By JOHNNY CAMPOS
Via Facebook
PLANO, Texas — E.J. Vallesteros turned out to be destiny’s child during the 2025 Teen Masters Championships.
The right-hander from Honolulu, Hawaii, took all five of his elimination matches to two-frame rolloffs Wednesday and came up clutch every single time.
In fact, he needed two rolloffs to knock off top-seeded Braden McDonough of nearby Coppell, Texas, to win the title match in the boys 19U division at Plano Super Bowl.
Lucas Drisdel of Chicago celebrated his 15th birthday by winning the boys15U title, while Connecticut bowlers Anna Antony and Briana Provenzano claimed the girls crowns. Antony, from Farmington, Conn., successfully defended her 15U title, while Bristol, Conn., bowler Provenzano won the 19U championship.
VALLESTEROS’ RUN
On Tuesday, Vallesteros struck out in the 10th frame of his final qualifying game to advance to Wednesday’s competition. He grabbed the 15th and final qualifying spot by just four pins before going undefeated in his matches in the playoffs.
“After the first or second round of match play, because I was going back-to-back on rolloffs, I kind of stopped really thinking and was just going with the flow of it,” he said. “What definitely helped was not overthinking my shots and just executing.”
With his mom, Nora, sitting behind him and cheering him on all day, Vallesteros also might have had some other motivation to do well in the tournament.
“Not too long ago, my grandfather passed away, and he wanted me to come to this tournament,” he said. “But sadly, he passed away before he could actually watch me win something pretty major. So, I kept telling myself this was for him. I did it.”
McDonough opened the title match with a 245-216 win and appeared to have a great shot to the pocket on both lanes.
But in Game 2, he struggled, and Vallesteros came through, 200-168, to send the match to the first rolloff. They tied at 40. In the second rolloff, McDonough missed the 2-4-5-8 “bucket” and Vallesteros came through with a double on his next two shots to put the match away.
On his way to the title, Vallesteros defeated Louis Shontz of Manchester, Iowa; Kai Strothers of Irvington, N.J.; and Taylon Bernier of New Britain, Conn.
In the semifinals, Bernier beat Carter Wescott of Green Bay, Wis., who opened the day by sweeping Maxwell Benware of Keeseville,N.Y., with games of 256 and 280.
Bernier also had a high-scoring match, beating Matthew Morton of Buda, Texas with 258 and 275.
Drisdel, who qualified in fourth place, beat Malachi Wilson of Jonesboro, Ga., and Tatum Lee of Minot, N.D. on his way to the title match.
Drisdel took advantage of a couple of early opens by top-seeded Ethan Nguyen of nearby Sachse, Texas, and won Game 1, 207-175. But the qualifying leader came back to send the match to the rolloff with a 198-194 decision.
Drisdel won the rolloff, 38-29.
“I wasn’t so sure about the title match, because Ethan’s been having a pretty good week,” he said. “He still bowled really good. But I think I threw it absolutely amazing, and I was really cruising through those first five games of match play.
“This was definitely a great birthday present to have, winning this tournament. It’s one of the most fun tournaments I think I’ve bowled, and I’m definitely coming back.”
GIRLS RUN
In the girls 19U division, like Vallesteros, Provenzano claimed the fifth and final spot in the finals after qualifying.
She did not waste her opportunity.
She beat second-seeded Jasmine Hall of Huntsville, Alabama in a rolloff and then swept Defiance High School’s Mabel Adams to reach the title match.
Top-seeded Grace Zuerner of Indianapolis struggled in the opening game and did not have a mark until striking in the eighth frame.
Provenzano won the opener, 163-139, but Zuerner came back to take Game 2, 202-150.
Provenzano doubled in the ninth and 10th to win the rolloff, 49-28.
“Winning this tournament is absolutely unbelievable,” she said. “My hands were shaking, my legs were shaking during that rolloff, and there was so much going on.”
When Zuerner opened her first seven frames, however, it loosened things up for Provenzano.
“In practice she was throwing strike after strike,” she said of the top seed. “So, I saw her miss a few spares in the beginning, it kind of loosened up the nerves.”
Antony was the only top-seeded player to win the title, and she did it with the only sweep in the final four matches.
She beat Josie Dambrino of Hoover, Ala., 157-144 and 170-159, coming up with some clutch strikes late in both games.
“I felt like always you can use more spare work,” she said. “But, honestly, I’m kind of happy with how I bowled. I feel like I was playing the lanes correctly, and everything kind of just fell into place.”
Antony, who led her division by almost 300 pins, did miss a few makeable spares during the title match, but then came back with some late marks to put each game away.
“I think it was more about keeping my composure, making sure my mind was set and making sure I was able to throw those strikes. That was kind of the key part of it.”
The field of 104 bowlers included 53 one-handers and 51 two-handers, and the ratio played out through the event.
In the opening-round boys’ matches, there were six one-handers and six two-handers.
In the end, Antony and Drisdel claimed title using a two-handed approach, while Provenzano and Vallesteros used just one hand.
But the one-handers proved that, even though they barely made it into the finals, they were both able to claim titles.
In the case of Vallesteros, it was a very unlikely run to the title by a child of destiny.
See complete Teen Masters results here: