Our event this weekend was at AMF Mesa, and we had another good turnout for our 2-squad event! We would see 77 total entries (59 qualifying and 18 parlays), 25 cashers, 1 in 3.1 cash ratio and paid out over $3,900.00 in main and side event prize funds! The players bowled on a pattern we do not use often that is a tough one to get used to. The PBA pattern Badger that is 52 foot in length. This is the longest oil pattern used in competitive play and “hooking” your ball into the pocket is not really an option at the beginning. You have to get used to your ball fading back high flush until they start to break down a little bit. The big difference throughout the day was spares and with so much oil on the lane it was hard to “hook” at spare attempts that you would normally be able to convert.
We would like to welcome Nathan Tidball to the SFT family. We hope that you had a good time and hope to see you again. We also had some Parlay Power Players in Garret Strehl and James Strang! They both made it to the quarterfinals off their $30.00 Economy Parlay entry! We also want to congratulate Michael Arce, Rob Turk, CJ Valenzuela, Ty Waldren and Patrick Yarns for making their first quarterfinals or their first quarterfinals in quite a while. We would not have any Momma’s Mystery Pot winners this weekend and are up to two full pots, worth $500.00 each, and a third pot which all rolled over to our next event. Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track high performance ball for $95.00, was Garret Strehl.
Since this event was only 2 squads, there was no re-oil before the quarterfinals. This resulted in some medium to high scores with the standings being very, very tight. It would all come down to the third and final game of the quarterfinals to determine our semi-finalists. We would have 21 quarterfinalists and with our 1 in 3 cut ratio from the quarterfinals to the semi-final round, we would cut to the Top 2 in each Division. The A Division would see Josh Williams (+90) emerge as your #1 seed and he would have to face off with Sergio Hilburn (+84). The B Division would have Jadeyn Mabry (+45) as the #1 seed, and she would take on Patrick Yarns (+40). The C Division would see CJ Valenzuela (+97) as the #1 seed and he would be up against #2 seed Michael Arce (+74).
The A Division semi-final match would be close between Josh Williams and Sergio Hilburn. Going into the tenth frame Sergio would need to double in order to win the match as Josh would finish up first with a score of 225. Sergio was unable to get the double he needed and would finish with a score of 199. The B Division would start off with Jadeyn Mabry and Patrick Yarns trying to get lined up as quickly as they could. Jadeyn would struggle with the pair while Patrick would get hot and string a few strikes together to win the match, 254 to 172, to advance to the Finals. The C Division semi-final would be a close match between CJ Valenzuela and Michael Arce. CJ would string some strikes together late as Michael could not keep up and would go on to win the match, 215 to 182.
The Finals would see Patrick Yarns and CJ Valenzuela making their first SFT Finals appearance. They were both looking to win their first title and the $775.00 first place prize. Josh Williams was looking to win his 5th title and had made the Finals from his exemption he used from being 3rd place in our 2022 SFT Player of the Year points race. Josh would have to be the favorite as he was the #1 seed overall and had been bowling good for most of the day.
Josh Williams would start off the Finals with a strike as he looked to set the tone. Patrick would strike as well as CJ would finish up with an open frame as he would chop the 6-10. Second frame would see Josh get an 8-spare as he would pick up the 4-7. Patrick would hit the pocket a bit high leaving the 6-10, which he would also pick up. CJ would strike in the second looking to make up for his open frame. Third frame would see all three bowlers’ strike. Josh would double up in the fourth frame to cut into the handicap difference that he was giving Patrick and CJ. Patrick would get penalized as he would hit the pocket high but leave the 4-6 split. Patrick would get one as he tried to pick up the spare for an open frame. CJ would strike to take a lead with a three bagger. Fifth frame and Josh would hit the pocket light leaving the 4-7 and he would pick it up. Patrick would hit the pocket through the nose to leave the 3-pin standing. Patrick would pick up his spare. CJ would continue to strike as it looked like he was running away with the match.
The rest of the match would see Patrick struggle with the lane transition and he would go on to finish the match with a score of 183. Josh Williams would try to keep up with CJ but an untimely “Ocho-Diaz” (8-10) split in the 7th frame which he would not pick up. Josh would finish up the match with a four bagger to try to put pressure on CJ to finish with a score of 225. CJ would continue to stay clean for the rest of the match and would finish with a score of 254 to win his first AHT SFT title and $775.00! Congrats to Josh Williams on second place and $375.00. Also, congrats to Patrick Yarns on third place and $275.00.
Thank you to everyone that came out this weekend to bowl our tournament. Thank you to Kat Weissmann and the staff at AMF Mesa for hosting us this weekend and the great customer service. Also, thanks to Hokey Begay and Tyler Andersen for helping out today to keep us on time.
We’ll see you all in a couple weeks for a 3-squad tournament at Bowlero Kyrene on Sunday, November 19th. Hope you all have a great week!
AMF Mesa FInals - Josh Williams vs. Patrick Yarns vs. CJ Valenzuela
