12 team champion.
Also, in the U15 division, Reece Dunbar of Lafayette, Indiana, and Kyle Toyias of Waterloo, Indiana, are on the Ohio Valley regional champions who qualified at Merri-Bowl Lanes in Livonia, Michigan. Dunbar and Toyias were on the Indiana All-Stars that won the inaugural U12 title in Indianapolis in 2016.
Several former Junior Gold champions also will compete in the USA Bowling National Championships, including Edgar Burgos of St. Charles, Illinois, who won the U12 Junior Gold boys title in 2016 and is on the Lower Great Lakes regional champion, and 2017 U12 boys winner Brandon Bohn of Jackson, New Jersey, who is on the New England regional champion.
Katelyn Abigania of San Diego, who won the U12 girls division at the 2018 Junior Gold Championships, is on the Southwest regional team.
The 2019 Junior Gold Championships presented by the Brands of Ebonite International also will take place in the metro Detroit area. The Junior Gold Championships Opening Ceremony will take place Sunday, July 14, at Eastern Michigan University’s Convocation Center with competition starting Monday, July 15, in eight area centers.
Go to BOWL.com/USABowling to learn more about the USA Bowling program, the regional tournaments and the USA Bowling National Championships.