Vernon bowler rolls to top of Canadian championship

Vernon bowler rolls to top of Canadian championship

Published 8:00 pm Saturday, May 30, 2026

Vernon’s Talan Rachwalski from Lincoln Lanes is all smiles after winning the Youth Bowl Canada Junior Boys Singles Canadian championship in Winnipeg. (Contributed)

Vernon’s Parker Smith from Lincoln Lanes (right), with chaperone Ivan Soroka, placed sixth in the Senior Boys Singles Division at the Youth Bowl Canada national championships in Winnipeg. (Contributed)

The Lincoln Lanes team of Axl Rachwalski (left) and Zayden Ficke (right), with coach Alex Kazimer (centre), placed fourth in the Junior Boys Team event at the Youth Bowl Canada national championships in Winnipeg. (Contributed)

Charleigh Lemay from Vernon’s Lincoln Lanes finished fourth in the Senior Girls Singles Division at the Youth Bowl Canada national championships in Winnipeg. (Contributed)

Talan Rachwalski began the 2026 Youth Bowl Canada national championships in Winnipeg on fire.

His flame was never extinguished.

Rachwalski – from Vernon’s Lincoln Lanes – won the Canadian Junior Boys Singles championship, winning 17 of 22 games to edge Joey Gregoire of Mario’s Bowl in Thunder Bay, Ont., by one point, May 4 to 6.

Maxx Besler from Streetsville Bowl in Streetsville, Ont. won bronze with 15 points.

Rachwalski opened the tournament with back-to-back 300+ games, 338 and 359. He won his first four games, won another four in a row from games 9-12, then finished the tournament with eight consecutive wins.

Rachwalski’s average over the nationals was 239.18. Gregoire finished with a 236.73 average, and rolled one 300+ game (319) while Besler averaged 226.36 for the 22 games, and rolled a pair of 300 games, 313 and 347.

Tyler Dyck from Minnedosa Bowl in Minnedosa, Man., rolled a tournament-high 388 game. He ended up in a three-way tie for fourth place.

It’s the second YBC National Junior Boys title for a Lincoln Lanes bowler, the first since Dana Chanasyk won gold 57 years ago in Hamilton in 1969.

Three Lincoln Lanes bowlers just missed the podium at the Winnipeg nationals.

Charleigh Lemay was a heartbreaking fourth in Senior Girls, an event that required a three-way tiebreaker for the silver medal.

Lemay, Taelar Kerr of Bolorama Lanes in Regina, and Molly Clements from The Alley in Charlottetown, PEI, all finished tied for second with 14 points. Kerr won the tiebreaker by rolling a 348 game, and Clements took bronze (275 score).

Lemay’s 177 in the tiebreak was her lowest score of the tournament.

Gold went to Raven Hamacher of Echo Bowl from Brantford, Ont. She won 17/22 games, and finished with a 265.68 average.

Lemay averaged 235.77 over her 22 games. Her highest score was a 324.

Vanessa Elliott-Lynch from Plaza Bowl in St. John’s, NL, finished fifth with 13 points despite rolling eight 300+ games and a tournament-high 418.

The Vernon duo of Axl Rachwalski and Zayden Ficke, coached by Alex Kazimer, placed fourth in the Junior Boys team event, ending up with 31.5 points. The duo from Ingersoll Lanes in Ingersoll, Ont., won gold, dominating with 50.5 points.

The team from Rossmere Lanes in Rossmere, Man., won silver with 36 points, and a pair from Toppler Bowl in Calgary took bronze with 34.5 points.

Rachwalski averaged 207.19 over 21 games with his high game being 278 (twice). Ficke averaged 179.81, rolling a high score of 249.

Alex Brandt from Rossmere had the tournament-high game of 325.

Parker Smith added to Lincoln Lanes’ top-10 success by finishing sixth in the Senior Boys Singles competition.

Smith averaged 222.59 over 22 games, and finished with 11 points, same as Antoine Nadeau from Salon de Quilles Greber in Gatineau, Que. Nadeau’s average was 229.59.

Smith’s tournament high score was 280.

Kyle Slade of Riverdale Lanes in Kelligrews, NL won gold with 18 points and a tournament average of 256.27.

Keeran Pillai of Golden Mile Lanes in Regina took silver with a 263.77 average but only 16 points. Jack Pfeiffer from Sherwood Bowl in Sherwood Park, Alta., rolled to the bronze medal with 13 points, and an average of 256.27.

Slade had the tournament high game of 353.