Our event this weekend was at Bowlero Via Linda, and we had another huge turnout for our 2-squad event! We would see a near record on our 1st squad with 73 bowlers! We had 129 total entries (92 qualifying and 37 parlays), 34 cashers, 1 in 3.79 cash ratio and paid out over $8,600.00 in main and side event prize funds! The players bowled on a 38ft PBA Mike Aulby oil pattern that was very misleading. Many of the bowlers would think that since there was more oil volume that it would play like a house shot, but with all the oil in the front of the lanes it made it very hard to swing the ball. Because the pattern wasn't very long or very short, it allowed players to attack it from all angles. The cut scores were pretty low with bowlers only needing to bowl a little over their average to advance to the quarterfinal round. The main key was to leave makeable spares and then pick them up.
We would like to welcome Joshua Grapevine, Andjelleeka Givehand, Rick Donovan, Edwin Massa, Andrew Brown, John Brown, Donte Brazell and Bobby Steele to the SFT family. We hope that you all had a good time and hope to see you again. We also had some Parlay Power Players in Charlie Light and Wayne Smythe! They all made it to the quarterfinals off their $25 Economy Parlay entry with Wayne having a chance at making it to the Finals! We also want to congratulate Cayden Matherly and John Brown for making their first quarterfinals or their first quarterfinals in quite a while. We would have not one, not two, but four Momma’s Mystery Pot winners. Tim Eichhorn and Jonathan Goldberg would win $100.00 each, as they both would bowl a 197 game and split the $200 pot. On the very next squad we would see Steve Convirs and Marcus Haley win $250.00 each, as they both would win with a score of 154 and split the $500.00 pot. Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track high performance ball for $85.00, was Ty Gardner.
Since this event was only 2 squads, there was no re-oil before the quarterfinals. This resulted in some medium to high scores with the standings being very, very tight. It would all come down to the third and final game of the quarterfinals to determine our semi-finalists. We would have 27 quarterfinalists and with our 1 in 3 cut ratio from the quarterfinals to the semi-final round, we would cut to the Top 3 in each Division. The A Division would see Shane Smith (+95) emerge as your #1 seed and he would have to face off with Tim Eichhorn (+95) and Justin Golden (+18). The C Division would have Marcus Haley (+117) as the #1 seed, and he would take on Jordan Weeston (+83) and parlay power player Wayne Smythe (+80). The B Division would see #1 seed Dan Marks (+93) versus Ken W. Davis (+67), but we would have to wait to see who would face them. Both Will Standefer and Lordan Ferguson would finish the quarterfinals round tied at +36, so we would have a ninth/tenth frame roll-off to determine who would advance to the semi-finals.
The ninth/tenth frame roll-off would start with Will Standefer striking in his ninth frame. Lordan would get up next and his first ball on would go a bit high leaving the 3-6-10. Lordan would chop the spare attempt only getting nine and digging himself into a hole. Lordan would be up next for the tenth frame, and he would throw a good shot but leave a mixer 7-pin. Lordan would pull on his spare attempt and it would go right and miss the spare leaving Lordan with a score of 24. Will would just need to get good count to get the win and his first shot would leave the baby split (6-10), which he would pick up. Will’s fill ball would crush the pocket and he would finish at 44.8 to advance to the semi-finals.
The A Division semi-final match would be close between Shane Smith and Justin Golden. Tim Eichhorn would struggle with the pair and would finish up in third place for the Division with a 154 game. It would come down to the tenth frame as Shane would double in the tenth and get nine on the fill to finish at 227. This would put pressure on Justin to mark and get good count for the win. Justin’s first ball would look good but leave a 7-pin. Justin would go on to convert the spare and strike on the fill to finish at 235 to put himself into the Finals.
The B Division would start off with all three bowlers looking like they were lined up. They would see transition on the pair about midway through the match as Ken would miss a single pin spare in the fifth, Will would chop the baby split (6-10) and Dan would split in the fourth and fifth frames. Will would miss a 7-pin in the sixth while Ken would double in the sixth and seventh frames to take the lead. Dan would also split in the seventh and then double in the eighth and ninth frames to try and get back into the match. Will would lose his carry in the seventh, eighth and ninth frames as he would leave single pin spares, which he would convert. Ken would finish up the match with a strike in the tenth to seal up the win with a score of 231. Will would have a chance in the tenth but could not carry the pocket and would finish with a 213 game. Dan would finish up with a 194 for third place in the Division.
The C Division semi-final would be a shoot out with Marcus Haley and Jordan Weeston both striking at will. Wayne would struggle with the pair as he had trouble getting lined up and would finish the match in third place with a score of 200. It would all come down to the tenth frame as Marcus would punch out in the tenth, to finish off a six bagger, to finish at 249. This would put pressure on Jordan to at least get a mark and count on the fill as he was working on a double. Jordan’s first ball went a bit long for eight pins and he would convert his spare. Jordan’s fill shot would crush the pocket for a strike, and he would finish with a huge 268 game to win the match and get himself into the Finals.
The Finals would see all three bowlers looking for their 1st AHT SFT title and $1,250 first place prize! Ken Davis was making his fourth Finals appearance and was looking to finally break through for his first win. Jordan Weeston was making his first Finals appearance and looked to be the favorite as he was just coming off that huge 268 game. Justin Golden had just returned to bowling not too long ago after struggling with COVID in December and was looking to show that he had fully recovered.
The Finals would start off with all three bowlers struggling with the pair. Justin would mark spare in the first couple of frames to try and make up the handicap difference that he would giving Ken and Jordan. Ken would start off with a strike, but open in the second frame. Jordan would open in the first frame but get on track as he would get marks in the second, third and fourth frames to take an early lead with his handicap.
Midway through the match and Jordan would open in the fifth frame but strike in the sixth frame. He still had a bit of a lead over Ken. Ken would continue to mark and would get a strike in the sixth frame to keep on Jordan’s heels. Justin would still struggle to get lined up and he would open in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames to dig himself into a huge hole. Jordan would open in the seventh frame as he would miss a 10-pin spare. He would again strike to try and stay in the lead but would open in the ninth frame as he would gutter on his spare attempt. Ken would open in the eighth frame has he too would miss a 10-pin spare attempt. Ken would set himself up for a chance at the win in the ninth with a timely strike. Justin who had struggled on this pair would finally get lined up as he would strike in the eighth and ninth frames to get himself back into the match.
It would all come down to the tenth frame as Ken would be up first. Ken’s first ball in the tenth would go a bit long and hook late to leave the 1-2-4, which he would convert. Ken would finish out the match with a strike to finish at 200. Next up would-be Justin, working off a double, and his first ball in the tenth would crossover for a Brooklyn strike. Justin’s next ball go a bit longer but get enough of the pocket to trip the 4-9 for another strike. Justin’s fill shot in the tenth would crush the pocket as he would finish with a score of 212. Jordan would get up in the tenth needing all three strikes to overtake Ken for second place and the extra $225.00 difference. Jordan’s first ball in the tenth would look good off his hand but take off at the last second leaving a 6-pin. He would convert the spare and then get nine on his fill ball to finish at 194. This would give Justin his first AHT SFT title and $1,250.00! Congrats to Ken W. Davis on second place and $725.00. Also, congrats to Jordan Weeston on third place and $500.00!
Thank you for everyone that came out this weekend to make this tournament so successful. It’s great seeing everyone out on the lanes and we hope that you all feel the same way too. We’ll see you all on Sunday, March 6th for another 2-squad standard tournament. Have a great week and good luck if you are bowling the Mesa City tournament this coming weekend!
FINALS - Justin Golden vs. Ken W. Davis vs. Jordan Weeston
