Our event this weekend was at AMF Mesa Lanes and with all the other events going on throughout the Valley, we would have a good turnout for our 2-squad tournament! We would have 87 total entries (61 qualifying and 27 parlays), 25 prize winners, 1 in 3.48 cash ratio which would pay out over $5,100.00 in main and side event prize funds! The players bowled on the very tricky 45ft PBA Dragon oil pattern. We would see scores remain fairly low through both squads as it looked like you needed to shoot just above your average to make the cut to advance to the Quarterfinals. The key for the day was leaving makeable spares and picking them up.
As always, we would like to welcome our newest member to the SFT AHT family, Todd Weissmann, who participated in his first ever SFT AHT this Sunday. Hope you had a good time and we’ll see you at a future events. Congrats to Carlos Jimenez, Jack Sarvis, and Jim Winnie who was able to make it to their first quarterfinals or their first in a quite a while. Also, congrats to our Parlay Power Players in Josh Molloy, Mike Rhoads, Michael LePage, and Jack Sarvis who all made it to the quarterfinals on their $30.00 economy parlay entry. Josh and Michael had a chance at the first-place prize, but more on that in a bit. We would draw someone’s number for Momma’s Mystery Pot for $500.00, but unfortunately for them, they were not in the Momma’s Pot, so that money will rollover to our next tournament. Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track High Performance ball for $95.00, was Kaylene Almy.
Since this event was only 2 squads, there was no re-oil before the quarterfinals. This resulted in some lower scores with the standings being tight as bowlers needed to bowl at least one or two really good games to make the cut. We would have 20 quarterfinalists, with at least 6 bowlers in each Division, and with our 1 in 3 cut ratio from the quarterfinals to the semi-final round we would cut to the Top 2 in each Division. The A Division #1 seed would be Josh Molloy (+170) and he would face off with Myles Hamilton (+78). In the B Division would see Mike Umstead (+83) emerge as the #1 seed and he would take on Michael LePage (+67). The C Division would have #1 seed Jack Sarvis (+70) going against Tiffany Myles (+89).
The A Division semi-final would see Josh Molloy and Myles Hamilton go back and forth for most of the match. It would all come down to the tenth frame as Myles would need to double up. Myles would see his ball hit the pocket but leave a 7-pin, which would give the match to Josh, 211 to 190. The B Division semi-finals would see Michael LePage grind out a win as he would get just enough spares to get by Mike Umstead, 198 to 168. The C Division would be a close match to start but midway would see Tiffany stay clean and get a couple of timely strikes to defeat Jack, 248 to 214.
Going into our Final match we would see Joshua Molloy looking at winning his second AHT SFT title and the $900.00 first place prize. Michael LePage was looking at winning his first AHT SFT title as he had previously come in second and third place in the previous Finals that he had made. Michael and Josh, both made it all the way to the Finals off their $30.00 Economy Parlay entry and were looking to cash in big today! Standing in their way was SFT Rookie, Tiffany Myles, who was making the Finals in only her second tournament of the season. Tiffany had made the quarterfinals at Bowlero Kyrene just last month and had a good look throughout the day, as Tiffany was looking to get her hands on her first AHT SFT title!
The Finals would start off with Josh leading off with an eight-spare as his ball would go high through the nose. Tiffany would be up next and leave a flat 10-pin, which she would miss for an open frame. Michael would go high through the nose on the right lane as he would leave the baby split (3-10), which he would chop for an open frame. Second frame would see Josh leave a mixer 7-pin, which he would pick up to stay clean. Tiffany would get her ball just a bit outside and see it slide all the way down the lane to take out the 6-9-10. She would not be able to convert spare for another open frame. Michael would pull his ball a bit left on the left lane leaving the 6-10, which he would not convert for another open frame. Third frame would see Josh finally get lined up on the right lane as he would crush the pocket for a strike. Tiffany and Michael would both continue to struggle on the pair. Josh would open in the fourth frame as he would see his ball leave a washout (1-2-4-10), which he could not pick up. Tiffany and Michael would both leave open frames in the fourth as they looked to get lined up.
Midway through the match and the handicap difference had Tiffany with a slight lead. Josh would be up and double in the sixth frame as he tried to make up the difference, he was giving Tiffany and Michael. Tiffany would get her first strike of the match as she looked to maintain her slight lead. Michael would continue to struggle as it looked like he was running out of gas, 10 games into the day. Josh would get a three-bagger in the seventh frame. Tiffany would mark as would Michael. Eighth frame would see Josh with another strike as he was able to kick out the 7-pin late. Tiffany would hit the pocket on her shot, but leave a stone 9-pin, which she would pick up. Michael would finish out the eighth frame with a washout for an open frame. Ninth frame would see Josh hit the pocket high for another strike. Tiffany would need to a strike to keep up and her ball would look good going down the lane only to leave a 4-pin, which she would not pick up. Michael would get his first strike of the match to wrap up the ninth frame.
Tenth frame and Josh would need a strike to seal up the win. Josh’s first ball in the tenth would hit the pocket light but was enough for a strike for the win. Josh would punch out the tenth to finish with a scratch score of 247 (256 with handicap) to take home his second AHT SFT title and $900.00! Congrats to Tiffany Myles on second place and also congrats to Michael LePage on third place.
Thank you to everyone that came out to bowl our tournament this weekend. We appreciate you and hope to see you at our next event. Thank you to Kat Weissmann and the staff at AMF Mesa lanes for having us out this weekend and providing us with great service. Also, thanks to Michael Dragon for all the work behind the scenes.
We’ll be back in a couple of weeks for our 3-Day Labor Day Major at Bowlero Mesa starting on Saturday, August 31st and running through Monday, September 2nd.
Hope you all have a great week and we’ll see you all soon!
AMF Mesa Finals - Josh Molloy vs. Michael LePage vs. Tiffany Myles
