Steve Brownlee

Unlike the Final Four in college basketball, the most important round at a Junior Gold youth bowling tournament held three weeks ago came in the semifinals.

That’s because two bowlers qualified for this summer’s national tournament out of the tourney held at Superior Lanes in Marquette on March 11.

That meant the finals were just a formality to determine the winner and runner-up.

Those two winners were Tucker Hemmila of L’Anse, and now Spring Arbor College downstate, and Zach “Spanky” Spera of Iron Mountain.

They joined previous qualifiers Hunter Negri of Marquette and Brooke Fornetti of Iron Mountain as regional bowlers who have qualified for this scholarship- and attention-getting tournament to be held in Cleveland in July.

The scholarships are pretty self-explanatory — if you do really well, you can earn college funding for the future.

But the attention-getting could be just as important for some aspiring teen bowlers, since I’ve been told a number of college coaches came from all over the country to watch and talk to prospective collegiate bowlers during last year’s national tourney in Indianapolis.

Area organizers have set up one more Junior Gold qualifier in the Upper Peninsula at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 13, at River Rock Lanes in Ishpeming.

With just a small handful of entries — four — that would be enough to guarantee a girl would be sent to Cleveland.

In March, Hemmila outlasted Spera 338-295 in a two-game, total-pins match in the finals to claim that qualifier title. Hemmila rolled games of 151 and 187 and Spera 146 and 149 on what was described to me as a sport shot or one close to it.

In other words, a very tough shot, one where if you miss your target, or you throw the wrong speed or put too much or not enough “fingers” in the ball, will almost be a guarantee of missing the strike pocket.

In the all-important semifinals, Hemmila edged out Hunter Peterson of Ishpeming, 329-322. Peterson took a 179-136 lead after Game 1 before Hemmila came back for a 193-143 win in Game 2.

In the other semi, Spera outlasted Northern Michigan University student Cathy Mathews of Jackson 371-303. Spera shot 181 and 190 while Mathews had 168 and 135.

Because only two girls were entered among seven in the event, they had to compete against the boys.

Peterson led qualifying with 1,180 for six games, an average just a shade under 197 on games of 201, 225, 187, 201, 186 and 180.

Hemmila was next with 1,042, all games between 159 and 191; then Spera 1,002 with a 218 high; and Mathews 978 with a 195 high.

Mark Musiel of Copper Harbor, a Calumet High School bowling team member, was next with 973, then Elizabeth Taylor of Escanaba with 908 and Stephen Kangas of Ishpeming, who I understand is in eighth grade, had 835.

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