\n Gene J. Kanak
\n <\/p>\n
Jaysen Spanbauer of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin (left), and Melia Mitskavich of DuBois, Pennsylvania, pose with their trophies on the approach at Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando, Florida, on Monday after winning this year’s U22 Masters and U22 Queens titles.<\/p>\n
MASTERS QUALIFYING RESULTS<\/a> QUEENS QUALIFYING RESULTS<\/a>\u00a0 ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Jaysen Spanbauer of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and Melia Mitskavich of DuBois, Pennsylvania, celebrated Memorial Day in style by earning the top seed for the stepladder finals in their respective divisions and going on to claim titles at the 2026 United States Bowling Congress U22 Masters and U22 Queens, which were contested at Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando, Florida.<\/p>\n Mitskavich, a 20-year-old right-hander who just finished her sophomore season bowling for two-time defending Intercollegiate Team Championships women\u2019s national champion Jacksonville State University, reached the winner\u2019s circle thanks to a 219-201 victory over Team USA and Junior Team USA member Katelyn Abigania of San Diego.<\/p>\n Spanbauer took a slightly longer road to victory.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because the 21-year-old two-handed righty lost the opening game of the U22 Masters championship match by a final score of 233-228 to No. 2 seed Chance McLane of Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, the same bowler Spanbauer tied at 482 after two games but went on to defeat, 9-8, during a one-ball roll-off to earn the stepladder\u2019s No. 1 seed just a few hours earlier.<\/p>\n Spanbauer finished the opening game of the championship match with a four-bagger to force his opponent to mark, but McLane was up to the task, converting a 10 pin and then striking on his fill ball to hang on for a five-pin victory.<\/p>\n Because Spanbauer entered the stepladder as the lone undefeated bowler remaining in the U22 Masters field with a mark of 5-0, he had to be defeated twice in order to be denied the title.<\/p>\n Spanbauer had hoped not to have to use the get-out-of-jail-free card, but with that ship sailed, he had no choice but to refocus and prepare for the winner-take-all second game.<\/p>\n Any notion that Spanbauer may have been rattled by the opening-game loss was quickly put to rest when the 2024 Intercollegiate Singles Championships men\u2019s national champion opened Game 2 with an eight-bagger.<\/p>\n The problem was that McLane stayed right on his heels, striking on eight of his first nine deliveries as well.<\/p>\n Spanbauer\u2019s run at perfection came to an end in the ninth frame when his ball crept slightly high in the 1-3 pocket and left a 4-pin, which he promptly converted.<\/p>\n At that point, Spanbauer still controlled his own destiny because if he could strike out during the 10th frame, the best McLane could do was match him to secure a 279-279 tie.<\/p>\n But Spanbauer didn\u2019t strike out as his opening shot in the final frame left a 10-pin. He calmly made the spare and then struck on his next delivery to finish with a score of 268.<\/p>\n McLane stepped up for the 10th frame riding a six-bagger, so the math was easy; he could win the match with a double or go strike, nine-spare to tie. Anything less, and the win would go to Spanbauer.<\/p>\n As expected, McLane\u2019s first offering in the 10th frame hit the 1-3 pocket, sending the head pin flying to the side wall on the left side of the lane and then hurtling back across to the right.<\/p>\n Unfortunately for McLane, the messenger failed to find its mark, leaving the 10-pin standing, which allowed Spanbauer to emerge with a hard-fought 268-258 victory that earned him the 2026 U22 Masters title and the tournament\u2019s $4,300 first-place prize.<\/p>\n McLane, who earned his shot at the title thanks to a 245-222 semifinal win over No. 3 seed Andru Blaney of Hughesville, Maryland, took home $2,150 for his runner-up finish. Blaney earned $1,750 for placing third.<\/p>\n Even though Spanbauer had won on the national stage before, he admitted that Monday\u2019s U22 Masters victory at Boardwalk Bowl felt a little bit different.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was nice putting my school on the map back then, but now it\u2019s kind of nice to start getting my own name out there,\u201d Spanbauer said, referring to the men\u2019s ISC title he captured while competing for Marian-Wisconsin. \u201cAdding this title to the list of things I\u2019ve won in my career is something cool and a big confidence boost going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Spanbauer also drew confidence from his ability to adapt to how the 44-foot U22 Masters oil pattern played during the title match, which was contested on an unfamiliar pair of lanes.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a lot of thinking going on during that match because that pair was way different on this side of the house than they were on the other side,\u201d Spanbauer said. \u201cHaving to manage that transition was definitely stressful in the moment, but I\u2019m glad I figured it out.\u201d<\/p>\n And because he did, he was able to put together that all-important eight-bagger, which kept the pressure squarely on McLane\u2019s shoulders during the closing stages of the deciding game.<\/p>\n Even though the spectators at Boardwalk may have expected Spanbauer to be feeling plenty of pressure in his own right as he sat on the bench waiting to see what McLane did during the last frame, according to Spanbauer, he wouldn\u2019t have wanted it any other way.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s how I like to set the situation up when I have the choice,\u201d Spanbauer said. \u201cI like to be able to know that I did the best I could and knocked down all the pins I could knock down. I\u2019d rather leave it in my opponent\u2019s hands, and if he wants it, he can go get it.\u201d<\/p>\n McLane made a terrific shot; nevertheless, the win and this year\u2019s U22 Masters crown went to Spanbauer.<\/p>\n Roughly two hours earlier, Mitskavich captured the U22 Queens title, which seemed fitting. After all, she led this year\u2019s tournament from start to finish.<\/p>\n Mitskavich put her name atop the standings in the 93-player U22 Queens field after each of the first two days of qualifying.<\/p>\n That earned the two-time Junior Team USA member (2025, 2026) the No. 1 seed for U22 Queens bracket match play, where she went undefeated, posting a 4-0 record on Sunday and Monday to earn the top seed for the stepladder finals. Along the way, she set a U22 Queens record by averaging 230.2 over the course of 10 games.<\/p>\n Mitskavich was happy to have earned the top seed for the stepladder finals as that meant she\u2019d have to lose twice in order to miss out on the title.<\/p>\n But as it turned out, Mitskavich would need no second chances.<\/p>\n Instead, she seized control of the championship match from the very beginning, using strikes on three of her first four shots to quickly establish a 29-pin lead over Abigania, who managed just one strike and suffered an open frame \u2013 a 2-8-10 split \u2013 over that same stretch.<\/p>\n Abigania used a four-bagger in frames five through eight to cut Mitskavich\u2019s advantage down to just nine pins, but that\u2019s as close as Abigania would get.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because her first shot in the ninth frame went long and came back too late, leaving a disastrous 2-4-8-10 split that the talented Vanderbilt right-hander was unable to convert.<\/p>\n The open frame left Abigania with a max score of 212. Mitskavich, meanwhile, could punch out in the ninth and 10th for 257.<\/p>\n The 2024 Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow award winner came up a bit shy of that mark, striking in the ninth frame and then leaving the 4-6-7-10 split in the 10th. It mattered not though as it was more than enough to give Mitskavich the victory to cap off a remarkable week of bowling in Orlando.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t think the weekend could\u2019ve gone any better for me, so to be able to finish it off feels really good right now,\u201d Mitskavich said. \u201cIt feels unreal.\u201d<\/p>\n What was unreal was Mitskavich\u2019s performance at Boardwalk Bowl as, over the course of four days of competition, she broke two tournament records \u2013 highest 14-game qualifying total (3,202 \u2013 a 228.7 average) and highest match-play average \u2013 posted the only undefeated record among 24 U22 Queens match-play participants and was seemingly at or near the top of the standings at all times.<\/p>\n According to Mitskavich, the key to her stellar performance was staying relaxed and enjoying the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cThis weekend, honestly, I just wanted to bowl; I didn\u2019t want to put any extra pressure on myself to perform,\u201d Mitskavich said. \u201cI just wanted to do my thing and have fun, and I think it worked out pretty well for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitskavich has enjoyed considerable success on the lanes, especially in the last few months; nevertheless, Monday\u2019s victory was something special.<\/p>\n \u201cRecently, we (Jacksonville State) won the ITC and NCAA national championships. It\u2019s amazing to win with a team; that\u2019s a great feeling,\u201d Mitskavich said. \u201cStill, it\u2019s also very special to win when you\u2019re out there by yourself, so it feels really good to win something individually.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite competing as an individual, Mitskavich was hardly alone as several of her fellow Gamecocks were at Boardwalk Bowl cheering her on during the title match.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just so special that they were here to watch,\u201d Mitskavich said. \u201cI\u2019m so thankful and love them all so much.\u201d<\/p>\n Another thing Mitskavich can be thankful for is the $4,300 first-place check she received as this year\u2019s champion.<\/p>\n Abigania walked away with $2,150 for finishing second while defending champ Aleesha Oden of Council Bluffs, Iowa, who fell to Abigania by a score of 268-183 during the U22 Queens semifinal match, earned $1,750.<\/p>\n Prize checks and titles weren\u2019t the only rewards bestowed at Boardwalk on Monday, however. Spots on Junior Team USA 2027 were awarded as well.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because the USBC Team USA Athlete Advisory Council approved a total of eight spots on Junior Team USA to top finishers at the 2026 U22 Masters and U22 Queens.<\/p>\n The AAC, which is made up of current or former tenured Team USA athletes, supported that berths on Junior Team USA 2027 would go to the top three age-eligible finishers after the qualifying rounds at both the U22 Masters and U22 Queens and to each tournament\u2019s champion.<\/p>\n If the champion had already acquired a spot or was not age eligible, the fourth and final Junior Team USA position up for grabs at each event would be given to the next-highest age-eligible finisher after the qualifying rounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n Age-eligible athletes were those who will not reach their 21st birthday by Jan. 1, 2027.<\/p>\n The Junior Team USA spots up for grabs at the 2026 U22 Masters went to Aidan Furukawa of Sunbury, Ohio; Kevin Magnuson of San Jose, California; Jacob Bockstie of Nottingham, Maryland; and Gregorio (Bud) Sicard III of Milwaukie, Oregon.<\/p>\n The spots earned during U22 Queens competition in Orlando this week went to Abigania, Gianna Brandolino of Channahon, Illinois; Abigail Starkey of Schaumburg, Illinois; and Haley Swindle of Sharpsburg, Georgia.<\/p>\n All rounds of competition at both the U22 Masters and Queens were streamed live exclusively on BowlTV<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nMASTERS JR TEAM USA QUALIFYING RESULTS<\/a>
\nMASTERS BRACKETS<\/a><\/p>\n
\nQUEENS JR TEAM USA QUALIFYING RESULTS<\/a>
\nQUEENS BRACKETS<\/a><\/p>\n