Written by onefrombills March 3, 2021
Inaugural PBA Jr. National Championship Finals Air Sunday on FS1
Junior bowlers to compete in Pro/Jr. doubles competition in second hour of telecast
Jupiter, Fla.—The first-ever PBA Jr. National Champions will be crowned when the PBA Jr. Finals conclude Sunday, Mar. 7 at noon ET on Fox Sports' FS1. The winners of the boys and girls divisions will each earn $7,500 in SMART Scholarships for their future education.
PBA Jr. competitors from around the country competed in five different regions in September of 2020, with the top 20 bowlers (two boys and two girls from each region) advancing to match play held Feb. 20 in Jupiter, Fla. After 10 games of match play, Spencer Robarge secured the top seed in the boys division and Victoria Varano earned the No. 1 seed in the girls division, guaranteeing themselves berths in the PBA Jr. Finals.
18-year-old Robarge, who qualified in the Southwest Region, has bowled 41 perfect games in his young career. He posted a 7-3 record in PBA Jr. match play and earned the top seed by 172 pins over second place.
Varano lists her sister, five-time PWBA Tour champion Danielle McEwan, as her favorite bowler. Qualifying out of the East Region, 16-year-old Varano led match play by 35 pins to earn a spot in the title match.
Their opponents—Nate Purches and Jillian Martin, respectively—earned their way into the finals through a stepladder featuring the players who qualified second, third and fourth. Both Purches and Martin were the No. 2 seeds, needing to win one match to advance to the televised finals.
Qualifying out of the Midwest Region, Purches, 17-years-old, plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and has a high series of 811. He defeated Randal Dunbar to get to the finals.
At age 16, Martin came close to winning a PWBA title in January, finishing second by six pins to Bryanna Coté in the PWBA ITRC Classic. Martin advanced out of the Midwest Region and beat Alyssa Ballard—daughter of Del and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard—to earn a spot in the PBA Jr. Finals.
Following the PBA Jr. National Championship Finals, PBA and PWBA professionals get involved in Pro/Jr. doubles competition. Two-time Roth/Holman PBA Doubles Champions Kyle Troup and Jesper Svensson will split up to battle with Troup teaming with Purches and Svensson siding with Robarge.
In the other doubles match, McEwan and Varano will take on Clara Guerrero and Martin. The winners of each match will then go head-to-head in a final Pro/Jr. doubles match for the title.
For more information or to join PBA Jr., visit pba.com/join/pba-junior.
PBA Jr. Finals
Bowlero Jupiter – Jupiter, Fla.
Sunday, March 7 at noon ET on FS1
Boys Finals – Spencer Robarge vs. Nate Purches
Girls Finals – Victoria Varano vs. Jillian Martin
Pro/Jr. Doubles Match 1 – Kyle Troup and Nate Purches vs. Jesper Svensson and Spencer Robarge
Pro/Jr. Doubles Match 2 – Danielle McEwan and Victoria Varano vs. Clara Guerrero and Jillian Martin
Pro/Jr. Doubles Finals – Winners of Match 1 vs. Winners of Match 2
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world's preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling's biggest tournaments from the PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2020, the PBA launched PBA Jr., a club for elite youth bowlers under the age of 17 and the PBA Pinsiders, a membership for fans of the sport. For more information, please visit PBA.com.
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