Our event this weekend was at Bowlero Kyrene, and with all the other events going on throughout the Valley we would have another great turnout to kick off the 2024 Summer Quarterly Circuit (July – September). We had 118 total entries (85 qualifying & 33 economy parlays) for 2 squads, with 31 prize winners and a 1 in 3.81 cash ratio, paying out over $6,700 in main and side event prize funds. The players bowled on the 42ft PBA Scorpion oil pattern that played pretty tough at the start of the qualifying squads. The pattern has an out of bounds if you get it too far towards the gutter early, then your ball would not make it back to the pocket. There looked like there was enough of a built-in track that the bowlers were able to overcome it. We would see some higher scores as bowlers could see the difference as they moved from pair to pair. Once the oil pattern started to break down in the later squads, then scores would start to pick up. We would see Curtis Spence shoot his very first 300 game on the pattern and the great thing about it was that he used a Track Archetype Hybrid, which qualified him for the free Track ball of choice incentive. Congrats Curtis! So as the scores increased on the second squad it would take about +60 to qualify for the quarterfinals with bowlers needing to bowl 10-15 pins over their average per game to advance.
We want to welcome Tiffany Myles, Weston Roe, Eric Dieter, and Charles Halse to the SFT AHT family! We hope you all had a good time in your first SFT AHT event. Congrats to Tiffany and Charles for making the quarterfinals in their very first event! Also, congrats to Alec Johnson, Curtis Spence, Hannah Baumgarten, and James Smith, Jr., for making their first quarterfinals or their first in quite a while! Also, congrats to Alec Johnson and Will Fitzgerald / for being our Economy Parlay Power players this weekend. They both were able to turn their $30.00 Economy Parlay investment into a Quarterfinals check. We did not have anyone win the Momma’s Mystery Pot. We dd have a bowl that could’ve won, but was not in the Momma’s Pot. Your winner of the drawing for the free plastic ball, with the option to upgrade to any high-performance Track ball for $95.00, was Justin O’Donnell!
Since this event was only 2 squads there would be no re-oil before the quarterfinals. This resulted in higher scores as the volume used on the oil pattern held up enough give bowlers a variety of options of attacking the pair. We would see some tight scores and it would all come down to the third and final game of the quarterfinals to determine who would move on to the Semi-Final round. We would have 25 quarterfinalists and with our 1 in 3 cut ratio, from the quarterfinals to the semi-final round, we would cut to the Top 2 in the A & B Divisions, while we would cut to the Top 3 in the C Division.
The A Division would see Chris Allen (+116) emerge as the #1 seed and he would have to face off against Brett Wolfe (+73). The B Division would have Bruce Franks, Jr. (+104) as the #1 seed, and he would take on current SFT points leader Michael Rhoads (+64). The C Division #1 seed was newcomer Charles Halse (+114), and he would meet up with another newbie in #2 seed Tiffany Myles (+111) and #3 seed Stephanie Sell (+54).
The A Division semi-final match would go back and forth between Chris and Brett to start. Brett would struggle with the left side of the pair as Chris would get lined up quickly. Chris would be a bit too much and would continue on to win the match, 249 to 188.
The B Division semi-final would have Bruce Franks, Jr. taking on Mike Rhoads. Bruce would start off with a couple of marks. Mike would struggle with the pair and had a couple of early splits. The match would take a turn as Bruce would put up a three-bagger to take the lead and he would never look back. Bruce would go on to win the match, 227 to 202.
The C Division semi-final match would see a closer match. Charles Halse would stay in the lead for most of the match as he had a look that the other two ladies didn’t. Tiffany Myles and Stephanie Sell would try to make a come back in the ninth and tenth frames. Tiffany would edge out Stephanie, 198 to 196, while Charles would get a few strikes to win the match with a score of 222.
Going into the Finals we would see Bruce Franks, Jr. and Charles Halse looking to take home their first AHT SFT title along with the $1,200.00 first place prize. Bruce was making his very first Finals and looked to break out for his very first win. Charles was making his very first Finals in his very first SFT tournament. Charles had to be the crowd favorite as he was not in the Progressive Pot. So, the way that the Progressive Pot works is that all the prize money that the bowlers win, who are not in the Progressive Pot, is then redistributed to all the other bowlers that were in the progressive pot who advanced to the quarterfinals. So, you can imagine that everyone was rooting for him to win so they could get more of the Top 3 Progressive Pot prize money in their checks. Chris Allen was looking to add to SFT title resume as he was looking to take home his fourth title. His last title came last season as he would win at Bowlero Via Linda for $1,100.00 and was looking to take home the $1,200.00 first place prize for today’s event.
The Finals would start off with Bruce throwing a strike while Charles and Chris would mark. Second fame would see Bruce chop the 6-10, as Charles and Chris would strike. Bruce would mark in the third frame as Charles would double up with a strike. Chris would leave a flat ten-pin which he would spare to stay clean. Fourth frame would see Bruce crush the pocket to only leave an ugly 4-9 split, which he would not spare. Charles would leave the 5-9 which he would pick up to remain clean and stay in the lead. Chris would go on to strike in the fourth. Bruce would continue to struggle in the fifth as his ball would hit the pocket high to leave the baby split (3-10). Bruce would take out the three-pin but it would just miss the tenth-pin for an open frame. Charles would leave the same baby split, but would convert the spare. Chris would see his ball hit light and leave the 2-4, which he would pick up.
Just past midway through the match and Charles would have a slight lead over Bruce and Chris. Bruce would lead off the sixth frame with a 10-pin, which he would not spare. Charles would go “Brooklyn” and leave a 5-pin, which he would spare. Chris would leave a weak 7-pin as it looked like no one could string anything together. Seventh frame would see Bruce crush the pocket for a much-needed strike. Charles would mark and Chris would also strike to try and get back into the match. Bruce would double up in the eighth as he looked to put some pressure on Charles. Charles would mark in the eighth to maintain his lead. Chris would also mark as he needed to get some strikes going into the ninth and tenth frames. Bruce would be up first in the ninth with another strike for a three-bagger. Charles would continue to stay clean as he would mark in the ninth. Chris would get a strike to put himself into position going into the tenth. Bruce would need all three in the tenth to have a chance to win. Bruce’s first shot would just hit a bit too high and leave the 5-pin, which he would spare. Bruce’s fill shot would get just a bit wide and get seven as he would finish up with a score of 196. Charles would be up next and get a strike to seal up the win and he would go on to fill out the tenth for a score of 237. Chris would have a chance to get by Bruce for second place but would see his ball hit high in the pocket to leave the “Big 4” split (4-6-7-10). Chris would not pick up the spare and finish with a score of 186 for third place.
Congrats to Charles Halse on taking home his first AHT SFT title and $600.00 (non-progressive pot). Also, congrats to Bruce Franks, Jr. on second place for $800.00 and congrats to Chris Allen on third place for $500.00! Since Charles won and was not in the progressive pot, then all the other bowlers would see an additional $20.00 in their checks.
Thank you to everyone that came out this weekend to bowl our tournament. I know there was some issues outside of our control on the first squad and sorry for any inconvenience. Thanks to Jay Jay Newell and the staff at Bowlero Kyrene for having us out this weekend. Also, thanks to Tawna McDonald and Michael Dragon on all the hard work they do to keep us going each event. We’ll be back next Sunday for another 2-squad tournament at Let it Roll Bowl.
Hope you all have a great week!
Bowlero Kyrene Finals - Chris Allen vs. Bruce Franks, Jr. vs. Charles Halse
