BATON ROUGE - It’s been a July summer tradition 59 times but the 60th Louisiana State Youth Match Games will try to push itself into a crowded fall calendar this Saturday and Sunday at Bowlero Lanes in Kenner.

It used to be a standalone event before getting nudged by the national junior gold event which moved into a lot of July and brought a lot of youth bowlers to some sites in the Midwest like Indiana or Michigan, etc., that turned into a lengthy bowling/vacation trip for families. That forced the state match games to move later in July and not draw the entries it has in past years. 

I have been a proponent for a few decades that the scratch match games is most successful at certain places in the state and the numbers over the last 30 years or more seem to bear that out. There was a time when the tournament seemed near its end in the 1990s when it drew mediocre entries but in that ever-familiar cycle of bowling, two years later was drawing 100 or more entries for several years.

Now, it is back in that cycle of bowling when entries are down and there is hope by the state USBC that this move to an October weekend will help.

However, in the crowded bowling calendar it happens the Road to Junior Gold monthly tournament will also bowl this weekend in Ft. Walton Beach and a look at the entries shows at least five Louisiana bowlers in the field – bowlers that potentially could be bowling in Kenner this weekend.

One thing that was evident from the Labor Day event at All Star in Baton Rouge, there were a lot of new stars in the upper divisions that provided an outstanding tournament and we look to see what new stars might be waiting at this year’s event. The lower age divisions were a bit lacking in entries and that’s where I think the association needs to push some entries that will become our top division in the years ahead.

We hope for a great event and look forward to getting you those results in the weeks ahead.

College Bowling This Weekend In Harahan

The 17th-ranked Tulane bowling team delivered a pair of top-two finishes during the opening weekend of play at Lucky Strike Garland, including a team victory in the Southwest Intercollegiate Bowling Conference (SWIBC) I followed by a runner-up result in the SWIBC II.

The weekend began with the SWIBC I on Saturday, which saw Tulane bowl a 5,317 across the qualifying Baker matches. The Wave fell just behind No. 7 Louisiana Tech in the seeding, as the Bulldogs accrued 5,615 pins for the top spot. However, the programs would meet in the finals bracket portion, where the Wave triumphed head-to-head to claim the team tournament victory.

After a good start, a chance to see some of the area teams is set for this weekend at Colonial Lanes in Harahan, Friday through Sunday, at the Colonial Lanes Classic. This will mark Tulane's first full weekend tournament of the campaign.

The format will feature traditional games, Baker games and then on Sunday final bracket play to determine the champion. If you’ve never seen a college tournament the atmosphere and the great bowling is fun to watch.

We’ll be back with you next Monday with results and more.

Until then, good luck and good bowling,

                                                        Kent Lowe