CaliforniaBowlingNews.com
by David Yamauchi
LA HABRA – The JAT took the lanes for the SportShot Challenge last week at La Habra “300” Bowl. The pattern selected was Brunswick Rhino and the 3.8:1 ratio proved to tighten up the lanes. Bowlers in all three divisions needed to make good shots to put pins on the board.
The newly formed Preps Division took the lanes with more new faces battling in this entry-level division. With just a $10 entry fee and a 3-game beat-theboard format the Preps were having a great time getting into some scratch tournament action. $240 in scholarship funds were awarded to the Preps thanks to the generosity of the BCSC (the local association of bowling proprietor’s). Stephanie Fung took the title with a steady 157-155-149-461 set and earned $75 and the champion’s plaque. Alex Alvarez was close on her tails with a 453 set for 2nd ($65 + plaque) and Emily Schrider finished 3rd at 436 ($55 + plaque). Other cashers were Kaitlynn Yukihiro 418 – $55 and Brian Erickson 408 – $45. We hope more bowlers with averages 140-165 will come out and try our Preps Division. Congratulations Stephanie on your first Preps title!
In the JAT Farm Club (averages 165-190), Louis Luna led qualifying at -38 followed by Andrew Chan -46 and Ardani Rodas -69. Low-to-qualify was Allexander Zieg at -144. After 5 games of Match Play, Ardani Rodas rode a 3-2 record to +69 to be the top-seed for the rolloffs and await the winner of Andrew Chan +15 and Tyler Thomas +46. In the stepladder, Tyler Thomas was locked in defeating Chan 203-166 for a berth in the finals. The championship match went one-sided as Ardani Rodas had the best look on the pair and struck to a 237-153 win and his first JAT Farm Club title. Congratulations Ardani!
In the top Open Division (averages over 190) it was New Brunswick staffer Anthony Schanen pacing the field at +61 for his 6 qualifying games. Ryan Lee who has been red-hot was close on his tail at +15 after starting the day 166-188. Solomon Salama was the last blue number at +5. Low-to-advance to the bracket was Andrew Fung at -135. In the best-of-three bracket, the top-6 took a bye while the bottom 4 bowled the Elimination Round. (7) Michael Conti swept past (10) Andrew Fung and (8) Nick Caner breezed through (9) Marquan Rivers. The top-6 jumped back into the quarterfinal round with the big upset being (8) Caner continuing to strike and taking out (1) Anthony Schanen in three. (6) Costa Gastouniotis came up big sweeping through (3) Solomon Salama. (4) David Schneider dismissed (5) Kevin Banaag in two while (2) Ryan Lee swept through (7) Conti. In the semifinals, David Schneider found a good look taking out defending champion Nick Caner 196-187 and 210-186 while Ryan Lee needed three to take out Costa Gastouniotis 256-217, 182-221, and 221-135 to advance to the finals. In the Championship Match, it was all Ryan Lee taking down David Schneider in straight games 222-201 and 176-161 for the title. Congratulations Ryan!
Our next event is Sunday, October 22nd which will be our Adult-Member doubles; a fun event for all bowlers of any level! Anyone is welcome to bowl as this is the event where we have a handicap and a scratch division; 409 and under handicap and 410+ scratch divisions gives everyone a chance to bowl. The tournament will be held at Linbrook Bowl in Anaheim – $40 per bowler entry fee, 5 games of qualifying for each bowler followed by a cut, 5 games of baker match-play, and a stepladder baker finals. Hope to see you all at Linbrook for the doubles!