Youth Bowling Championship at Tenpins see wide variety of winners

RIO RANCHO – The Pepsi State Youth Bowling Championship tournament was held this past weekend at Tenpins & More and saw bowlers competing from across the state.

According to Tenpins owner and tournament organizer Steve Mackie, nine divisional winners were crowned from various age brackets.

Local winners included Lucia Griego (Under 12 Girls), Kira Vanderlip (Under 15 Girls), Mia Medina (Under 18 Girls) and Aiden Ruiz-Jimenez (Under 18 Boys).

Other winners came in from Alamogordo, Las Cruces, Melrose, Sandia Park and Albuquerque.

For one bowler, Ruiz-Jimenez, the trophy was the culmination of months of practice and travel to compete in tournaments across the southwest.

“Ruiz-Jimenez’s six-game total of 1,350 (average 225) was the highest set bowled showing the value of him chasing almost-weekly youth tournaments throughout the region including in Texas, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada,” Mackie said.

Other events...The Pepsi State Youth Bowling Championship wasn’t the only thing going on this weekend in the bowling world.

The 9-pin No-Tap tournament took place and Espanola’s Kenneth Friedrich emerged the winner, posting a 1,620 winning total in the Open final.

Seven bowlers split the $2,000 grand prize.

Shane Muller captured Men’s A by 14 over Ron Michel, while senior bowlers, Tony Sanchez won Men’s B and John Waldschmidt took Men’s C.

Kassi Romero beat Trinity Williams by 10 points in the Women’s A final, with veteran Gloria Gonzakowski returning to form in Women’s B. Arthana Hampel secured the Women’s C win over Socorro’s Riza Paterson.

Lastly, the annual “Champion of Champions” tournament kicks off later this month, with 40 bowlers competing in mens, womens, seniors and youth divisions for the $4,300 top prize.

— Steve Mackie contributed to this story