Rhinelander bowlers compete in Jr. Gold National championships

Three members of the Rhinelander area youth bowling club program competed in the Junior Gold National Championships in Indianapolis last week.

    Johanna Dellenbach of Rhinelander competes during the Junior Gold National Championships bowling tournament in Indianapolis. Dellenbach took 443rd in the U18 girls’ division of the tournament, which took place July 17-22. (Submitted photo)
  

Johanna Dellenbach, Noah Pearson and Alex Hall took part, competing against other youth bowlers from across the United States and Canada. 

It was a long week of bowling, as the participants had practice days July 14-16 before four days of qualifying competition July 17-20. None of the Hodag bowlers were among the top handful in their age groups who advanced to the finals July 21 and 22.

Both Pearson, a senior-to-be at Tomahawk and Hall, a sophomore-to-be at Rhinelander, took part in the U18 boys’ division. 

Pearson collected a pinfall of 2,769 in 16 games over four days of qualifying, and placed just inside the top half of the field — 624th out of the more than 1,300 boys who competed. 

Pearson started with a 634 series for four games on Monday (140-169-194-141), rolled a 680 on Tuesday (168-171-194-147), a 764 on Wednesday (188-202-204-170) and a 691 on Thursday (198-161-182-150).

    Noah Pearson of Tomahawk poses for a photo during the Junior Gold National Championships bowling tournament in Indianapolis. Pearson was 624th in the U18 boys’ division of the tournament, which took place July 17-22. (Submitted photo)
  

“This was Noah’s second year in Junior Gold and he has goals to improve upon his performance last year, which he did quite a bit,” said Cory Dellenbach, one of the coaches for the Rhinelander club bowling program. “It was nice seeing his scores each day and he gave it his all.” 

Bell withdrew from the tournament during Wednesday’s play due to injury. He had opened with a 706 series on Monday (181-151-162-205) and a 528 on Tuesday (157-117-135-119). He had rolled a pair of 127s Wednesday before needing to withdraw.

“He was excited after his first day of competition doing so well,” coach Dellenbach said. “It was sad to see him have to exit due to his injury, but he’s hoping to have a speedy recovery and make it into next year’s Junior Gold and show everyone what he can do.”

Johanna Dellenbach finished 443rd out of 588  in the U18 girls’ division with a 16-game total of 2,494 pins. She had series of 538 (161-115-141-121), 626 (168-179-131-148), 637 (179-108-178-172) and 693 (178-172-150-193).

    Alex Hall of Rhinelander poses for a photo during the Junior Gold National Championships bowling tournament in Indianapolis. Hall competed in three days of the tournament July 17-20 before withdrawing due to injury. (Submitted photo)
  

“As dad and her high school coach, it was great seeing her improve each day of the tournament,” Cory Dellenbach said. “It was eye-opening for us being there and seeing the skill level of the athletes there and Johanna used that to drive herself to do better each day.”

The trio was able to take part in event after making it through various qualifying tournaments earlier this season.  

Pearson, Johanna Dellenbach and her younger sister, Natalie, stuck around for the Junior Gold Survivor Tournament July 22. Pearson took 131st out of 452 in the U18 boys’ division with a 1,047 series over five games (198-184-184-214-267), Johanna Dellenbach finished 116th out of 161 U18 girls with an 847 series (172-192-189-166-128) and Natalie Dellenbach was 41st out of 42 in the U12 girls’ division with a 529 (104-118-121-95-91).

“After a full week of bowling, for Johanna and Noah to come out and bowling like they did on Saturday is fabulous,” coach Dellenbach noted. “They were both tired, but had some of their best scores all week. This is only the second big tournament for Natalie with the first being youth state this past year, and bowling with high schoolers can be intimidating. She did great her first three games, but then she got tired. Doing more tournaments like this will help her build stamina to make it through five games, she was still excited and has already said she is ready for more.”