As the tour returned to Kent Bowl for our 1st Quarter Championship, we didn't know what to expect for turnout because we hadn't been there since our 3rd Quarter Championship in 2016.  Well...173 entries answered that question emphatically as we took 35 bowlers to Sunday's Finals and when you see the close scores, including THREE 9th-10th roll-offs, you'll get the feel of how exciting it was! 

Saturday alone had 116 entries and Brett Schaaf took Top Qualifier honorswith a 1036 score which earned him the Storm ball of his choice!  His wife, Heather told us that he is going for the Storm 'Code X'.  More on Brett further down...Overall Top Qualifier honors go to last week's winner from Secoma Lanes, Tim Apthorp.  Tim edged out Brett for the coveted 'Top Qualifier' Jacket as he fired a 1045 series continuing his hot bowling.  

With the 35 Finalists, SIX bowlers earned first round bye's into Round 2 while in the 1st Round 29 bowled for survival as we whittled that 29 down 19, added in the six bye's for Round 2 then took out nine to get to our Sweet 16 bracket Finalists.  Worth mentioning, in that 1st Round, Garret Jones tied Curtis White in the last spot requiring our first 9th-10th roll-off where Jones edged out White to get to Round 2.  In that 2nd Round came  roll-off #2 where Christina Miller edged out Tong Nguyen to get into the bracket Finals. As we entered the Sweet 16 there were some interesting match-ups, but the closest result was Cal Fisher edging out Krisha Naff by just TWO pins to move on. In the Elite 8 James Strand, Christina Miller, Brett Schaaf & David Buckner moved on to the Final 4 where Buckner eased his way into the Final while Miller & Strand required the days' 3rd roll-off with a 258-258 tie! In that match they were tied in the 7th frame with BOTH punching out to set up the roll-off where back to back splits cost Strand a trip to the Final where he would have been shooting for his 5th Title.  Schaaf & Strand both earned $382.00 for their 3rd Place finishes. Schaaf, virtually a beginner in the game, struggled in his first couple of Tournaments since joining with Heather just a few weeks ago at Hi Joy Bowl and has shown incredible improvement, making his first 'Cash' a BIG one!

Elite 8 & Final 4

In the Final, Miller & Buckner's match came down to the 10th Frame where Christina needed to strike in the 11th to win and converted like a Champion, winning 235-226, earning her 4th Career Title and her 1st since 2011.  Buckner entered both squads on Sunday hoping to qualify and ultimately threw 14 games on Sunday earning $1,000.00 for 2nd Place!  This was his SECOND 2nd Place finish in as many weeks, both were his best finishes after joining the Tour one year and one week ago to the day. David shot his first Tour 300 game in his qualifying effort and his biggest fan Kim Myron nervously cheered him on to the end.  Great bowling, Sir!

Finalists Christina Miller & David Buckner

Miller, also a Hi Joy bowler, joined us in 2009 and won her first three titlesover an eight month span back in 2010-11, then was away for a few years and this Title caps an incredible comeback!  She overcame many obstacles over the years as she was a EMT in San Francisco years ago and had an horrific accident causing multiple physical challenges. She credits her success to husband, Mike and her son and biggest fan, Justin.  Incidently, today (3/19) is her 29th wedding anniversary and she says that her last Title in 2011 was on her 22nd anniversary. As you can see, she bucked the odds this weekend, surviving TWO roll-offs on her way to the win. Christina wore her Dexter Shoes and used her Storm 'Sure Lock' ball and said she was focused, nervous, but in the Zone!  Congrats Christina! 

Earl Kleist had qualified on Saturday but showed up early Sunday to get in some practice during the 11:00 squad where he apparently was working on 9-taps.  Already hitting the front-5 on Saturday along with Roland Jarata, we captured a photo of his practice scoring where he hit the 'Middle 7'. Kleist & Jarata earned $250.00 each as the 9-Tap Jackpot cruised North to $7,678.00 with the Pro Pot at $2099.00 as we take a week off and head to Bowlero Lanes in a couple fo weeks for a 'Best 3 of 4' Tourney.

 

With such a big turnout, we wanted to thank Margie & Lynn for keeping things running smoothly with the 'controlled' chaos at the check in desk, it isn't easy and these two get it done every week despite Steve giving them a hard time!