Our event this weekend was at Bowlero Kyrene lanes! We were wondering how the event would turnout with the current events going on, but our worries were quickly erased as we had an awesome turnout with 152 total entries (107 qualifying entries and 45 economy parlay), 41 cashers, and a 1 in 3.7 cash ratio and paid out a whopping $8,000.00 in main and side event prize funds. The players bowled on the traditional version of the PBA Cheetah oil pattern that was 35ft in length. The Cheetah pattern tends to be one of the higher scoring sport patterns, as it allows players to get some free hook on the gutter which is like a house shot. However, it is still a sport pattern, and isn't a walk in the park. There isn't a lot of oil in the middle of the lane, like a house shot, so players tend to play this pattern outside early to allow the ball to roll more vs. trying to hook the ball down lane.
We also had a lot of new bowlers that came out to try the AHT Strike Force Tour for their first time this weekend. Kyle Fritz, Cameron McManigol, Tommy Purvy, Rachel Damon, Raymond Stead and Michael McQuisten all bowled their first event! We hope you guys had a good time at your first event and hope to see you at one of our next events! Congrats to our Parlay Power Players in Chad Summer, Shelby Dempsey, Jim Haines and Josh Molloy, who were all able to make the quarterfinals on just their initial $25 investment. Congrats to Bryton Bobbitt for winning the drawing for a free plastic ball with an option to upgrade to any Track high performance ball for $85.00! Also congrats to Jim Haines on winning Momma’s Mystery Pot for $500.00 with a score of 177!!!
There were 30 quarterfinalists, with a 1 in 3 cut in the Quarterfinals, which meant we would cut to the Top Three in each Division. The A Division would see #1 seed Dylan Taylor (+151) taking on Chad Summers (+73) & Josh Molloy (+73). In the B Division, your leader was Gary Roff (+129) vs. Brandon JohnsonKroman (+110) & Chris Tucker (+65). The C Division would have Brandon Bailey (+91) as the #1 seed and he would have to face off against Nicholas Berhorst (+63) & Josh Hancock (+49).
Most of the Semi-Final matches would come down to the final few frames. The A Division semi-final match would see Chad Summers get hot and throw up a huge 246 scratch game and Dylan was unable to keep pace, finishing with a score of 216 and Josh coming in 3rd. The B Division Semi-Final would see Chris Tucker throw five straight strikes finish at 218 to squeak by Brandon (209) & Gary Roff (207). Finally, in the C Division, Nicholas was able to make some timely strikes to finish at 228 and get around Brandon and Josh who would tie in 2nd place with a score of 209.
The Final match would see two bowlers looking for their first title and Chris Tucker trying to claim his 2nd AHT SFT title. This would be the first time in a long while that at least one of the #1 Divisional seeds didn’t make the Finals. The #1 seed in the Semi-Final match gets the option to pick their pair and the order that the bowlers finish. Chris Tucker would look to be the favorite with his previous Finals experience, but we just saw Chad Summers throw a huge game in the Semi-Finals. You would expect this match to be as exciting as the semi-finals and it wouldn’t disappoint.
The match would start off with Nicholas striking in three of his four frames to jump out to a huge lead with his handicap. Chris and Chad would see some success, but would take a few frames to get lined up to try and catch Nick. Midway through the match and the lanes would start to open up. Nick would stay clean, keeping the pace and trying to maintain his lead. Chad would finally line up and throw a four bagger before sailing his 2nd shot in the tenth frame leaving a nasty split and he would finish at 213. Chris would make a ball change in the 6th frame and would strike in the next 3 frames to also give him a chance, but in his shot in the tenth would go a little high leaving a 3-9 spare. Chris would pick up the spare and finish with a score of 204. Nick would now just need to keep the ball on the lane which he would to finish at 225 giving him his first SFT AHT title! Since Nick is a youth bowler, his winnings will go to his SMART scholarship account. Congrats to Chad Summer on 2nd Place and Chris Tucker for 3rd.
Thanks to everyone for coming out to the event today. We hope to see you all at our next event on Sunday, June 21st at Bowlero Mesa!
