By JOHNNY CAMPOS
Via Facebook posting
ORLANDO, Fla. — There was some late drama in the Teen Masters Championships after all on Friday.
But the four bowlers who went into the last round with comfortable leads all held on to win their respective divisions at Boardwalk Bowl.
Left-hander Bruno Brandao, who bowls league regularly at the host center, was a wire-to-wire winner in the Boys 19U division. He finished with a pinfall total of 8,437 — 389 pins ahead of the field.
Emma Siekierski of Davison, Mich., last year’s runner-up in the girls division, improved on her performance by winning the Girls 19U division by 196 pins.
In the Girls 15U division, Anna Antony of Connecticut ran the table on the field, winning her first 11 matches to beat her group by 278 pins.
The closest race was in the Boys 15U division, where Columbus lefty Elliott Gordon went into the last round with a seemingly comfortable 281-pin lead over Emmanuel Guevara II.
But Guevara made things interesting, opening the last round with games of 244, 268 and 269 for a 781 series. He went 5-0 in match play to start the round and pulled to within 58 pins of Gordon going into the final match.
Guevara had to beat Gordon by at least 29 pins in the position round to win the tournament.
But the leader, who like Brandao went wire-to-wire, won the final match, 246-204, and ended up winning by 130 pins.
Gordon said he didn’t panic after seeing most of his advantage disappear before the position round game. He averaged 215.6 for his first five games of the round, winning three of the five matches.
“I just decided to keep throwing it like I’ve been throwing it all week and not change anything,” he said. “I didn’t want to get too risky.”
Gordon, who rolled the tournament high game of 299, finished with a 219.9 average and a pinfall total of 8,156. Guevara (214.6 average) finished at 8,026.
Gordon’s younger brother, Miles, finished third at 7,742 and Taylon Bernier, who had the front nine strikes twice in the last round and closed with a 289 game, fourth with 7,603.
Brandao went into the final round with a 415-pin advantage. He averaged 228.5 for his 36 games — more than 12 pins a game better than anybody else — and went 7-5 in his matches.
“Having a big lead definitely did loosen me up a little bit,” he said. “I still just wanted to make sure that I, you know, put that nail in the coffin to see if I could make sure that the last game didn’t really matter any more. I think I did that.
“I’m pretty happy with my performance this week. Considering this was my first big win, it felt good.”
Ohioan Josh Maslanich finished second with a pinfall total of 8,048, averaging 216 and going 9-3 in match play. Another Ohioan, Kyle Dunne, was third (7,997) and Broox Golden fourth (7,900).
The competition took place on a dual pattern — long oil on the left lanes and short oil on the right ones. And the youth bowlers were limited to just one SKILL ball for the entire tournament.
“It definitely felt weird bowling a tournament where, theoretically, the patterns are supposed to be some of the hardest things we’ve ever bowled on,” Brandao said. “And I averaged better in it for 36 games than I do for a few games on a house shot. I usually average in the 2-teens here.”
It was the final Teen Masters for Siekierski, who finished second in last year’s tournament that was held closer to home, at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.
“It felt really nice believing that it’s possible and coming back and finishing it — especially with it being my last year,” she said.
Siekierski struggled in the opening round, but once she took the lead after Round 2, she didn’t look back.
“Traveling and being here now (instead of at Thunderbowl) played a little bit of a difference,” she said. “But bowling is bowling, and I got the job done.”
Siekierski averaged 185.6 and finished with a pinfall total of 6,921. Kara Beissel was second at 6,725, Jennifer Chiarillo third with 6,687, and Kiersten Michel fourth with 6,648.
Antony, who uses a two-handed delivery, also got off to a slow start in the event, finishing the first round in 10th place. But she said that she had to get more comfortable on the lanes.
“I think a lot of it was the first day I wasn’t used to this new environment of only throwing a plastic ball and of really changing my game to adjust too the lanes,” she said. “I think it was definitely a new change for me, but I’m really happy that I ran off and took it.”
She beat all 11 of the other finalists in her division before losing the position round match to runner-up Morgan Winchell, 196-193.
Antony averaged 178.6 and finished with a pinfall total was 6,761. Winchell was second at 6,483, Sophia Saunders third with 6,356. and Korebie Smock fourth at 6,159.
It was a historic week for the tournament, which had three winners that used a two-handed delivery for the first time — Brandao, Gordon and Antony.
Siekierski, who will turn 20 in a few days, was the lone holdout to the one-handed delivery. But she said she is glad she got to bowl in the Teen Masters for as long as she did.
“I’m kind of aging out of youth stuff at this point,” she said. “But I would definitely recommend this tournament to everybody to kind of show where your weaknesses are and then kind of build off of that.
“It helps you improve on the spots that seem too shine a little bit brighter during this tournament.”
The four winners definitely excelled on demanding conditions this weeK.
See complete final standings here: