2009 Columbia 300 John Jowdy Scholarship Awarded to Wisconsin Senior
June 11, 2009
HOPKINSVILLE, KY - COLUMBIA 300 is pleased to announce Gregory W. Pizl, II as the 2009 recipient of the John Jowdy Scholarship. Gregory is a senior at Antigo High School in Antigo, Wisconsin and will be graduating on May 31, 2009. He is the son of Greg and Tina Pizl.
Gregory was selected as the 2009 scholarship recipient as a result of his bowling accomplishments, as well as his accomplishments in the classroom and in the community. He boasts a high game of 300 and a high series of 803. He maintains a 3.941 grade point average and is a member of the National Honor Society, High Honor Roll, and Who’s Who Among American High School Students. He regularly volunteers at a local elementary school, the Cancer Center, and the Optimist Club.
Gregory is an accomplished junior bowler who earned Dexter/USCB High School All-American honors in 2006 and 2008. He was named to the Bowler’s Journal Top 50 Male College Prospects list in 2007 and 2008. He claimed individual championships at the 2009 Sean Yonal Memorial Tournament and the Central Wisconsin Scratch Bowler’s Tour in March 2009. He has been a Junior Gold national advancer since 2004. He represented his high school as a varsity member of the bowling team for 4 years and he is a USBC Bronze Level Certified Coach.
When asked to comment on being awarded the 2009 John Jowdy Scholarship, Gregory stated “I want to say thank you to family and friends, not because they “pushed” me in to bowling. No one has ever done that. It is because of their support and encouragement that I have gotten as far as I have. The opportunities with bowling are endless and the experiences along the way phenomenal”.
In the Fall of 2009, Gregory will attend Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin where he was recruited and extended a bowling scholarship.
Additional finalists for the 2009 Columbia 300 John Jowdy Scholarship are as follows: Adam Van Fleet of Haw River, NC; Corey Sykes of Chincoteague Island, VA; Carson Wyckoff of Zeeland, MI; Courtney Wilson of Chicago, IL; and Michelle Secours of Brockport, NY.
Scholarship History
The Columbia 300 John Jowdy Scholarship has been awarded to high school seniors since 1990. The program awards $2,000 in scholarship money over 4 years of post-secondary educational enrollment. Past recipients of the scholarship are:
1990—David Nagelhaut, New Jersey
1991—Laura Ross, New Jersey
1992—Michael Mullin, New York
1993—Marjorie Tassone, Arizona
1994—Mark Martin, Oregon
1995—Kevin Winter, Washington
1996—Nicholas Hoagland, Ohio
1997—Michael Pretko, Michigan
1998—Timothy Frank, Illinois
1999—Amanda Fritsche, Texas
2000—Scott Norton (California) and Robby Spigner (Illinois)
2001—Craig Brown, Ohio
2002—Amanda Pezzano, New Jersey
2003—Nicholas Kallner, New York
2004—Adam Keesling, Kansas
2005—Rachelle Davis, Arizona
2006—Tyler Barker, Utah
2007—Natalie Cortese, Illinois
John Jowdy was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1988 and the American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in 2001 for meritorious service to the game. He has been an instructor to many PBA champions and hundreds of others, a Columbia 300 sales representative and a bowling writer. Easily identifiable at PBA Tour sites, he has attended more PBA tournaments than all but a few players and PBA staff members. The San Antonio native has provided coverage of the Tour to many of the nation’s leading bowling publications, including Bowling Digest.
“We are very pleased with the outstanding number of applicants for this year’s scholarship award. We are happy to award this scholarship to Greg and believe that he will represent past award winners well,” said John Jowdy.
Based in Hopkinsville, Kent., Ebonite International is a privately-owned company that currently services bowling centers, distributors and retail outlets both domestically and internationally. The company’s consumer product brands include Ebonite, Hammer, Robby’s, Columbia 300 and Track. Its commercial product brands are Ebonite VanTech Capital Equipment, Vantage Genuine Parts, Ebonite Bowling Center Direct and Powerhouse™.
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