Our event this weekend would kick off the 2024 Spring Quarterly Circuit (April – June). We would be at Bowlero Mesa for a 3-squad tournament. We would see a great turnout with 125 total entries (109 qualifying and 16 economy parlays) with a cash ratio of 1 in 3.67. We would pay out over $9,900 in main and side event prize funds. The bowlers would play on the 44ft PBA Billy Hardwick oil pattern that proved to be a bit tricky pair to pair. The pattern would play pretty true for the first couple of squads as bowlers were forced to play towards the middle of the pattern as the outside parts of the lane were cliffed. We would see cut scores remain around +50 for the day, so bowlers would need to average about 10 pins above average to advance to the quarterfinals.
We would like to welcome Paul Munley, London Reyes, Gavin Murphy, Jeremy Reygaert, Melissa “Missy” Reygaert, and Shannon "Casey" Perkins to the SFT Family! We hope you all had a good time and hope to see you again at a future tournament. Congrats to Paul Munley and Lordan Ferguson on being this weekend’s Parlay Power players. Both bowlers made it to the quarterfinals off their $30.00 Economy Parlay investment. Also, congrats to Paul Munley for making it to the quarterfinals in his very first tournament. Congrats to Lorenzo Jones, Robb Mansfield, Gunnar Hahn, and Camran Jimmy for making their first quarterfinals or their first in a while. We had not one, but two Momma’s Mystery Pot winners this weekend. Marcus Haley would win $500.00, with a score of 149, in the second squad of the day. Marcus would’ve had to split that with two other bowlers but unfortunately for them, they were not in the Momma’s Mystery Pot. The third squad would see Brian Jackson win the second Momma’s Mystery Pot of the day, with a score of 147, for $500.00 as well. Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track ball for $95.00, was Joshua Darrow.
Since this was a 3-squad tournament, there would be a re-oil before the quarterfinals. The pattern would play truer as we would see scores be more in line with the first squad of the day. We would have 30 quarterfinalists and, with our 1 in 3 cut ratio from the quarterfinals, we would see the Top 3 in each Division advance to the semi-final round. It would all come down to the third game of the quarterfinals to determine who would advance as spares would a premium towards the last few frames.
The A Division would see Ben Perry (+74) as the #1 seed. He would have to take on Kyler Adams (+68) and Bruce Franks, Jr. (+36). The B Division would have Lordan Ferguson (+87) versus Allan Kudlock (+74) and Trinette Green (+40). The C Division would have SFT Rookie Chase Rohlik (+99) emerge as the #1 seed and he would have to face off against Megan Carlson (+93) and Mike Rhoads (+73).
The A Division semi-final would be a back-and-forth match between all three bowlers. It would come down to the tenth frame as Ben would finish up first needing to punch out to have a chance. Ben would get the first strike but go nine-spare to finish the match with a score of 218. Bruce would be up next and would finish up with a score of 223. Kyler would need a strike and good count to advance. Kyler’s first shot in the tenth would crush the pocket but see a late messenger take out the ten-pin for a strike and he would go nine-spare to finish with a score of 245 to advance to his first SFT Finals.
The B Division semi-final match would not be as close. Trinette Green would try to keep up as she had a look early, but would struggle with the transition finishing up with a score of 206. Allan would also struggle with only one lane as he would strike on the other but was not enough as he would finish with a score of 181. Lordan would get hot midway through the match as he would string together a four-bagger to take the lead and never look back. He would win the match with a score of 244 to advance to the Finals.
The C Division semi-finals would Megan Carlson jump out to an early lead with a couple of strikes. Mike Rhoads would with the pair that was selected, but would rally late. It would be too little, too late as he would finish with a score of 211. Chase Rohlik would get a double late in the match to give himself a chance. Chase would need to double in the tenth to win the match. Chase’s first ball in the tenth would leave the 3-9-10 split, which he would convert. He would get nine on his fill ball to finish with a score of 224. Megan would get up in the tenth just needing good count to advance. Megan’s first ball go a bit long and get five off the right. Megan would get four on the spare attempt but would be just enough as she would finish with a score of 233.
Going into the Finals we would see all three finalists looking to take home their very first AHT SFT title and the $1,400.00 first place prize. Lordan Ferguson was making his first Finals in quite a while. Both Kyler and Megan were making their very first Finals. Megan had been bowling well all day, but Kyler would have to be the favorite going into this match as he had the highest score from the previous round.
The Finals would start off with Kyler leading off with a nine-spare while Lordan would strike on the other lane. Megan would follow up with seven-spare to finish off the first frame. Second frame would see Kyler leave a four-pin, which he would spare, as Lordan would open as he would chop the 3-6-10. Megan would get a strike as she would jump out to an early lead. Kyler looked to get lined up in the third but would leave a 2-pin, which he would spare. Lordan would also leave the 2-pin on his shot in the third frame as he would go on to convert the spare. Megan would double up in the third as she looked like she was about to run away with the match. Kyler would find his groove as he was able to get a much-needed strike in the fourth. Lordan would open as he would miss his spare in the fourth. Megan would leave the 1-2 as her ball would go a bit too long. Megan would chop the spare attempt for an open frame. Kyler would try to capitalize on the open frame but would see his ball go high through the pocket leaving the 6-10. Kyler would make his spare as he would stay clean. Lordan would get a much-needed strike while Megan would get nine-spare to close out the fifth frame.
Just past midway through the match and it was a close one between Kyler and Megan. Lordan would start to struggle with the lane transition. It would come down to the ninth and tenth frames to determine our winner. Lordan would finish with a score of 172 for third place. Going into the ninth frame Kyler, working off a 3-bagger, would be up and see his ball just sail a bit too far right as he would leave the 1-2-4. Kyler would go on to pick up the spare. Megan, who had stayed clean since the fourth frame, would get a strike to give herself a chance in the tenth frame. Kyler would be up first in the tenth and would see his ball again go a bit long as he would leave the bucket (2-4-5-8). Kyler’s spare attempt would not read the lane right as he would chop off the 5-8 to finish with a score of 215. Megan would get up in the tenth needing a mark and good count to win. Megan’s first ball in the tenth would be a light mixer for a strike. Megan would go on to get seven-spare to win the match with a score of 237 to take home her first AHT SFT title and $1,400.00! Congrats to Kyler Adams on second place for $800.00 and also congrats to Lordan Ferguson on third place for $450.00.
Thank you to everyone that came out this weekend to bowl our tournament. Also, thanks to the staff at Bowlero Mesa for hosting us this weekend and providing great customer service. Thanks to Hokey Begay and Tyler Andersen for helping run the tournament today.
We’ll be back next Sunday at Bowlero Christown for an early bird 2-squad tournament. Hope to see you all there!
Bowlero Mesa Finals - Kyler Adams vs. Lordan Ferguson vs. Megan Carlson
