April 4, 2025 Nolan Hughes

Anna Antony and Griffin Jordan each made their debuts on national television one to remember, capturing PBA Junior National Championship titles.

In the girls division, Antony took down the top seed in California’s Katelyn Abigania. Antony became the first two-handed player to win the girls division title.

Jordan defeated California’s Ernesto Reynoso, who was the defending champion, to win the PBA Junior Boys National Championship. Jordan earned the top seed by averaging more than 247 during match play and became the first one-handed to win the boys division title.

Jordan also won the doubles portion of the televised event, teaming up with EJ Tackett to take down the duo of Abigania and Diandra Asbaty.

The 12 finalists in each division earned their spots through Regional Qualifier tournaments last year. The winner of each event advanced to the PBA Junior National Championship.

The finalists each bowled 12 games of round-robin match play. The top qualifier secured a berth in the championship match, which was televised in the U18 Boys and U18 Girls divisions, while the second through fifth qualifiers competed in a stepladder livestreamed on BowlTV.

The PBA Junior National Championships were contested March 14-15 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev.

U18 Boys Division

Griffin Jordan’s road to the PBA Junior National Championships started right at home. He defeated his twin brother Landin Jordan — the 2022 champion of the event — in the title match of last year’s Regional Qualifier.

Upon arriving in Reno for the finals, Jordan was on a mission.

“I told myself, ‘I'm not leaving here without a win. I'm not letting this happen. I need this one, and I need this now,’” Jordan said. “That was my mentality going into this and I never wavered. My confidence stayed that way the whole time and my mental game is just on top of the world right now.”

Jordan excelled during match play, averaging more than 247. He staved off Florida’s Christian Mouton with a match-winning strike in the position round to earn the top seed and the automatic spot in the televised championship match.

In the championship match, Jordan faced defending champion Ernesto Reynoso. Reynoso shot 300 against Dawson Peterson, then defeated Mouton 268-251 to advance to the title match.

“He's a great competitor. I feel like most people know that,” Jordan said of Reynoso, “but to me, he's just any other person I have to beat. I probably came in as the underdog and that just made me want to win more.”

Jordan said he broke down the pair well for himself, something he said he learned from watching his brother Landin compete on multiple TV shows, including the U.S. Open prelims earlier this year.

Jordan started with six strikes against Reynoso, but he missed 10-pin in the eighth frame. Just as he did in the position round against Mouton, Jordan responded with two strikes to win the title.

“If I can do it once, I can do it twice — and I did it twice,” Jordan said.

After years of sitting on the sidelines watching his brother celebrate on the lanes, this moment belonged solely to Griffin.

“For me to finally be able to have mine — and to be on the lanes instead of in the stands watching — made me so proud of myself and so proud of all the hard work I put in,” Jordan said.

The emotions came pouring out of Jordan after he defeated Mouton to clinch his spot in the championship match. After shaking hands with Mouton, Jordan ran to hug his father.

“Just to be on the TV show, I don't know, something about it made me collapse. I was just so proud of myself, and I knew my dad was going to be very proud of me as well,” Jordan said. “My dad means everything to me. He's been to almost every tournament I've bowled, and he's coached me for my whole life. He basically built me from the ground up and taught me pretty much everything I know. All the hours that we put in at the bowling alley together really made me happy.”

Full standings are available here.

Championship Round Scores

Match One: No. 4 Dawson Peterson def. No. 5 Mats Tuneberg, 265-254
Match Two: No. 3 Ernesto Reynoso def. No. 4 Dawson Peterson, 300-247
Match Three: No. 3 Ernesto Reynoso def. No. 2 Christian Mouton, 268-251
Championship: No. 1 Griffin Jordan def. No. 3 Ernesto Reynoso, 244-235

Complete standings are available here.

U18 Girls Division

Anna Antony, just 15 years old, said she wanted to challenge herself, so she opted to compete in the U18 Girls division against a plethora of annual Junior Team USA members.

She beat them all, including Katelyn Abigania, who is the only PBA Jr. player to have reached the finals in all five years of the event, to win the PBA Junior Girls National Championship title.

Antony lost twice to Abigania during match play, including the position round, and said she wanted some revenge.

“I’ve got to win the war instead of just the battle,” Antony said of facing Abigania. “She beat me in match play and the position round. I kinda had to get my revenge. I can’t let her beat me all of these times.”

Antony bowled a clean, methodical 217 to beat Abigania’s 210.

Antony’s father was in attendance, while her mother and three siblings, none of whom bowl, were back home in Connecticut.

“But now I can rub it in their face that I'm the national champion,” Antony said.

Antony made history by becoming the first two-handed player to win the girls division. She achieved the feat with Jason Belmonte, the two-handed pioneer who inspired her to bowl, watching from the stands.

“I’m happy that Jason Belmonte got to see it,” Antony said. “It didn’t feel real that he was there. I’ve always envied his game. He’s one of the main reasons that I bowl two-handed. It all started with the 2015 USBC Masters. I thought it looked really cool and I modeled my game after him, because I grew to love bowling.”

Complete standings are available here.

Championship Round Scores

Match One: No. 5 Kaitlyn Stull def. No. 4 Taylor Kretz, 267-247
Match Two: No. 5 Kaitlyn Stull def. No. 3 Gianna Brandolino, 191-185
Match Three: No. 2 Anna Antony def. No. 5 Kaitlyn Stull, 257-235
Championship: No. 2 Anna Antony def. No. 1 Katelyn Abigania, 217-210

Complete standings are available here.

PBA Junior and PBA/PWBA Doubles

Girls Match: Katelyn Abigania/Diandra Asbaty def. Anna Antony/Felicia Wong, 119-106 (five-frame match)
Boys Match: Griffin Jordan/EJ Tackett def. Ernesto Reynoso/Marshall Kent, 116-110 (five-frame match)

Finals: Griffin Jordan/EJ Tackett def. Katelyn Abigania/Diandra Asbaty, 267-180

U15 Mixed Division

 

In the new U15 Mixed division, Arkansas’ Jackson Dyess climbed the stepladder to win the title. 

He usurped Darrick Ferd Monteverde in the position round, then defeated Derrald Ferd Monteverde in the opening match of the stepladder. Dyess took down Blake Glines and Jos Weems to meet top seed Krisofer Wagner in the championship match.

Dyess won again, this time 237-225, to capture the first PBA Junior U15 Mixed National Championship.

The entirety of U15 Mixed division match play and stepladder finals were livestreamed on BowlTV and is available to rewatch in the BowlTV archives.

U15 Mixed Division - Championship Round Scores

Match One: No. 5 Jackson Dyess def. No. 4 Derrald Ferd Monteverde, 215-199
Match Two: No. 5 Jackson Dyess def. No. 3 Blake Glines, 244-171
Match Three: No. 5 Jackson Dyess def. No. 2 Jos Weems, 259-245
Championship: No. 5 Jackson Dyess def. No. 1 Kristofer Wagner, 237-225

Complete standings are available here.