We were incredibly excited to make our return to Riverside Lanes in Laughlin, NV. It was an event that over 6 years ago was a big hit with all of the members. With the success we have been having in the Phoenix area, we were happy that we had enough die hard followers to be able to go to a place so far away from “home base”. We used our success here in Phoenix to start rebuilding the event in Laughlin, and this weekend did that exactly. We got to bowl in a center that many of the club members have never been too, and we got to meet quite a few new bowlers that are locals to the Laughlin area. Our standard event drew 67 entries, had 23 cashers, a 1 in 2.9 cash ratio and paid out over $4,000.00 in standard and side event prizes.
We also had the doubles event on Saturday night that was won by Lynn Arthur and Joe Mascio. The doubles was pretty much a sign that it was going to be Joe’s weekend. He had one of the most impressive weekends we have seen in both the skill and luck portions of competition. The luck side started on Saturday when he won Momma’s Mystery Score with a score of 224. He won a whopping $500, which will loosen the swing up pretty quickly. Then he showed off the skill portion bowling the highest scratch series of the tournament on Saturday with a nice 736 scratch. After having a very good Saturday afternoon, he followed it up further with the doubles title with Lynn Arthur on Saturday night.
We did have both Darryl Johnson and Alfredo (Buzz) Garcia make their first ever quarter finals at this event. It was also Buzz’s first ever event, as he was the only Laughlin local to make the cut. Buzz also made it to the quarter finals all the way through the economy parlay. He was a text book example that you can have success in your first event with the SFT AHT, and even do it on a budget. The parlay cost him $25 and that was all he needed to eventually get his eventual $90 quarter finals check. Sam Arellano also bowled well in the A division bowling a nice +63 score on Saturday but just missed the cut. His division only had a +12 cut on Sunday, which means he bowled a great score, just on the wrong day. We want to thank the locals that came out to give the event a try.
The semi-final matches were fairly good ones, but the “A” division match was definitely the best one. Joe Mascio opened in the 9th frame to potentially give up his lead to Kevin Enomoto who was working on a strike in the 9th. Kevin could get up and strike out to force Joe to strike out. He threw the first one absolutely perfect, which made it seem like he had it in the bag. Then a kind of unlucky timed ball return had to be called back right after his first strike. He had to wait for a moment for this ball to come back. His next shot he left a 2,4,7 which meant Joe just needed a mark and good count. Joe was able to do so, which gave him the win.
The final match experience was something that the SFT AHT has never had before. We had two bowlers that were from another state! Although Chris Wheat and Jason Turner have bowled several events with us, they are both from Las Vegas, NV. Joe was the only one who currently resides in Arizona. It is awesome that the club has grown to have bowlers from out of state participating in it. All three bowlers had never won a title, which meant we were going to have another first time standard event titlist. Joe pulled away quite easily in the final match, winning pretty easily with a nice 236 game. As I said earlier, Joe really had an incredible weekend. From the Mystery Score winnings and the odd ball return in a pivotal part of the match to his incredible performances in qualifying, quarter finals, and the final match. It was a great weekend watching such a nice, respectful young man who has been working so hard on his game break through for his first title. Congrats Joe!
