Our event this weekend was at AMF Tempe Village, and we had another good turnout with 122 total entries (85 qualifying and 37 economy parlays). We had 33 cashers, a 1 in 3.69 cash ratio and paid out over $8,300.00 in main and side event prize funds. The players bowled on the 45ft PBA Dragon oil pattern that played soft and we would see some higher scores throughout the day. Bowlers were able to play a variety of angles on the pattern as long as they were able to get their ball to read the lane and not overhook. The cut scores stayed around +75 for most of the day, which meant that you had to bowl about 10-15 pins over your average per game to qualify.
We would like to welcome Jireh Molloy, Michael Zipprich, Ethan Dilcox, John Clune, Matthew Woodhall, Tony Titchenal, William Roberts III, James Hughes and Wayne Tipler to the SFT family. We hope that you all had a good time and hope to see you again. We also had some Parlay Power Players in Alec Johnson, Neiko McCullough and Dan Friedline! They all made it to the quarterfinals off their $30.00 Economy Parlay entry! We also want to congratulate Chris Silva, Robert Bowman, Christopher Breeze, Carl (CJ) Stafford, Jr., Bryan Schultz and Michael Zipprich for making their first quarterfinals or their first quarterfinals in quite a while. Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track high performance ball for $85.00, was Rene Villa.
Since this event was only two squads there would be no re-oil before the quarterfinals. We would see 26 bowlers in the Quarterfinals and with our 1 in 3 cut ratio we would be taking the Top 2 bowlers in the A Division with the B and C Divisions taking the Top 3 bowlers after the three quarterfinal games. We would see the cut scores remain high with the standings being very tight. It would all come down to Game 3 of the quarterfinals to determine who would be our semi-finalists.
The A Division would see Jason Lowery (+175) emerge as come out as your overall #1 seed and he would take on Parlay Power Player Alec Johnson (+140). The B Division would have Ron McDonald (+84) as the top seed, and he would take on the current SFT Player of the Year Ron Gonzales (+82) and Thomas “Buddy” Darnell (+82). The C Division would see Josh Wamsley (+127) as the #1 seed, and he would face off against Chuck Lucas (+89) and Darwin Hicks (+74).
The A Division semi-final would be a good match between Jason Lowery and Alec Johnson. Alec would jump out an early lead as Jason would open up in the fourth frame as he was unable to convert a split. Alec would give Jason a chance to get back into the match as he would struggle with a bit of tranisition and open up in the sixth and seventh frames. Jason was able to get lined up as he would go on to strike out in the eighth, ninth and ten frames to win the match, 243 to 206. The B Division semi-finals would not be as close as Ron McDonald would string enough strikes together to win the match with a score of 230. Ron Gonzales would come in second with a 212 game and Buddy Darnell would finish in third with a score of 176. The C Division semi-finals would be a back-and-forth match between Chuck Lucas and Josh Wamsley. Darwin Hicks would struggle with the pair and finish in third place with a score of 180. It would come down to the ninth and tenth frames to see who would move on to the Finals. Chuck Lucas would finish, with a score of 240, by throwing a double and eight in the tenth to force Josh Wamsley to mark in the tenth to win the match. Josh would get up and calmly double and get seven on the fill to win the match with a huge score of 281.
The Finals would see Jason Lowery and Josh Wamsley both looking to win their very first AHT SFT title. Funny coincidence is that Jason and Josh both made their previous Finals together last November at Mesa East Bowl. Jason would come in second place and Josh would finish in third place at that tournament. So, Josh was looking to reverse those roles with a big win today. Ron McDonald was looking to get his season back on track and was also looking to win his fifth SFT title to go along with the $1,250.00 first place prize.
The Finals would start off with Josh getting a quick strike while Ron and Jason would mark in the first frame. Josh would go on to chop the 4-7 in the second frame to give Ron and Jason a chance to make up some of the handicap difference. Ron would pick up the baby split (3-10) in the second while Jason would try to get lined up quickly as he would hit the pocket light for a 5-pin, which he would spare. Jason would strike in the third frame and Ron would continue to pick up his 10-pins in the third and fourth frames to stay clean. Josh would struggle in the third frame as his ball would hit high in the pocket leaving him the 4-6-10 split which he was not able to convert. Jason would get up for the fourth frame and throw a great shot but would leave a stone 8-pin that he would pick up.
Midway through the match and the scores were about even. It looked like it would come down to who could get the right carry as Ron and Jason were in the pocket while Josh would struggle to get his ball to pick up and would hit the pocket late. Josh would leave the 3-6-7-9 split in the fifth and was unable to convert. Ron would open in the fifth as he would get his ball a bit too far right leaving the 1-2-9. Ron would chop the spare while Jason was able to strike and use that momentum to double in the sixth frame. Josh looked to get back into the match with a mark and spare in the sixth and would go on to strike in the seventh frame. Ron would pick up the 2-5-7 in the sixth and strike in the seventh. Jason would leave a six pin in the seventh which he would convert. The eighth frame would see Josh struggle with the right lane as he would leave the 3-6-7-9 and could not convert the spare attempt. Ron would crossover in the eighth and leave the six pin which he would pick up. Jason would strike in the eighth and looked to take the lead for good.
It would come down to the ninth and tenth frames as Josh would get his ball a bit too far left, and it would go into the gutter, but he would go on to pick up the spare to try and give himself a chance in the tenth. Jason would get up in the ninth frame and he would pull his shot a bit right, and it would go through the nose leaving the 4-6-7 split. Jason tried to pick up his spare but could not convert it. This open frame would give Ron an opportunity to put pressure on Jason to show up in the tenth. Ron would get his ball a bit high in the pocket leaving a 4-pin and he would convert the spare. Josh would finish first and leave the 3-6-7-9 split and would not convert to finish at 182. Jason would be up next needing to double and nine in order to shut Ron out of the match. Jason’s first ball in the tenth would look good off his hand and crush the pocket for his first strike. Jason’s second ball would be a little more dramatic as it would hit a bit high but carry the pocket for another strike. Jason’s fill ball in the tenth would be a light mixer and would give him a score of 224. Ron would finish with a strike and mark in the tenth to finish at 212 and this would give Jason his first AHT SFT title and $1,250.00 first place prize! Congrats to Ron McDonald on second place and $600.00. Also, congrats to Josh Wamsley on third place and $400.00!
Thank you to everyone that came out this weekend to bowl the tournament. Again, I cannot thank Tawna McDonald and Skye Lennen for all their hard work in putting on these tournaments. We will see you all next Sunday at AMF McRay for another 2-squad standard tournament. Hope you all have a great week!!!
FINALS - Jason Lowery vs. Ron McDonald vs. Josh Wamsley
