STEVE BROWNLEE

Before I get to the Marquette County U.S. Bowling Congress Open Association tournament results, let me remind you that the PBA is back on ESPN.

If you didn’t know it, you missed a show on Sunday, but you can still catch six more 1 p.m. Sunday telecasts from now through mid-May and also the first Sunday in June and in July.

Now back to the Marquette USBC tourney.

Josh Larson gets crowned the big winner this year in the event held in Marquette and Ishpeming during March, winning two divisions and cashing in all four categories.

The Ishpeming resident has charged onto the elite bowling scene with three 300 games in the past two seasons.

He won singles with a handicap score of 820 — which I heard came from a scratch series in the 770s — to earn $118.

He held off a charge by Evan Tapio of Republic, who shot 797 to finish second and win $68.

Larson used that big singles score to also cart off the title in all-events, which combines team, doubles and singles scores.

Larson rolled up 2,275, and if I’m estimating correctly it would be about 2,140 scratch, an average series of around 710 or 715.

By the way, Larson earned $51 for the all-events title as he finished 35 pins ahead of Tyler Martinac of Ishpeming, who won $28 for his 2,240.

Larson also took second in team with Marquette pals Jesse Bianchi and Greg Bisel as they rolled 2,197 and missed the winning team of Dave Abraham of Champion, Joe Duckworth of Negaunee and Mike Trickey of Marquette by just 14 pins.

Abraham’s trio got $258 for their 2,211 score while Larson’s youthful group got $132.

And Larson was third in doubles, pairing up with Don Beck of Negaunee to roll 1,389 and win $74.

Tyler and Ryan Martinac of Ishpeming won that division by a landslide with 1,594 to earn $186, while John “Vinnie” LaCombe and Glenn Ayotte were second with 1,453 to earn $100.

Tyler Martinac was also third in singles with 717, worth $44, while Ryan Martinac got third in all-events with 2,087 for $20 and Trickey fourth in all-events with 2,085 for $16.

Rounding out the cashers were three more in singles. Bob Holm of Marquette was fourth with 709, good for $30, while Brenda Carlson of Negaunee and Ashley Pietro of Ishpeming tied for fifth with 698 to each win $20.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.