From wire reports
MINNEAPOLIS – Nearly 3,500 of the nation’s top youth bowlers completed Round 2 of qualifying at 10 bowling centers in the Greater Minneapolis area on Tuesday, and now just two rounds remain before the first cuts are made in four age-based divisions (U12, U14, U16 and U18) at the 2026 Junior Gold Championships.
U18 BOYS
Hunter Wyszynski of New Boston, Mich., seized the overall lead with a two-day, eight-game score of 1,910 (a 238.8 average), which included games of 232, 289, 279 and 242 during Round 2 on Tuesday.
Brett Biondo of Carpentersville, Ill., sits in second place with 1,849 while Elijah Pipkin of Lakeland, Tenn., is third at 1,814. The remaining spots in the U18 Boys top five are held by Andrew Myers of Coldwater and Jaiden Ng of Syosset, N.Y., with 1,793 and 1,768, respectively.
Amherst’s Brady Smith and Brock Percy of Columbia City, Ind., currently are tied for the 131st and final spot inside the cut line to the U18 Boys Advancers’ Round. Smith and Percy both sit with eight-game totals of 1,582.
Northeast Ohio bowlers still inside the cut include Cleveland’s Zachary Smeal (49th, 1,655); Akron’s Wade Allen (59th, 1,648); North Ridgeville’s Kevin Pete Jr. (61st, 1,645); New Franklin’s Aiden Jensen (79th, 1,633, after shooting 844 on Day 2); Ashland’s Max Oeken (92nd, 1,617); Cuyahoga Falls’ Jonathan Rasch (105th, 1,598); and Smith.
U18 GIRLS
For the second day in a row, Taylor Kretz of Erie, Pa., has her name atop the U18 Girls standings. Kretz used games of 222, 212, 182 and 227 for an 843 block total Tuesday, giving her a two-day, eight-game score of 1,763 (a 220.4 average).
Places two, three and four in the overall standings are occupied by Bailey Secrest of Bellevue, Neb.(1,678), Kyndallynn Hood of Bellefontaine(1,674), who was recently named to the Dexter H.S. All-America team and the only one from Ohio; and Addison Then of Pittsburgh (1,630).
Sitting in fifth place currently is defending U18 Girls national champion Elena Weinstok of Puerto Rico. Weinstok earned her spot in the top five thanks to a two-day total of 1,628.
There will be 52 U18 Girls moving on to the Advancers’ Round at this year’s tournament. Currently, Alyvia Matiasek of Lockport, Ill., and Maggie Porter of Cambridge, Wis., sit tied for the final advancing spot with matching totals of 1,442.
Northeast Ohio girls inside the cut line include Sandusky’s Olivia Lizzi (12th, 1,567) and Hinckley’s Gracie Dunne (48th, 1,445). Others in the running are Jackson Township’s Rylee Dunn (70th, 1,422); and Perry Township’s Arielle Clapper, who fell back to 105th (1,374) after 630.
U16 BOYS
Ryan Carmichael of South Bend, Ind., jumped from third to first, using scores of 277, 191, 204 and 239 on Tuesday to post a two-round total of 1,869 (a 233.6 average).
Day 1 leader Do Hoon Kwon of Vancouver, Wash., currently is second with 1,839. Spots three, four and five are occupied by Dawson Kohl of Dyersville, Iowa (1,807), Eric Taber of Schenectady, N.Y.(1,805), and Jason Grothus of Bettendorf, Iowa (1,797).
A total of 101 athletes will punch tickets to the first Advancers’ Round in U16 Boys action at this year’s tournament, and CJ Qumburji of Bronx, N.Y., holds that position at the moment thanks to a two-round total of 1,592.
The lone Northeast Ohio bowler inside the cut is Parma’s Zachary Mayne (51st, 1,652 after shooting 864 Tuesday).
U16 GIRLS
Emma Lester of Daleville, Ala., remained atop the U16 Girls standings, following up her opening-round 813 with 873 on Tuesday thanks to games of 205, 227, 215 and 226. That effort gave Lester a two-round total of 1,686 (a 210.8 average).
Makanalei Carrick of Waianae, Hawaii, shot 853 on Tuesday to move into second place in the division with 1,608. Briar Graham of Norton Shores, Mich. (1,576), Anna Antony of Farmington, Conn.(1,547), and Annalise Williams of Jefferson Hills, Pa. (1,545), round out the top five at the halfway mark of qualifying.
Lyla Elensky of Clearfield, Pa. is the athlete holding the final Advancers’ Round berth through two rounds. She got there thanks to an eight-game score of 1,378, putting her in 47th place.
Boardman’s Brooklyn Bailey moved up to 39th (1,393) after shooting 761 Tuesday.
U14 BOYS
Thomas Nagy of Depew, N.Y., fired 815 during opening-round action on Monday and 816 during Round 2 on Tuesday to move into the top spot in the division with an eight-game total of 1,631 (a 203.9 average). Nagy’s second-round block featured scores of 203, 227, 160 and 226.
Thomas Carter of Attleboro, Mass. (1,616), Nehemiah Keefer of Bellwood, Ill. (1,599), and Evan Waller of Melbourne, Fla. (1,586), sit in second through fourth place, respectively.
Fifth place in the U14 Boys standings currently is held by Wooster’s Chase Kauffman of nd Ex Ingles of Wayland, Michigan, who have authored matching two-day scores of 1,582. Kauffman shot 816 on Day 2.
Nevertheless, 55th place is even more important than fifth at this point because 55th place represents the final Advancers’ Round spot in the division. With two more four-game qualifying blocks to come before the first cuts are made, Trevor Welker of Wilmington, Del., sits in 55th position with a mark of 1,420.
No Northeast Ohio players outside of Kauffman are inside the cut.
U14 GIRLS
Averie Bourne of Kansas City, Mo., used scores of 186, 246, 157 and 188 to post a block total of 777 on Tuesday. That mark, combined with the 676 she recorded during Round 1, allowed Bourne to move to the top spot in the U14 Girls overall standings with a two-day, eight game total of 1,453 (a 181.6 average).
Alyssa Randisi of Brooklyn, N.Y., is close behind, sitting second at 1,437. Olivia Titus of St. Charles, Mo. (1,423), is in third place while Symphony Hill of Kenosha, Wis. (1,411), and Reese Renth of Aviston, Ill. (1,407) are fourth and fifth, respectively.
The final Advancers’ Round berth up for grabs among U14 girls will eventually go to the athlete in 26th place. With two qualifying rounds to go before the cut, Khloe Lara of Mililani, Hawaii, occupies that spot with an eight-game mark of 1,285.
No Northeast Ohio players are inside the cut.
U12 BOYS
Colin Park of San Jose, Calif., took the overall lead with a two-day, eight-game total of 1,616 (a 202 average), which included 748 in Round 1 and 868 during second-round action on Tuesday. Park’s games in Round 2 were 216, 254, 180 and 218.
Opening-round leader Gleason Garske of Spokane, Wash., holds second place with 1,563. The remaining spots in the current U12 Boys top five are held by Aaron Cabiness of Columbus (1,552), Cooper Powell of Allen, Texas (1,473), and Carson Wilkerson of Hopewell, Va. (1,459).
With two qualifying rounds remaining, Brantley Forgue of Melrose, N.M., sits in 34th place, which is the lowest any U12 Boy can be at the end of Round 4 on Thursday in order to make the cut to the Advancers’ Round.
U12 GIRLS
Taylor Morgan of Murfreesboro, Tenn., retained the overall lead, using games of 206, 156, 185 and 166 to finish Tuesday’s block with 713, giving her a two-day, eight-game total of 1,462 (a 182.8 average).
Stevie Newton of Hanover, Pa., put up 783 during Round 2, which moved her into second place overall after two days with a mark of 1,445.
The remaining positions in the U12 Girls top five are held by Jade Campbell of Valdosta, Ga.(1,428), Braelyn Monnette of Elizabethtown, Ky.(1,374), and Hannah Black of Butte, Mont. (1,358).
Harlie Bucaneg of Wailuku, Hawaii, currently occupies 17th place with a total of 1,256. U12 Girls athletes can be no lower than 17th at the conclusion of qualifying on Thursday in order to move on to the Advancers’ Round.
See complete Junior Gold results here: https://bowl.com/youth/youth-tournaments/junior-gold-championships/2026-results
WYSZYNSKI WORKS WAY INTO U18 RECORD BOOK
Wyszynski’s big performance didn’t just move him up this year’s U18 Boys leaderboard; it also earned him two entries in the tournament’s record book.
The 1,046 Wyszynski authored during Round 2 on Tuesday was the third-highest four-game total in U18 Boys history, placing him eight pins behind the record of 1,054 shared by Carter Street of Dublin, Ohio (2021), and Max Jenness of Ypsilanti, Mich. (2025), and just one pin back of the 1,047 authored by Brody Wildenmann of Somerset, Pa., during the 2022 event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
That’s not all, however, as Wyszynski also moved into third place in U18 history for the highest eight-game total with 1,910. The two scores higher than Wyszynski’s were recorded by reigning U18 Boys champion Kaeden White of Lees Summit, Mo. (2,046), and Nicolas Trentler of Phoenix, Md.(1,950), at the 2025 Junior Gold Championships in Green Bay, Wis.
According to Wyszynski, Tuesday’s performance came about because of his ability to recognize and take advantage of what he was seeing out on lanes.
“In my 10th frame of Game 1, I went a little light, so I jumped a few boards left when we went to the low end of the house,” Wyszynski said. “When I slowed my ball speed down, I noticed I had miss room left and right, which allowed me to stay in a zone where I could score.”
CASTILLO GIVES KUDOS TO MINNESOTA AS FIRST-TIME HOST
Bella Castillo of Odessa, Texas, is a Junior Gold veteran.
The talented two-hander has bowled the tournament since 2019, making two stepladder finals appearances (2021 and 2024) and winning the U15 Girls national title at the 2024 event in Detroit.
As such, Castillo is as qualified as any athlete in this year’s field to offer an opinion on what the Junior Gold experience feels like in the Greater Minneapolis area compared to other host cities she’s visited.
According to Castillo, so far so good.
“I really like it here,” Castillo said. “It’s my first time in Minnesota, but I like the atmosphere, and I like the bowling centers. They are super well kept, and the air conditioning has been keeping up despite how hot it’s been outside. It’s really great being in new places, and I think everything has been really nice for this being the first time. I’m loving it.”
Castillo will have the opportunity to enjoy the area for at least a couple more days as all Junior Gold athletes have two more four-game qualifying blocks remaining – on Wednesday and Thursday – before cuts are made to determine the competitors moving on to each division’s Advancers’ Rounds. U12 advancers will bowl another four-game block before the top eight head into match play, while U14, U16 and U18 advancers will bowl a five-game block. A second cut is made for U14, U16 and U18 for the final Advancers’ Rounds with an additional five games before the top 16 in each division advance to match play.
Match play will be a double-elimination bracket, with each match being two games and highest pinfall determining who advances. The final two in the Winners Bracket in each division will bowl for the No. 1 seed in the stepladder finals, while the winner in the Elimination Bracket will be the No. 3 seed on the show.
The stepladder finals at the 2026 Junior Gold Championships will be streamed live on BowlTV and on Bowling TV, the new 24-hour channel dedicated entirely to bowling, which can be found on Prime Video, LG Channels, Xumo Play, DISH TV, Bonusview, Sling Freestream, Plex, Free Live Sports and Bowling TV’s Roku app.
This year’s live Junior Gold streams will take place on Saturday at noon Eastern (U12), 3 p.m. Eastern (U14), 6 p.m. Eastern (U16) and 9 p.m. Eastern (U18).
Because the stepladder finals will not be under live national television time constraints, each top seed will have to be beaten twice during stepladder competition in order to be denied their division’s title.