WILTON — Maine State Junior Gold Bowlers competed at Meadow Lanes on Saturday, March 17. This month’s tournament winner of the 16-to-20 age division was Chris Hall, bowling a 1,209 total pins for six games, earning his spot at the North Pointe National Junior Gold Championships in Indianapolis in July 2012.

A second qualifying spot was awarded to Rachel Douglas, bowling a total 1,051 pins.

The tournament winner of the 15-and-under division, Edward Kimball, bowled an awesome 1,358. The national qualifier is Corey Ridley, bowling a 1,084.

Hall is from Oakland and bowls out of Sparetime in Waterville. Douglas is from Bangor and bowls out of Family Fun Bowling Center. Kimball is from South China and bowls out of Waterville. Ridley is from Jay and bowls out of Meadow Lanes. Rachel and Corey both had close competition for their spots. 

This month’s oil pattern was London. It is a long, heavy oil pattern, 44 feet, but one of the higher scoring of the long patterns. Junior Gold is a Sport league, which means they normally bowl on oil patterns of varying lengths for an extra challenge, mostly heavy oil.

The purpose of Sport bowling is to challenge the bowlers to learn greater control and perfect their technique. It allows little room for error. Each game in the tournament is played on a different set of lanes, with the conditions changing as the games progress.

Saturday was the last scheduled date for the league. However, spots will also be awarded for the Maine Pepsi youth tournament and the Maine Youth Open.

Competition at the national tournament is one of the highest achievements in youth bowling. It is where college recruiting happens, and bowlers earn sizable scholarships. National winners bowl for Team USA. The state level events are open to all United States Bowling Congress (USBC) youth bowlers.

Maine Junior Gold is looking for sponsors to help pay for the bowlers’ entry fees and possibly expenses. For more information contact Bonnie at 234-4049 or [email protected].