PUTNAM CLAIMS GOLD PIN TOURNAMENT TITLE OVER MITSKAVICH 185-183.
DuBois—DuBois Lanes hosted the second district 4 youth gold pin tournament Sunday afternoon with Cyclone’s Wayne Putnam claiming the title. 22 bowlers bowled a three game qualifying round with the top five bowlers matching up in the step ladder finals. Ryan Mitskavich of DuBois was the number one seed with a 662 series. Mitskavich and 3rdseeded Jacob Amster of Smethport also tied for the high game of the day with a 258. On Saturday morning, Mitskavich, who is 14 years old, became the youngest bowler in DuBois Lanes history to record a 300 game as part of another 660 series. The day’s first match pitted DuBois’ Thomas Grecco the number five seed against the number four seed, Brandon Orsich of Clearfield. Orsich outscored Grecco 235-210. Orsich moved onto match number two against Amster and won by a score of 222-156. Orsich’s run came to an end in match three as Putnam put on a four strike streak in the middle of the game to win by a score of 211-181. This set up the finals with Putnam building up a comfortable lead on Mitskavich early. Mitskavich fought back to force Putnam to make a good count in the final frame. Putnam left a split, but was able to pick up one pin to score the 185-183 win. The gold pin tournament has been set up by Clearfield youth coach, Don Barr, with girls qualifying in their leagues by bowling a 550 series and boys a 600 series. Each district house was also afforded one non-qualifying position for this tournament. Barr is looking to expand on this tournament in the future, and possibly making this a scholarship earning tournament. The next tournament will be held in the spring of 2014 at Clearfield Lanes. District four bowling centers include Bradford, Brookville, Clearfield, DuBois, Emporium, Kane, Philipsburg, and St. Marys.