Carol Paetsch is the provincial open ladies champion. (Facebook/ Prince Albert 5 Pin Association)

By Nigel Maxwell

Bowling

Prince Albert bowlers knock down competition at Provincials

Mar 31, 2025 | 5:00 PM

After a strong finish at provincials, Prince Albert’s Carol Paetsch has earned the right to represent her community and Saskatchewan at Nationals.

Paetsch was crowned Ladies Singles champion at the Great Western Open Provincials, which was held in Regina and ran from March 27 to 29. The 64-year-old has been rolling strikes and spares for nearly six decades.

“As old as I am, it’s great. I wasn’t expecting it,” she said about the accomplishment.

In the 10-game singles qualifying round, she averaged 239 and earned herself the fifth seed in the Saturday stepladder. She then battled through some of Saskatchewan’s best female bowlers and persevered through five must win matches to claim the championship.

Provincial all stars from left to right: Carol Paetsch, Jack Mukli and Cora-Lee White. (Facebook/ Prince Albert 5 Pin Association)

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Not far from Paetsch’s thoughts, was her late mother who helped start up the Masters division and was also her coach growing up.

“So I was kind of thinking of her because I know that she had gone to the single nationals as well, so I just kind of had her in the back of my mind and then I had all the support from all these Prince Albert people and you know other divisions as well cheering me on.”

The Canadian Open Championships will be held in Regina from May 20 to 24. Acknowledging she’s a role model for the younger bowlers, Paetsch said she always tries to teach them the importance of sportsmanship.

“We’re not playing for $1 million but you know it’s good to compete and you still have to show a little bit of sportsmanship,” she said.

The Prince Albert men’s team won silver. (Facebook/ Prince Albert 5 pin association)

The Prince Albert’s men’s team finished at provincials with a 7-5 record and scored 54.5 points to clinch the first seed by .5 of a point. The final did not go as planned for the team and the result was silver.

And for the All Stars on weekend, Prince Albert had three bowlers recognized: Carol Paetsch (singles champion), Cora-Lee White (255.2 average) and Jack Mukli (282.1 Average).

There were also some honourable mentions for high averages on the weekend just missing the all-star team: Zach Nilson (263.5 average), Michael Pelechaty (266.9 average), Taylor Trach (251.7).

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Blue Sky: @nigelmaxwell.bsky.social