By Staten Island Advance Sports Desk
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Fourteen Staten Island youth bowlers are slated to hit the lanes in the 2022 Junior Gold Championships starting July 18 in Grand Rapids, Mich.
More than 4,000 bowlers have qualified for the 2022 event, which is being held across eight centers.
Bowlers in four age-based divisions for boys and girls — U12, U15, U18 and U20 — will be competing for a scholarship fund of approximately $500,000, and spots on Junior Team USA and Junior Team USA’s Developmental Team also will be up grabs.
The Island qualifiers are Julieanne Rodrguez competing in U12, Justin Arenas, Philip Patino and Kiara Lombardi in U15 and Paul Cherry, Derek Concepcion, Joseph Guarnieri, Brandon Handog, Frank Koppie, Tyler Sidman, Steven Souffrin, Luciano Spagnuolo, Maya Avilez and Brianna Mester in U18.
A 15th Islander, Cody Bass, also qualified, but is unable to compete as he’s recovering from surgery to remove one of his kidneys. He will be out for approximately six months as he undergoes treatments.
Bass and the 14 other Islanders all qualified for the event through local qualifiers throughout the bowling season.
The three youth divisions will have their official practice sessions from July 15-17, with competition running from July 18-23.
Qualifying competition for the U15 and U18 divisions shall consist of four four-game blocks over four days. Total pinfall for the 16 qualifying games will decide who will advance. After five additional games, there will be a second cut. All players who make the second cut will bowl an additional five-game block to determine the final advancers to double-elimination match play for each division.
The U12 division also will have four four-game qualifying rounds over four days, before the first cut is made, and advancers will bowl an additional four games to determine the top eight competitors for double-elimination match play.
The stepladder finals, which follow the same format as the U20 finals, in the U12 (10 a.m.), U15 (2 p.m.) and U18 (6 p.m.) divisions all will take place July 23.