Our event this weekend would be at AMF Chandler lanes for a 3-squad standard event! With so many other tournaments going on throughout the Valley, we were lucky to have 90 total entries (65 qualifying and 25 economy parlays). We would see 27 prize winners with a 1 in 3.33 cash ratio and we would pay out over 5,200 in main and side event prize funds. The players bowled on the 39ft Kegel Plutonium oil pattern that played very soft at this center. The pattern is a bit flat towards the end of the pattern and allowed for a variety of angles to be be played. This center has typically been one of the higher scoring centers that we go to with the track well built into the lanes. It seemed like on the free oil was where most of the higher scores would be bowled with scores tailing off after each squad. It would take about +100 to qualify for the quarterfinals with bowlers needing to bowl 25-35 pins over their average per game to advance. We would have a few bowlers have a chance to get an honor score but would all come up a bit short.
We would like to give a warm welcome to Quan Merritt and Jesse Shefchik to the SFT Family. They both bowled their first event this weekend and we hope you enjoyed it! We did have a couple of Economy Power Players this weekend with Sean Casey and Ryan Griggs turning their $30 parlay entry into a quarterfinals check. We did have a few bowlers that made their first quarterfinals in Dan Friedline, Autry Dogans and Allan Kudlock. There were no Momma’s Mystery Score winner this weekend so that pot will roll over to our next tournament. Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track high-performance bowling ball for $85.00, was Eddie Wilcox.
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. We would have 21 quarterfinalist and with our 1 in 3 cut ratio, we would take the Top 2 in all three Divisions after 3 games. The quarterfinals scores would be tight with the Top 2 being determined in Game 3. It would all come down to the final few frames with some bowlers coming just a few pins away from advancing to the next round.
The A Division would see Shawna Strause (+171) emerge as the #1 seed overall and she would have to face off against Kyle Ponzo (+151), who was looking to try to win back-to-back tournaments. The B Division had Willy Vuoung (+112) and he would take on newcomer Jeff Kraus (+138). The C Division #1 seed would be Dan Friedline (+150) and he would be up against Payton Steele (+109).
The A Division semi-final match would go back and forth with Kyle jumping out to an early lead. Shawna would look to get lined up about midway through the match as she would start to string strikes to catch up. Kyle would lose the look he had early on and struggle to carry the pocket and would finish with a score of 202. Shawna would remain red hot and was able to punch out for a huge score of 251 to advance to the Finals.
The B Division semi-final would see Jeff Kraus runaway with the match early as Willy was unable to get lined up on the pair. Willy would finish the match with a score of 179 while Jeff would win the match with a score of 255.
The C Division semi-final would be another one-sided match as Payton Steele could not get lined up on the pair. Dan would continue to string strikes as he stayed hot for the match and would put a huge score of 265 to advance. Payton would come in second place, in the Division, with a score of 199.
The Finals would see Shawna Strause, 2022 AHT SFT Female Player of the Year, continuing her run as this year’s front runner for our 2023 Player of the Year points leader, looking to add to her point total. Shawna had just won her first title earlier this year and was looking to add her second title of the season. Standing in her way was red hot Dan Friedline and Jeff Kraus. Dan Friedline was making his first Finals appearance and looking to win his first title. Rookie Jeff Kraus was also making his first title match and looking to get his hands on his first title as well. It was great to see Dan and Jeff making the Finals as they had been both been working on their game for the last few months and were seeing the results of their hard work finally paying off.
The Finals would start off with all three bowlers only being separated by a total of 11 pins of each other. Jeff Kraus would get us started by leaving a mixer 7-pin which he would pick up. Dan would be up next, and his first shot would crush the pocket for a strike. Dan would double in the second frame as well to take a slight lead. Shawna’s first shot of the match would go a bit high leaving the baby split (3-10) and she would pick up the spare. In her second frame Shawna would hit the pocket but leave a ten-pin, which she would also convert to stay clean. Jeff would be up for his second frame, and he would strike to remain tied with Dan and Shawna. Jeff’s third frame would see him also leave a flat 10-pin on the right lane. Jeff would go on to convert the spare to stay in the match. Dan would get up for this third frame and leave a light 7-pin, which he would spare, and would go on to strike, tripping out a couple of pins late, in the fourth frame to stay in the lead. Shawna would get back at in the third frame by throwing a crushing strike and would double up in the fourth frame as it looked like she got lined up on both lanes. Jeff would pull the ball a bit left in his fourth frame leaving the (1-3-6-8-10) which he could not convert for the first open frame of the match. Jeff would move to the right lane and leave a crushing stone 9-pin, which he would spare, to fall farther behind Shawna and Dan.
Midway through the match and it looked like this was setting up to be one of the more higher scoring Finals as Dan would strike again in the fifth frame. Dan’s sixth frame would see him leave a 2-pin, which he would pick up, to give Shawna a chance to catch up to him. Shawna would follow up with turkey (3-bagger) in the fifth and then hambone (4-bagger) in the sixth to catch up to Dan. Jeff would strike in the sixth frame (left lane) and would finally double up on the right lane by tripping out a mixer 7-pin late. Dan would get back on track in the seventh frame by tripping out the 4-pin late for a strike and he would double up in the eighth. Shawna would continue to string strikes in the seventh and eighth frames and it looked like it was going to come down to the tenth frame between her and Dan.
Jeff Kraus would leave a 6-pin in the eighth frame as it looked like the lanes were beginning to transition. Jeff would go on to pick it up the spare and would leave a solid 9-pin in the ninth. Jeff would continue to make his spares as he could not carry to stay in the match. Dan would get up in the ninth frame and get a much-needed strike to put some pressure on Shawna. Dan would finish his tenth frame with a good strike in the tenth and would trip out the nine-pin on his second shot. Dan’s fill in the tenth would again trip out the 9-pin and he would finish with a huge score of 292 (258 scratch) and force Shawna to strike in the ninth and tenth frames. Shawna would get up in the ninth frame and her ball would see the same transition as Jeff and go a bit high in the pocket leaving the (3-6) which she would convert. Shawna would double and get seven in the tenth frame to finish with a score of 277 (254 scratch) and Jeff would finish up his tenth frame with a spare and seven on his fill for a score of 209.
This would give Dan his first AHT SFT title and $500.00 as he was not in the progressive pot. Congrats to Shawna Strause on second place as she continues to be the leader in this year’s season points race. Also, congrats to Jeff Kraus on his first Finals appearance and bowling great all day.
Thank you to everyone who came out today and bowled our event. We appreciate the continued support from the bowling community. Thank you to Shannon Fletcher and the AMF Chandler staff for hosting our event and providing great customer service. Also, a BIG thank you to Michael Dragon and Tyler Andersen for stepping in for Tawna today to help keep our events running.
It is a short week as we’ll be back next weekend for a two-day qualifying event at Cotton Bowl Lanes down in Casa Grande. Squads are limited as it is only a 12-lane center, so if you are planning on bowling make sure you pre-register online or reach out to Tawna to insure your spot. We hope you have a good week and hopefully see you down at Cotton Bowl Lanes!
AMF Chandler Lanes Finals
Shawna Strause vs. Jeff Kraus vs. Dan Friedline
