By BILL SNIER
COLUMBUS — Elliott Gordon already had planned out his Labor Day weekend.
The 16-year-old Columbus Whetstone High School junior was going to bowl the Midwest USA Scholarship Eliminator and the Junior Tournament Bowlers Association (JTBA) Dayton Youth Open on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, at Beaver-Vu Bowl in Beavercreek.
But when the Ohio Masters committee decided to change its rules about allowing youth to participate in the event for the first time earlier in the week, Gordon changed his plans.
“My mom told me about this tournament, so I had to decide whether to go all the way over there or stay here,” said Gordon, who captured the 2024 Junior Gold Championships U15 boys title in Detroit.
“Since this is my home house, I decided I might as well come here.”
The decision paid off.
Gordon, making his first appearance in an Ohio adult tournament, averaging 229 over eight qualifying games to finish 12th overall and advance to Sunday’s match-play rounds of the eighth annual event at HP Lanes.
“The first few games were really nice for me,” said the 16-year-old two-handed left-hander, who shot 270 in Game 1 and had 731 after the first three to get as high as fifth. “But then in Games 4 and 5 I couldn’t carry for anything.
“But I came back from that (with 716 his final three).”
Although he has not bowled adult events in Ohio, he has bowled “about 10” in Michigan. Gordon does not participate in Ohio High School Athletic Association bowling; instead, he plays basketball in the winter at Whetstone.
“I played all positions at one point,” said Gordon, who alternated between varsity and junior varsity as a sophomore but expects to be full-time varsity this season. “I guess bowling is kind of offseason for me.”
After his 2024 Junior Gold performance, he advanced to match play in the 18U division this season in Green Bay, Wis., before falling in his second match of the elimination round. He has worked for the past three years with Andy Parker as his coach.
Was he surprised by anything during the Ohio Masters?
“I was surprised how much urethane people were using,” Gordon said. “On medium oil patterns you can do with them whatever you want, but everyone was going with urethane.”
He still plans on plenty of tournament play in the fall, including the Storm Youth Championships event in Tennessee. But then, it is back to basketball until March 2026.
But first, there is Sunday’s match play.
NOTEBOOK: The tournament used the 2018 Ohio State Masters V3.0 pattern, shown below. … Ashland senior two-handed righty Max Oeken, who led the Arrows to the 2025 OHSAA Division I state title and the National High School Championship title for the second straight season, finished with 1,758 — a 219.75 average — finished 26th overall and missed the final cash spot by just four pins and the final cut spot by five. He also bowled in the Akron Open a week ago, finishing 199th out of 276 players to miss the cut. … There were only two other players who took advantage of the new youth rule, but neither made the cut. … Match play begis at 10 a.m. Sunday.
