Our event this weekend was a 2-squad tournament at Bowlero Gilbert! This would be the last event of the 2024 Summer Quarterly Circuit (July – September). We would have a good turnout considering all the other events going on in the Valley this past weekend. We had 73 total entries (58 qualifying and 15 economy parlays), with 24 cashers a 1 in 3.05 cash ratio and a pay out of over $4,400.00 in main and side event prizes! The players bowled on the 2024 PBA Badger, which is 47ft and one of the PBA’s longest oil pattern, and it proved to be a bit difficult. The cut scores were pretty low for the first squad being around +20, which means the players just needed to bowl their average for series to advance. The pattern did allow for players to play a variety of angles though you couldn’t get too far outside or else your ball would not come back. The key for today was to leave something makeable and to pick up your spares. Scores would go up as the day would go on and it took about +40 to advance to the Quarterfinals.
We didn’t have any new bowlers for this tournament, but we did have a couple of Parlay Power Players this weekend in Drew Merrell, and Shaun Newman who were able to make the quarterfinals on their $30.00 Economy Parlay entry. Congrats to Jon Taylor on making his first quarterfinals. We wouldn’t see any Momma’s Mystery Score winners this weekend, so that money will roll over to the first squad at Bowlero Christown. This event’s winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track ball for $95.00, was Justin O’Donnell!
Since this was a 2-squad event, we would go straight into the quarterfinals with no re-oil between the last squad and the Quarterfinals. We would have 20 quarterfinalists and with our 1 in 3 cut ratio, we would cut to the Top 2 bowlers in each Division, after 3 Quarterfinals games.
Your #1 seed in the A Division would be Kyle Ponzo (+121) and he would take on #2 seed Myles Hamilton (+43). In the B Division we see Parlay Power Player Shaun Newman come out on top as the #1 seed (+96) and he would be matched up against #2 seed, Michael Arce (+93). The C Division would have Payton Steele as the #1 seed (+113) and he would have to face off with Maddisen Rook (+48).
The A Division semi-final match would see Kyle Ponzo catch fire while Myles Hamilton would put up a good game, it just wasn’t good enough to get by Kyle. Kyle would defeat Myles, 245 to 225. The B Division semi-final would be the same as Shaun Newman would continue his hot streak as he got lined up on the pair and Michael Arce would struggle to carry the pocket. Shaun would go on to win the match, 237 to 192. The C Division semi-final match would also see the same trend as Maddisen Rook was unable to keep up with Payton Steele. Payton would go on to shoot his highest game of the day to defeat Maddisen, 271 to 162.
Going into the Final match we would see two of the three bowlers looking to win their first AHT SFT title and the $750.00 first place prize. Payton Steele was making his first Finals in quite a while and had been putting up some big scores throughout the day. It looked like all his hard work was finally paying off with this Finals appearance. Shaun Newman was also looking to get his hands on his first title. Shaun has been bowling Strikeforce events for a while and looked like this was his chance to win. He made the Finals off his $30.00 Economy Parlay entry and was looking to turn that $30.00 into $750.00! Standing in their way was last year’s SFT Player of the Year Runner-Up and reigning SFT Rookie of the Year, Kyle Ponzo. Kyle was looking to win his fourth AHT SFT title and add to his win total for the season as he had already won his first AHT SFT Major title this past Memorial Day weekend. Kyle also almost won the last event here at Bowlero Gilbert as he would just come up short (2nd place) in June. Kyle was in the Finals based on being the SFT Player of the Year Runner-Up. He was awarded six tournament exemptions, which allowed him to be placed into the Quarterfinals without having to qualify. Kyle was using his last exemption for the season and was looking to make this worth it.
The Finals would start off with Kyle and Shaun marking while Payton would start off with a strike. Shaun would lead off the second frame as him and Kyle would get on the strike train as Payton would double up. Shaun would double up in the third frame while Kyle’s shot would come up a bit light leaving the 2-pin, which he would pick up. Payton’s shot would come up a bit high leaving the 3-10 split, which he would chop for an open frame. This would give Shaun a chance to take the lead in the fourth frame but his ball would go high through the nose to leave the 3-4-6-7, which he would not convert. Kyle would continue to strike as he looked to make up the handicap difference that he was giving Shaun and Payton. Payton’s fourth frame would see his ball go high and leave the 3-9, which he would spare. Fifth frame would see Shaun’s ball go high again as he would leave the 3-6-7-9 split, which he would pick up. Kyle would double up in the fifth frame as Payton would spare the 3-6-10 to close out the frame.
Midway through the match and everyone was pretty close to each other. Shaun would miss a bit right and leave the 1-2-4-7, which he would not spare. Kyle would continue to strike as he would look to take the lead. Payton would keep up with a strike of his own. Seventh frame would see Shaun continue to struggle with the pair with another open frame. Kyle would look to continue to strike, but would see his ball leave a pocket 7-10, which he would not convert. Payton would look to take advantage of both bowlers leaving open frame, but would leave a flat 10-pin which he would not be able to spare. Eighth frame and all three bowlers were within 10-20 pins of each other. Shaun would miss right again on the right lane and chop his spare attempt for another open frame. Kyle looked to get back on track with a much-needed strike. Payton looked to keep pace, but would leave a weak 7-pin which he would spare. Ninth frame and Shaun would leave an open frame while Kyle would double up with a strike to put pressure on Payton. Payton would trip out the 7-pin late for a strike as he set himself up to win the match in the tenth frame.
Tenth frame would see Shaun continue to struggle despite shooting huge scores throughout the day. Shaun would finish up the match with a score of 165 for third place. Kyle would be up next as he looked to take home the title. Kyle’s first shot in the tenth would leave a 4-pin, which he would spare. Kyle would strike on his fill ball to finish with a score of 213 scratch. Payton would be up next needing to strike to win or nine-spare and good count to win. Payton’s first shot in the tenth frame would crush the pocket but leave a blower 7-pin. Payton would pick up the spare and would need at least seven on his fill shot to tie or eight for the win. Payton would shoot his fill shot and it would look good off his hand but would hang a bit long and leave a washout (1-2-4-10) for a score of 212. This would give Kyle Ponzo his fourth AHT SFT title and $750.00! Congrats to Payton Steele on second place for $400.00. Also, congrats to Shaun Newman on third place for $250.00!
Thank you to everyone that came out to bowl this weekend. We appreciate you all as we know that there are plenty of tournament options to bowl each weekend. Thank you to Jodi Bach and the staff at Bowlero Gilbert for having us out this weekend and providing great customer service. Also, a huge thank you to Hokey Begay and Tyler Andersen for stepping in to help run the tournament this weekend for Michael Dragon.
We’ll be back for another 2-squad tournament on Sunday, October 13th at Bowlero Christown which will kick off the 2024 Fall Quarterly Circuit (October – December).
Hope you all have a good week and we’ll see you all soon!
Bowlero Gilbert Finals - Kyle Ponzo vs. Shaun Newman vs. Payton Steele
