Brandon duo make splashy debut

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This article was published 03/05/2025 (249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Grant Kehler and Jaxson Lawrence haven’t been together long as a bantam boys five-pin doubles bowling team, but they’ve already come a long way.

The Brandon duo won the five-game provincial championship in Winnipeg in March by an incredible 211 pins, and head to the Youth Bowling Canada national championships in Edmonton next week.

“That was pretty exciting,” said Kehler, who is nine. “I had no idea it was going to happen. Everybody was saying you were going to be happy with your final score. I was thinking I was either going to get second or third but it turned out to be first.”

His 10-year-old partner agreed.

“I was very surprised,” Lawrence said. “I didn’t think we were going to do that good.”

The local five-pin bowling season goes from September to March, with two 12-week segments. They hold a two-week, in-house qualifying session, with a trip to provincials at stake.

“They ran the table,” head coach Brad Rusnak said of the pair at provincials. “From start to finish, they got off to a very hot start and they ended up winning by over 200 points at provincials.

“They are both under 10 but they have bowled for a couple of years each and are developing very quickly. They will have a very good run at nationals. They’re averaging considerably higher than a lot of the other kids in Manitoba, which is good.”

While the margin of victory in Winnipeg may have come as a bit of a surprise, Rusnak spotted something in the duo earlier this season. As a result, he began the process of molding the two boys into a doubles team well before provincials began.

“Both families get along terrific,” Rusnak said. “We realized early on in the qualifying and even before that these two might end up being a pretty strong team. We put them together for a couple of weeks even before qualifying just to get a sense of what they would do together and get used to being around each other.

“They’ve really formed a friendship and a partnership out of it. They know how to encourage each other and get each other going. They’re serious when it’s their turn, but they’re very good with everybody around them.

“They were commended quite a bit at provincials for encouraging everybody around them as well as their selves. They’re going to stand out very well at nationals.”

The two have known each other for about a year.

At provincials, Kehler threw games of 143, 155, 157, 145 and 153, while Lawrence added games of 112, 179, 155, 141 and 140 for a combined score of 1,480.

“I think he has a good position and some good techniques,” Lawrence said of Kehler. “He has some really cool bowling balls too.”

His partner returned the compliment.

“He is really good at bowling straight,” Kehler said of Lawrence. “There are times he can throw the ball a little off but they still end up hitting pins. I don’t see him really hit gutters a lot.”

Rusnak noted the pair bring very different strengths to the team, adding it works because they are so good in supporting each other.

“Grant is a very energetic young man,” Rusnak said. “Very determined, a little more on the serious side and very analytical about himself. For a young age, he’s a heavy thinker but he loves to analyze, he loves to think outside the box and loves to apply himself, trying different things and different types of shots.

“He’s been a very open soul about the game and loves to talk to adults and coaches. It’s going to be a very different experience for him but one I think he’s very much going to settle into quickly once he gets there.”

On the other hand, Lawrence towers over his partner but is the quieter of the two.

“Jaxson brings a height advantage,” Rusnak said. “Being five-foot-seven already at 10 years old is a little different. He’s just a go-getter. He doesn’t think so much about it, he gets up there and throws.

“He has a natural release and approach to a game. Once he gets up there, he just goes. His size gives him more strength to throw the ball, and when it hits the pins, it splashes a lot stronger and a lot better.”

Brandon also sent a couple of bantam boys to nationals a couple years ago, but the current duo is averaging 10-15 pins a game higher.

At nationals, each team bowls 21 games and combine their scores against other squads, with the best win-loss record taking gold.

“It’s really cool,” Lawrence said. “I didn’t think we would get to go to Edmonton because it was my dream place to go for this event.”

“I’m really excited,” Kehler added. “It’s a dream I never thought would happen. I’m happy to be there, I’m happy to be bowling, I’m happy to see everyone.

“I’m going to go to it and try my hardest and try to get first but whatever place I get is OK.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com