MOJAVE INVITATIONAL

champs DJ Sloan & Kevin Weis

    DJ Sloan and Kevin Weis earned $1,000 scholarships each as champions of the 2010 JBT Mojave Conference Invitational hosted by Gold Coast Bowling Center.

    All five scratch bowlers who earned exemptions to the 16-bowler finals would have made the cut anyway, showing why they earned the exemptions in the first place.  Kyle King continued to be on another level, leading the 5-game qualifier on a very tough Scorpion pattern at +176 when the cut was -85.  However, it was top non-exempt qualifier Rebeca Reguero, Phoenix AZ, who took over in the semifinals, going 8-0 in the triple elimination matchplay finals.  The other stars of the conference knocked each other around, with DJ Sloan beating Aaron Foshie in round eight to set up a title match situation where He'd have to beat Rebeca three straight times to with the title.

     After winning a close first game 194-183, Sloan, from Las Vegas, revved it up for a 258-177 win in game two, and rode all that momentum for a 224-181 game three win, completing the comeback and winning the Mojave Invite for the second consecutive season.  Regeuro earned $500 for her brilliant performance.  Zach Hattori, Las Vegas, pocketed $360 for third, Foshie, Tempe AZ, earned $155 for 4th, and Zach Martinez, Chandler AZ, finished 5th for $170 in scholarships.

     The handicap exempt bowlers all made the most of their exemptions, as none of them would have made finals without the valuable bye.  However, none were able to completely capitalize on the bonus, with Samantha Meyers' sixth place finish by far the best result of the exempt bunch.  Rane Lacona earned the top seed by his excellent qualifying performance, but had to hang on by a thread to earn the round-5 bye.  Eventually, four bowlers remained who had avoided the eliminating third loss.  In that round, #5 Kayla Goad eliminated #10 Casey Nagamine, and #6 Katelyn Scott stayed alive by handing #2 Kevin Weis his second loss. 

     With three bowlers left, Las Vegas resident Weis earned the bye while Goad eliminated Scott in the next match, advancing her to a one-game title match.  That final game was all Weis, and his 244-203 win was good for a well-timed first title of his JBT career.  Goad, Phoenix AZ, earned $500 for second, Scott, Las Vegas, earned $250 for third, Nagamine, Kaneohe HI, got $180 for 4th, and Derek Acuff, closing in on Taylor King's all-conference points lead, earned $125 for fifth.

        Over $7,000 in scholarships were awarded to the 71 qualifiers.  Where else but JBT?  Thanks to everyone at Gold Coast for a great job hosting us.  Be sure to check the website often as we determine year-end awards, and gear up for the great summer of JBT action, all available 24-7 at www.bowljbt.com.