Our event this weekend was at Bowlero Via Linda, and we had a huge turnout for our 2-squad event! We would see 106 total entries (84 qualifying and 22 parlays), 29 cashers, 1 in 3.65 cash ratio and paid out over $6,600.00 in main and side event prize funds! The players bowled on a 2023 42ft PBA Scorpion oil pattern that was new and had a lot more volume than everyone was expecting. Many of the bowlers would think that since there was more oil volume that it would play similar to a house shot, but with all the oil in the front of the lanes it made it very hard to swing the ball. If you got too wide with your angles too early, then it would not come back. We had straighter players do well to start but once the pattern started to breakdown, we would see players that like to curve it more and cover more boards, would find success.
We would like to welcome Charles Nault to the SFT family. I hope that you had a good time and hope to see you again. We also had some Parlay Power Players this weekend in Ernie Mendoza and Kyle John! They both made it to the quarterfinals off of their $30.00 Economy Parlay entry with Ernie even making it all the way to the Finals! We also want to congratulate Zach Van Dusen, Gilbert Sauceda, and Kyle John for making their first quarterfinals. We are up to three pots for Momma’s Mystery Score, and we would see Justin Surat win Momma’s Mystery Pot, with a score of 156. Unfortunately for Justin it would be for the third pot, and he would win $40.00, barely missing out on one of the $500.00 pots. Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track high performance ball for $95.00, was Will Fitzgerald.
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. We would have 24 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 each Division. The A Division would see Ernie Mendoza (+112) emerge as your #1 seed with a huge scratch 256 game to secure his spot in the semi-finals and he would have to face off with red hot Garret Strehl (+109). The B Division would see Eric Flick (+85) lead the division and he would take on Chip Carr (+66) who was our #2 seed. The C Division would have Josh Wamsley (+35) as the #1 seed, and we would see him matched up against SFT veteran Steve Convirs (+41) in the semi-finals.
The A Division semi-final would be a good match as Ernie and Garret would go back and forth to start the match. Ernie would string some strikes together to take an early lead. Garret would start off a bit slow and would open in the fifth frame to put himself in a hole. Ernie would start to struggle with transition later in the match and let Garret back into the match. Garret would get strikes in the eighth and ninth frames to give himself a chance to win the match in the ten as he would need to strike out to put some pressure on Ernie to mark and get count. Garret’s first ball in the tenth would leave a mixer 4-pin, which he would pick up, and he would strike on this fill ball to finish out the match with a score of 202. Ernie would finish with mark and good count for a score of 233 to advance to the Finals.
The B Division and C Division semi-finals would not be as close. The B Division semi-finals would see Chip Carr struggle with the pair as Eric Flick was able to throw a few strikes to win the match, 227 to 169. The C Division match would have Josh Wamsley start off the match with some spares while Steve Convirs could not get lined up on the pair. Josh would go on to defeat Steve, 213 to 176, and advance to the Finals.
Going into the Finals we would see former SFT Player of the Year and this weekend’s Parlay Power Player Ernie Mendoza looking to win his fourth AHT SFT title and the $1,150.00 first place prize! Ernie would have to go through Eric Flick, who was also looking for his fourth AHT SFT title. Josh Wamsley was looking to win his first title in his fourth title match. Josh has made three finals before and has placed in third place in all his Finals matches and was looking to change that today!
The Finals would start off with Ernie’s first shot going a bit high through the nose leaving the 3-6-9-10. Ernie would open as he could not get the 9-pin out of the spare. Eric was up next and would leave the 3-7 split as his ball would go a bit too long. Eric would not convert the spare for an open frame. Josh would throw a strike to finish out the first frame to take a slight lead. Ernie’s second frame would see him hit the pocket light leaving the 2-4, which he would convert. Eric would cover up his open in the first with a strike in the second frame. Josh’s second frame would see his ball hang a bit off to the left and leave the 1-3-9, which he was unable to convert for an open frame. Ernie’s third frame would see him get lined up with a mixer strike. Eric would follow up with six-spare as it looked like the lefties (Eric & Josh) were having some issues with the right lane. Josh would be up on the left lane and see his ball go a bit too long, leaving the 1-3-7 split. Josh would almost pick up the spare as the head pin would just wrap around the 7-pin for an open frame. The fourth frame would see Ernie move a bit left on the right lane as he looked to slow hook the lane and would leave a flat 10-pin, which he would convert. Eric would be up on the left lane and miss a bit inside to leave the 2-8, and he would chop the 2-pin off the spare attempt for an open frame. Josh’s fourth frame would see him move a bit left on the right lane and leave a light 3-pin. Josh would go on to pick up the spare.
Midway through the match and it looked like whomever could figure out the lanes would win the match. Ernie would strike in the fifth as it looked like he was finally getting dialed in. Eric would crush the pocket but leave a ring 7-pin, which he would pick up. Josh would get a strike on the right lane and was looking to take the lead. Ernie would keep pace as he would miss a bit inside, but it would go “Brooklyn” for a strike. Eric would leave a mixer 10-pin in the sixth, which he would pick up to stay in the match. Josh would leave the 3-7 split and would not be able to pick up the spare to fall behind. The seventh frame would see Ernie take the lead as he would strike on left lane. Eric would be right behind with his own strike on the right lane. Josh would miss a bit inside on his seventh frame leaving the baby split 2-7 but he would not be able to pick up. Eight frame would see Ernie open as he would be unable to convert the 2-4-7-8, he left. Eric would try to take advantage of the open frame but would leave a mixer 10-pin which he would go on to spare. Josh would open in the eighth with another 3-7 split as he could not get the ball reaction he was looking for.
The match would come down to the ninth and tenth frames. Ernie would mark as he would pick up the 2-4-5 that he left on the right lane. Eric would strike to set himself up for the tenth frame. Josh would also get a much needed “Brooklyn” strike in the ninth. Josh would finish the tenth frame with an open and finish the match with a score of 170. Ernie would get up in the tenth frame needing to put some pressure on Eric. A strike in the tenth would for Eric to have to double and have good count to win. Ernie would get up and leave a light 4-pin in the tenth and would get eight on the fill to finish with a score of 210. This would leave the door open for Eric if he could get a strike and nine-spare to win the match by one pin. Eric’s first ball in the tenth would crush the pocket for a double. Eric’s second shot in the tenth would go a bit high through the nose leaving the 2-4. Eric would need to convert the spare to tie Ernie and force a ninth-tenth frame roll-off. Eric’s spare attempt would look good off his hand but would chop the 2-pin and left the 4-pin to leave him with a score of 209. This would give Ernie his fourth AHT SFT title and $1,150.0! Congrats to Eric Flick on second place and $600.00. Also, congrats to Josh Wamsley on another third place and $360.00!
Thank you to everyone that came out this weekend to bowl our tournament. We appreciate all of you that come out and continue to support our events. Big thank you to Michael Dragon and Hokey Begay for all their hard work and filling in for Tawna today. We could not run these events without all their help. Thank you to Michael Bray and the staff at Bowlero Via Linda for hosting us this weekend! We will see you all at our next 2-squad tournament at Let It Roll Bowl on Sunday, August 13th! Hope you all have a great week!
Bowlero Via Linda Finals - Ernie Mendoza vs. Eric Flick vs. Josh Wamsley
