This weekend we were at Bowlero Kyrene for our last 3-squad tournament of the 2023 season. We would see a good turnout with 99 total entries (79 qualifying and 20 economy parlays) with 28 prize winners and a cash ratio of 1 in 3.53, which paid out over $6,000 in main and side event prize funds. The bowlers played on the 40ft 2022 U.S. Open PTQ oil pattern which was very tricky, deceptive. Many of the bowlers would think that since there was more oil volume that it would play similar to a modified house shot, but with all the oil in the front and outside portion of the lanes being relatively flat, it made it very hard to swing the ball. Because the pattern was not very long or very short, it allowed players to attack it from a variety of angles. The cut scores were kind of low with bowlers only needing to bowl a few pins over their average each game to advance to the quarterfinal round. The main key for the day was to leave a makeable spares and then pick them up.
We would like to welcome Jacob Waldren, Vince Lombardi, and Daniel Cunningham to the SFT family. We hope that you all had a fun time and hope to see you again. We would see only one Parlay Power Players this weekend, in Jim Winnie, which goes to show how difficult the pattern played from pair to pair. Congrats to John Zafra for making his first quarterfinals. Congrats to Allan Kudlock on winning Momma’s Mystery Pot, with a score of 153, for $500.00! Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track high performance ball for $95.00, was Howard Strause.
The quarterfinals would be bowled on the fresh oil pattern and the scores showed as we would see scores more in line with the 1st squad of the tournament. Picking up spares was the key as it would come down to the final few frames to see who would advance to semi-final round. We would have 24 quarterfinalists with each Division having at least 8 bowlers in each Division. With our 1 in 3 cut ratio, from the quarterfinals to the semi-finals, we would cut to the Top 2 bowlers in all three Divisions.
The A Division would see Sergio Hilburn (+37) emerge as the #1 seed and he would have to face off against #2 seed Chris Strehl (+30). The B Division would have red-hot Jim Cote (+98) as the #1 seed, and he would take on Jeff Kraus (+47). The C Division would feature SFT rookie Ty Waldren (+23) as the overall #1 seed, and he would be up against Mike Hodge (+12).
The A Division Semi-Final match would be a close match as Sergio and Chris would start off neck and neck with a couple of strikes. It would be pretty close for most of the match, and it would all come down to the tenth frame. Chris would double and get seven on the fill to finish the match with a score of 204. Sergio would need to mark and get good count to win the match. Sergio would get eight on his first shot but would end up chopping the spare attempt to finish the match with a score of 197, to give Chris the win.
The B Division Semi-Final match would also be a close match with Jim and Jeff going back and forth. It would come down to the tenth frame. Jim would finish the match first as he would go a bit high and leave the 3-pin on his first ball. Jim would just miss the spare attempt and would finish the match with a score of 198. Jeff would need a mark and nine as he was coming off a double. Jeff’s first ball in the tenth would leave the 4-pin and he would go on to pick up the spare. Jeff would get nine on his fill ball to win the match with a score of 201.
The C Division would also be close as Ty Waldren and Mike Hodge would have their match decided in the tenth frame. Ty would open in the tenth as he would leave the 4-6 split and was unable to pick it up. This would give him a score of 216. Mike would need all three in the tenth to have a chance to win. Mike’s first ball would strike, and his second ball of the frame would leave the stone 8-pin. Mike would finish with a score of 194, as Ty would advance to his first Finals.
Going into the Finals we would see Chris Strehl as the top seed. Chris was looking to win his first AHT SFT title as he had won one in the previous iteration of Strikeforce. Jeff Kraus was looking to win his second title and move into the lead in the 2023 SFT Player of the Year points race. Ty Waldren was making his very first Finals appearance in only his second quarterfinals appearance. All three bowlers were looking to take home the $1,100.00 first place prize!
The Finals would start off with a strike from Jeff Kraus. Ty Waldren would be up next on the right lane and would go a bit high leaving the 6-710, which he would chop for an open frame. Chris’ first ball would go just a hair long leaving the 2-pin, which he would pick up. Jeff’s next ball in the second frame would go a bit high leaving the baby split (3-10) and he would convert the spare to remain clean. Ty would see his ball go long on the left lane to leave the 1-2-4 but would chop the spare as he looked to settle in. Chris would finish off the second frame with a crushing strike as he looked to make any handicap difference that he was giving. Third frame would see Jeff strike on his good lane, as would Ty on the right lane. Chris would go a bit high and leave the 6-10, which he would spare. The fourth frame would see Jeff double as he looked to take a slight lead, Ty would again see his ball go a bit long and leave the 1-2-4, but he would pick it up this time. Chris would strike to finish off the frame. Jeff would leave a stone 9-pin in the fifth, which he would pick up. Ty would go Brooklyn but leave a 5-pin and would spare. Chris would double up to close out the fifth.
Just over midway through the match and it was a close match as all three bowlers were within 10 pins of each other. Jeff would lead off with a split (6-7-10) and would not pick the spare for an open frame. Ty and Chris would strike. We would see Jeff strike in the seventh frame as he looked to make up for his open in the sixth. Ty would crumble the pocket for a double as he looked to give himself a chance to get back into the match. Chris would strike for a four bagger as he would take a lead. Eighth frame would see Jeff leave “the Bucket” (2-4-5-8) and would chop the spare leaving the 4-pin for an open frame. Ty would miss right and leave the 1-2-4 which he would pick up. Chris would go on to leave the 4-pin as his ball would hit the pocket light and he would pick up the spare. Jeff would strike in the ninth frame to set himself up for the tenth frame. Ty would go high and leave the 3-pin which he would just miss for an open frame. Chris would strike to put the pressure on Jeff and Ty to strike out to have a chance to win.
Tenth frame would see Jeff’s ball go high through the pocket to leave the 3-6, which he would pick up. Jeff’s fill ball would do the same as he would get eight to finish with a score of 206. Ty would again see his ball go long as he would leave the 1-2-4 but he would miss the spare as he hooked at it leaving him with a score of 195. Chris would just need any count to win and he would see his ball hit late and leave the 8-pin. Chris would miss the spare but it wouldn’t matter as he would finish with a score of 219. This would give Chris his first AHT SFT title and would take home $1,100.00 for his efforts! Congrats to Jeff Kraus on second place for $600.00. Also, congrats to Ty Waldren on third place for $300.00.
Thank you to everyone that came out this weekend. Also, thanks to Jay Jay Newell and his staff at Bowlero Kyrene for hosting us this weekend and providing great customer service. Thanks to Michael Dragon and Hokey Begay for helping run the tournament today and keeping us on time for most of the day.
We’ll be back in a couple of weeks for our last tournament of the 2023 SFT season at Bowlero Via Linda on December 3rd. Don’t forget we’ll be back at Bowlero Kyrene for our 2023 SFT Match Play Invitational. Look on our website for more information on that event.
Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and we’ll see you all soon!
Bowlero Kyrene Finals - Chris Strehl vs. Jeff Krause vs. Ty Waldren
