Our event this weekend was at Bowlero Christown and we had a pretty good turnout considering the all the other tournaments going on throughout the Valley! We would see 85 total entries (61 qualifying and 24 economy parlays) with a cash ratio of 1 in 3.69 and paying out over $4,900 in main and side event prize funds. The bowlers played on a very difficult 34ft PBA Del Ballard oil pattern, that is a bit short and flat, and saw some pretty low-cut scores. The average cut to make it to the quarterfinals was just a bit over even, which meant that you just had to maintain your average to move on. The key this weekend was definitely to leave something makeable and pick up your spares!
We had some new bowlers join us for their first event and we want to welcome Brenda Spratt, Patrick Anke, Christian Towles, Christopher Huskins, and Mark Matula who all bowled their first event! We hope you all had a good time and look forward to seeing you at our next event. Congrats to our only Parlay Power Players this weekend in Josh Molloy, Jason Stuewe, and Kaitlyn Davis! Kaitlyn made it all the way to Finals, but more on that down below. We’d like to say congrats to Jericho Gaydos, Jason Gootzeit, and Larry Henkel for making either their first quarterfinals or their first quarterfinals in quite a while! We would have no Momma’s Mystery Pot winners! Your winner of the free plastic ball, with an option to upgrade to any Track high-performance bowling ball for $95.00, was Justin Surat!
Since this event was only 2-squads there would be no re-oil before the quarterfinals. This resulted in some lower scores with the standings being very tight as bowlers needed to bowl at least their average with one or two good games to make the cut. We had 18 quarterfinalists, with all three Divisions having 6 bowlers. The cut ratio from the quarterfinals to the semi-finals is 1 in 3, so that meant we would cut to the Top 2 bowlers in each Division. It looked like it would all come down to the third game of the quarterfinals to determine who would make it to the semi-finals.
In the A Division, your #1 seed would be Parlay Power Player Jason Stuewe (+45) and he would take on our other Parlay Power Player Josh Molloy (+35). The B Division #1 seed was SFT veteran Ken W. Davis (+40) and he would face off with upcoming youth bowler Jason Gootzeit (+36). The C Division was led by SFT rookie Kaitlyn Davis (+12) and she would face off with Alex Olson (-17).
The A Division semi-final would be a real nail biter as both Jason Stuewe and Josh Molloy would go back and forth for most of the match. It would come down to the ninth and tenth frames as Jason would open in the ninth, unable to convert the 2-10 split, and would go strike and ninth-spare to fill out the tenth for a score of 235. It would come down to Josh’s tenth frame as he had a four-bagger going into the frame. Josh’s first shot in the tenth frame would miss a bit high leaving the 3-6, which he would spare. Josh would need just nine on his fill ball to win the match or eight would force a ninth-tenth frame roll-off. Josh’s fill shot would miss a bit right and leave the PBA washout (1-2-4-6-10) to finish with a score of 232 and give Jason Stuewe the win.
The B Division semi-final would not be as close as Jason Gootzeit would shoot a clean game while Ken W. Davis would struggle on the pair. Jason would go on to win the match, 219 to 170.
The C Division semi-final would be a close match with it all coming down to the tenth frame. Alex Olson had a couple of open frames in the eighth and ninth frames which saw his lead shrink going into the tenth. Alex would get a much-needed strike on his first ball and would need another to force Kaitlyn to strike in the tenth. Alex’s second shot would miss hit through the head-pin leaving the 5-9, which he would chop on his spare attempt to finish with a score of 191. This would mean that Kaitlyn Davis would just need a mark and any count to advance. Kaitlyn’s first shot looked good off her hand and it would hit the pocket but leave a stone 9-pin. Kaitlyn would go on to pick up the spare and get nine on her fill shot and would win the match with a score of 209.
Going into the Finals we would see all three bowlers looking at winning their first title and the $825.00 first place prize! Kaitlyn Davis was making her first Finals as this was her second cash this season, second in a row. Kaitlyn bowls for Grand Canyon University and looked like her hard work was paying off. Jason Gootzeit is an upcoming youth bowler who looked to break through today for his first title. The favorite for the match would have to be Jason Stuewe. Stuewe was the number 1 seed going into the Finals and was our Parlay Power Player looking to turn his $30.00 parlay investment into $825.00!
The Finals would start off all three bowlers feeling out the pair. It looked like Jason Gootzeit would get lined up early as he was able to go mark, strike, mark for an early lead. Jason Stuewe would keep pace as he would go nine-spare in the first and second frames and get a strike in the third. Kaitlyn Davis would struggle to start out as she would go open frame, strike, open as it looked like the boys were making up some of the handicap difference they were going to Kaitlyn. Fourth frame would see Jason Gootzeit leave the PBA washout (1-2-4-6-10), which he would almost spare for an open frame. Kaitlyn would get a much needed spare and Stuewe would wrap up with a spare of his own to jump into a slight lead. Fifth frame would have Jason Gootzeit open as Kaitlyn and Stuewe would pick up spares, as it looked like the lanes were starting to transition.
Midway through the match and it was a close one. Jason Gootzeit would strike in the sixth frame as he looked to get back on track. Kaitlyn would continue to mark as Stuewe would open with a chopped 1-2-4 spare attempt. As the match wore on Jason Gootzeit would struggle as he would lose his ball reaction from the previous rounds and would finish up with a score of 162. It would come down to the tenth frame between Kaitlyn and Jason Stuewe. Kaitlyn would be up first and would see her ball leave the 4-7, which she would spare. Kaitlyn would get 7 pins on her fill ball to finish with a score of 205. Jason Stuewe would need at least nine-spare, strike in the tenth to tie or strike and mark to win. Stuewe’s first ball in the tenth would miss a bit left and would go Brooklyn leaving the 1-3. Stuewe would chop the spare attempt to finish with a score of 193. This would give Kaitlyn Davis her first AHT SFT title and $825.00 first place prize! Congrats to Jason Stuewe on second place for $500.00. Also, congrats to Jason Gootzeit on third place and $300.00 towards his USBC SMART account.
Thank you to everyone that came out this weekend! Also, thank you to Aris and the staff at Bowlero Christown for having us out this weekend.
We will be back in a couple of weeks at Bowlero Avondale on Sunday, April 28th!
Hope you all have a great week and we’ll see you soon.
Bowlero Christown Finals - Jason Stuewe vs. Jason Gootzeit vs. Kaitlyn Davis
