By JOHNNY CAMPOS
Teen Masters
(This article is republished thanks to Johnny Campos and the Teen Masters tournament)
ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Ryan Speer of Beech Grove, Ind., completed a huge comeback in the final round of match play on Friday night to claim the boys title in the Teen Masters Championships.
In the girls division, Abbie Leindecker of Wooster led almost wire-to-wire and pulled away at the end to claim her first major title at historic Strobl Arena at Thunderbowl Lanes.
For Leiendecker, the win ended a string of close calls in major tournaments without a victory. She finished with a 36-game pinfall total of 7,657, and had high average among the girls at 206.
Emma Siekierski of Davison, Mich., was second at 7,404, Mia Stolakis of Worcester, Mass., third (7,365) and Hope Bunk, Billings, Mont., fourth (7,017). Wooster’s Emma Yoder also had a top-12 finish, taking 11th overall.
“After being fourth, fifth, third and second multiple times a lot in my life, it feels good to have one major thing,” Leiendecker said. “So it’s like, ‘Oh, my god! She’s actually kind of good!’ ”
Leiendecker lost her first two games of the last round and fell behind Emma Siekierski of Davison, Mich.
“Falling behind wasn’t a wake-up call at all,” Leiendecker said. “I have this thing where when I get behind, I get more of a, ‘Wow! Don’t do that!’
“After leading the tournament for that whole entire time, knowing that it was not that far of a gap even though I got passed, one big game and you put yourself right back in because of those 30 bonus pins.”
And that’s just what she did. Leiendecker quickly regained the lead with a 235-169 decision over 2022 champ Rachel Moore of Keokuk, Iowa, and followed with wins of 201-191 over Bunk, and 233-181 over Meagan Kennedy of Brownsburg, Ind.
That gave her a 133-pin lead over Siekierski going into the final game, which wasn’t even close. Leiendecker put the game away early, striking in seven of her first eight shots and winning the game, 243-153.
Leiendecker, still trails her older sister, Allie, in major wins. Allie won this event in 2015 and again in 2017, bowling the only 300 ever by a girl in the tournament, and owns a Junior Gold title. But it was still gratifying for Abbie to finally get a big win.
“I’ve been traveling for two-and-a-half weeks because of Junior Gold and the Youth Open,” she said. “So being able to finally win something, after doing all that traveling, is so rewarding. It’s huge!”
SPEER’S WIN
Speer went into the final round of match play at in sixth place, trailing fifth-round leader Robert Vater of Iola, Wisc., by 160 pins.
But Speer came out striking in the final round, putting up games of 277, 225, 268, 225 and 233 winning every game except Game 5 – a loss to a 256 by 2021 boys champ John Nunn.
He went into the final game trailing Vater by just nine pins. Speer opened the final game with six straight strikes, while opened with a double but then left the 2-4-8 in the third, spared, struck, and then left a single pin in the fifth to fall behind early.
Speer left a solid 8-pin in the seventh, then threw a turkey to put the match away and clinch the title. He won the final game 268-233.
“In the last game I wanted to come out strong,” Speer said. “If I get ahead early, then he has to start making shots to catch back up. “And that’s what we did. We ran the front six, and other than a smash 8 (in the seventh), we might have been able to put up a 300. But I came out strong and I just tried to put it away as early as possible.”
Speer finished with a pinfall total of 8,211 and a 220.6 average for 36 games. He closed out the tournament with the high six-game block of the tournament at 1,496 in the last round to make up the big deficit he faced.
“I was comfortable shooting 220 and 230, knowing it would win matches,” he said. “But to make up pins, you need 250, 260 and the bonus.
“So I just came out and said I was going to be aggressive. Every shot we were going to go for it to see if we can put big strings together. And if something stands, cover it up and just try to keep from giving as many pins away as I could.”
Vater finished second with a pinfall total of 8,155 and actually had high average in the event at 220.7. But Speer won two more games, and the 60 extra bonus pins ended up being the difference.
Vater started the final round strong, winning with a pair of 255 games. But then he lost to Luke Winter, 225-182, dropped a close 225-223 game to Speer, and won Game 5 with only a 192 to give him a slim lead going into the position round.
Winter, out of Appleton, Wisc., finished third with 8,089, followed by Mason Doan of Royersford, Pa., at 8,036 and Josh Maslanich of North Royalton, Ohio, with 7,975.
It was also a big win for Speer.
“This is about the best tournament you can win as a bowler, from a pure bowling standpoint,” he said. “There’s nothing like this, and there’s nothing harder than this. “Junior Gold, SYCs and most youth tours – they don’t even come close to the level of toughness you have to put up with out here. This might be my best career win for a long time!”
In addition, Hiinckley’s Kyle Dunner finished ninth overall.
26th Teen Masters Championships
(At Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Mich.)
(Final standings With place, name, hometown, win-loss record and 36-game pinfall total, including bonus pins)
BOYS DIVISION
1. Ryan Speer, Beech Grove, Ind., 9-3, 8211
2. Robert Vater, Iola, Wisc., 7-5, 8155
3. Luke Winter, Appleton, Wisc., 9-3, 8089
4. Mason Doan, Royersford, Pa., 5-7, 8036
5. Josh Maslanich, North Royalton, Ohio, 6-6, 7975
6. John Nunn, Jacksonville, Fla., 5-7, 7962
7. Dominic Gibson-Smith, Palm Bay, Fla., 7-5, 7889
8. Braden Mallasch, Waupaca, Wisc., 7-5, 7856
9. Kyle Dunne, Hinckley, Ohio, 5-7, 7842
10. Mel Sim, Queens Village, N.Y., 6-6, 7828
11. Harry Davis, Fall City, Wash., 4-8, 7723
12. Xavier Newell, Far Rockaway, N.Y., 3-9, 7528
GIRLS DIVISION
1. Abbie Leiendecker, Wooster, Ohio, 8-4, 7657
2. Emma Siekierski, Davison, Mich., 8-4, 7404
3. Mia Stolakis, Worcester, Massachusetts, 10-2, 7365
4. Hope Bunk, Billings, Montana, 6-6, 7017
5. Vicki Andrews, Indianola, Iowa, 6-6, 6940
6. Paris Mendones, Bossier City, Louisiana, 5-7, 6937
7. Rachel Moore, Keokuk, Iowa, 5-7, 6821
8. Frances Davila, San Antonio, Texas, 7-5, 6790
9. Madilyn Yockel, Raymond, N.H., 4-8, 6766
10. Maribeth Baker, Sellersville, Pa., 5-7, 6691
11. Emma Yoder, Wooster, Ohio, 4-8, 6669
12. Meagan Kennedy, Brownsburg, Ind., 4-8, 6621