Our event this weekend was a 2-squad tournament at Let it Roll Bowl! We had a pretty good turnout considering all the other events going on in the Valley. We had 82 entries (56 qualifying and 26 economy parlay), with 27 cashers a 1 in 3.03 cash ratio and a pay out of over $5,700.00 in main and side event prizes! The players bowled on the 40ft Kegel Red Square, which is Kegel’s version of the U.S. Open pattern, and it proved to be very difficult. The cut scores were pretty low 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 or over hook. The key for today was to leave something makeable and to pick up your spares.
As always, we like to welcome all of the new bowlers that came out to join us in their first ever event. We’d like to give a warm welcome to Michael Latham, Jeff Geiser and Lauren Johnson! We hope you all had a good time at your first event! We had a couple of Parlay Power Players this weekend in Michael LePage, Brian Richardson, Brad Erickson, and Michael Lemos who were able to make the quarterfinals on their $30.00 Economy Parlay entry. Congrats to Brad Erickson and Jeffrey Crowley on making their first quarterfinals. We would see not one, but two Momma’s Mystery Score winners this weekend. Congrats to Norman Touey on winning $500.00, with a score of 134, and also congrats to Robert Sanders on winning $150.00, with a score of 137. This event’s winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track ball for $95.00, was Marisol Quinones!
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 19 quarterfinalists and would see the A & B Divisions have only 6 bowlers with the C Division having 7 quarterfinalists. 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 Brad Erickson (+78) and he would take on #2 seed Justin O’Donnell (-8). In the B Division we would current SFT Player of the Year Jeff Kraus come out on top as the #1 seed (+58) and he would be matched up against #2 seed, Kenny Koen (+52). The C Division would have Charles Nault as the #1 seed (+85) and she would have to face off with Marcus Haley (+72).
The A Division semi-final match would see Justin O’Donnell catch fire while Brad Erickson would struggle with the pair. Justin would go on to defeat Brad, 246 to 165. The B Division semi-final would be the same as Kenny Koen would get lined up on the pair as Jeff Kraus would struggle to carry the pocket. Kenny would go on to win the match, 214 to 160. The C Division semi-final match would also see the same trend as Marcus Haley was unable to keep up with Charles Nault. Charles would go on to shoot his highest game of the day to defeat Marcus, 260 to 202.
Going into the Final match we would see all three bowlers looking to win their first AHT SFT title and the $800.00 first place prize. Justin O’Donnell has been coming up from Marana the last few months and was looking to finally breakthrough as this was his first title match. Kenny Koen has made the Finals before and had just come a bit short with a 2nd place finish. Kenny was looking to get over the hump and take home his first title. The favorite for the match had to be Charles Nault, as he has been on fire the last few games of the day. He dominated the C Division in the Quarterfinal and Semi-Final rounds. This was Charles’ second Finals appearance of the season as he had previously come in 3rd place at Bowlero Avondale and was looking for a win today.
The Finals would start off with all three bowlers looking to get lined up quickly. Justin would open with a spare, while Charles would chop the 3-6-10 for an open. Kenny would see his ball leave a PBA washout (1-2-4-10), which he would not spare. Second frame would see Justin spare a 10-pin as Charles would get a spare. Kenny would strike to make up for his open frame. Justin would continue to stay clean with a spare in the third. Charles would strike to take a lead while Kenny would struggle on the left lane as his ball would leave an ugly 2-4-8-10) split that he could not convert. Justin would get his first strike in the fourth as Charles would open and Kenny would strike on the right lane. Justin would leave a weak 4-pin in the fifth which he would spare. Charles would strike on the left lane to try to make up for the open frame in the fourth. Kenny would continue to struggle with the left lane as he would chop the 2-8, for another open frame.
Midway through and Justin and Charles were close. Kenny would need to figure out the left lane if he wanted to have a chance to stay in the match. Justin would continue to mark in the sixth while Charles would chop the 2-4. Kenny would strike on his “good” (right) lane. Seventh frame would see Justin continue to grind away with another spare. Charles would see his ball go a bit too far right and leave the 1-5-8-9, which he could not convert. Kenny, on the “bad” lane, would see his ball go through the nose to leave the 6-10, which he would not convert. Justin would continue to make his spares in the seventh while Charles would strike and Kenny would leave an open frame. Justin would take a slight lead with a strike in the eighth while Charles and Kenny would both split for an open. Ninth frame and Justin would get another spare. Charles would get a much-needed strike while Kenny would also strike.
Tenth frame would see Charles double up to stay in the match. Charles’ second ball in the tenth would almost strike but leave the head pin standing. Charles would finish up the match with a score of 195 to force Justin to mark. Kenny would be up next but would split and open to finish in third with a score of 154. Justin would be up for his first shot in the tenth and would put all ten back to seal the win. Justin would fill out his frame and finish with a score of 209 to take home his first AHT SFT title and $800.00! Congrats to Charles Nault on 2nd place for $500.00 and also congrats to Kenny Koen on 3rd place for $250.00!
Thank you to everyone that came out this weekend to bowl our tournament. We appreciate all the support. Thanks to Josh Anthony and the staff at Let it Roll Bowl for having us out this weekend. Also, thanks to Tawna McDonald and Michael Dragon for all the work they do behind the scenes to keep us running.
We’ll be back in a couple of weeks for a 3-squad tournament at Bowlero Glendale on Sunday, August 4th. Hope you all have a good weekend off!
Let it Roll Bowl Finals - Justin O'Donnell vs. Kenny Koen vs. Charles Nault
