Well another major holiday event is behind us, and another new record was set. We just barely got passed our old record of 203 entries from Memorial Day weekend with 206 during our Labor Day event. We barely got there with a huge turnout on our very last squad with 55 bowlers on the floor at one time. The event also had 49 cashers, a 1 in 4.2 cash ratio and paid out over $11,000.00! It really is amazing how many new faces we see at each event, and where we have come in a very short 17 months. However, the event was still a lot of fun and was a great example of why we are doing so well. There were a lot of laughs and good times had, while also having tons of great competitive moments and entertaining finishes.
We decided to use a custom pattern like we did at our last major event. We decided that with these huge events, we liked the idea that no one in the tournament would have ever bowled on the pattern before. This way none of the bowlers had any more experience on the pattern then another. The pattern was 40ft long and played flatter than a house shot but was still very scorable. For the most part, most of the players played the inside part of the lane, with very few players playing near the first arrow. We still had some high +120 and +130’s but still managed fairly low cut scores for the entire event. The average cut score ended up being in the +60 to +70’s.
As always we want to welcome all of the new members that joined us at this event. Russ Oviatt, Steve Gerken, Kyle Abbas, Tony Masterson, Matt Robinson, Pete Bennett, James Tittle, Jeff Vinca, Ryan Isaka, Willis Reynolds, David Ugorowski, James Musolino, Jerry Saienni, Bradley Van Sickle, Jordan Vander Weyst, and Steven Acuff! Hopefully I didn’t forget anyone! Nearly 20 bowlers were bowling in their first event this weekend! Some of the first times did well with Jerry Saienni and Kyle Abbas making the quarter finals and Russ Oviatt finishing in 2nd place. Congrats to all of you!
Only Parlay Power Player this weekend was Kenny Scherf but he made up for the others not being able to make it through by going all the way to the semi’s in his first ever quarter finals! He only put in $25 but he ended up taking home $200! Congrats Kenny! The other bowlers that made their first quarter finals were Angelo Abbate, Leon Johnson, Russ Oviatt, Kyle Abbas, Sean Ashley, Jerry Saienni, and Jakob Butturff. Congrats to all of you on making to your first ever quarter finals! Also a quick congrats to Wes Buckles who took home $500 from Momma’s Mystery Score with a score of 208! Congrats buddy!
All of that leads us to our semi-finals. The A division semifinals consisted of 7 players, with the 1,3,5 and 7 seeds being on one pair, and the 2, 4 and 6 seeds being on a different pair. The bottom two players on each pair would be eliminated after one game of match play. This put Jakob Butturff (1), Terry Fronterhouse (3), Wes Buckles (5) and Dylan Taylor (7) on one pair against each other. Although he wasn’t bowling incredibly well all weekend, Dylan showed why he is in the lead for the Player of the Year and ran off a huge 6 bagger and an eventual 267 to advance, and Terry Fronterhouse was the other bowler of that pair with a score of 249. The other pair had Russ Oviatt (2), Leon Johnson (4), and Robert Lewis (6). Russ ended up getting off the pair with a score of 242.
The B division also had 7 semi-finalists and used the same format as the A division. This put Ryan Staudinger (1), Stacie Huglin (3), Mike Holland (5) and Zack Huglin (7) on one pair against each other. These matches were fairly close but a few bad breaks left Zack Huglin just shy of advancing and allowed Ryan Staudinger and Mike Holland to move on. The other pair had Eric Schade (2), Chris Huglin (4), and Kenny Scherf (6).This pair’s winner was Chris Huglin with a score of 237.
This led us to the Division finals. The B division finals weren’t too much of a nail biter with Ryan Staudinger winning the B division title with a score of 249. The A division was very exciting however, as in the end it came down between Terry Fronterhouse and Russ Oviatt. Russ Oviatt threw the first strike in the 10th and got 8 spare to force Terry to get mark and get good count. Terry was able to mark, but the good count was his downfall when a wash out in the fill forced a tie at 222 and a 9th and 10th frame roll off. Again, Russ would be solid with marks to fill the 9th and 10th, leaving Terry again with his own fate in his hands. Terry only needed a mark in the 10th, but his shot finished too high on the head pin and left a shaker 7-10, where the 7 almost fell but managed to stay up. It was very exciting but ended with Russ Oviatt moving on to bowl for the $1,500.00.
The final match was a pretty good one, and really showed the differences between the average divisions. It appeared that the match was over quickly when Ryan started with the front 4 strikes. However, with 2 of the 4 being Brooklyn strikes, it was clear that he still wasn’t lined up. Russ couldn’t never get a long string going but showed what being in the A division is all about, making spares and staying mentally calm and focused. This approach allowed Russ to get back in to the match after Ryan followed his 4 strikes with 3 straight opens. The 10th frame had finally arrived and Russ had his fate in his hands, he could strike out in the 10th to defeat Ryan and take home $1,500.00! His shot was little right and quick and he left the 2,4, 10 which meant that Ryan, who just recently went to the 2 handed style, would be taking home his first ever SFT AHT title and $1,500.00. Russ, who is a junior bowler, won $750 in scholarship which puts the amount that SFT AHT has paid out in scholarship over $3,500.00 in it’ first 17 months.
It was a great weekend, and a lot of fun! I want to thank everyone that was a part of it from the members and tournament staff all the way to the spectators. We are growing slowly with each event and together making tournament bowling fun and rewarding again. We look forward to seeing all of you at either our next fun event on September 8th at Mesa East, or our next standard $1,000.00 event at AMF Union Hills on September 14th & 15th.
