Our weekend in Laughlin was a great one! We had the biggest turn out for the weekend as a whole, that we have ever had. We had 65 entries for our Sunday standard event, and 39 teams for the criss cross doubles event on Saturday. Both events were bowled on the very difficult 40ft Sphinx pattern. The pattern was very interesting as it allowed players to play from all kind of different angles, but required a very high level of consistency. The average cut scores for the weekend didn’t even require players to bowl their average.
First, let’s start with the doubles. After the first squad, it was clear the pattern for the weekend was going to keep scores low. The leader was +82 and projected low to cash was barely plus at all. The second squad had Lynn Arthur bowling a huge 700+ series with handicap that propelled him and his teams into the lead. Him and Billy Pretlove took over the lead going into the third squad. After the last squad, no one was able to touch their score, which meant the two SFT AHT veterans would be taking home the riverside criss cross doubles championship. However, there was no question the big winners from the doubles were the couples from Prescott in the Villagran’s and the Row’s. The husband and wife teams criss crossed with each other and all bowled well to really well propelling nearly all of their teams into cashing. Donna Villagran and Juan Villagran also ended winning the high mixed bounty by passing the previous leaders Jeff Row and LaRae Row. Let’s say there might be a little couple rivalry there! Click here for full criss cross results.
Our singles event got started off with a bang, with nearly 30 bowlers on the floor. Not to mention we got to see some faces we haven’t seen in quite some time. Ross Lyons was there to try making another Riverside Final Match. Also, our good friend and former player of the year, Kevin Enomoto visited us all the way from Hawaii! It was nice seeing you guys again!
We also had quite a few new bowlers bowl in their first event this weekend. We want to welcome Serena Guadalupe, John Baker, Kyle Loe, and Ramon Jackson. Welcome to our big bowling family! We hope you enjoyed you first event with us!
The quarterfinals were pretty exciting. There was moving around the first couple games, but what we got left with was still fun. In the C division we had Jerry Knight go huge to lead his division in his first ever SFT AHT quarter finals. In the B division, we had a tie between Damon LaRue and Armando Viramontes which forced a 9th and 10th frame roll off. In the A division, we had Ben Spencer making a big run in the last game but come up just a little short leaving Ron Gonzales and Charlie Price as the semi-finalists. The roll off was a good one. Damon opened in the 9th, but still had a chance when Armando opened in the 10th. He just had to double. Not so easy with everyone watching on a tough shot. Well, Damon made it look easy! Pretty impressive how much better he has gotten in a short period of time! Damon won the roll off and Ron Gonzales won the A division match for both to move on to the final match.
The final match illustrated experience vs new comers. While all of the bowlers were bowling well all day. It seemed that it took Damon and Jerry a little bit longer to get comfortable in the high pressured final match. Ron was able to get settled in a little sooner and got a big enough lead to take home the victory. This was a big deal, as it gave Ron the lead for the most SFT AHT titles at 6. Ron has bowled well over100 events, and being the all time leader in titles at 6 is a testament to how hard it is to win a SFT AHT title. Congrats Ron!
Thanks to everyone who made this weekend so much fun! We look forward to seeing you next Saturday at Glenfair Lanes for our fun event!
