PAC NW INVITATIONAL

champs Marshall Kent & Evan Pendergraft

        Marshall Kent, Yakima WA, and Evan Pendergraft, Beaverton OR, earned $1,000 scholarships each as champions of the 2010 JBT Pacific Northwest Invitational Tournament, hosted by West Seattle Bowl.

        Bowlers in both divisions rolled five games on a demanding sport pattern.  Eleven qualifiers joined five exempt bowlers from the season-long points race for a 16-person, triple-elimination matchplay finals, a thrilling 3 hours of do-or-die action all over the center.

        Kent was one of the few bowlers to look comfortable on the tough lanes, averaging almost 220 en route to the #1 seed for matchplay.  He didn't slow down one bit from there, cruising through the first five rounds undefeated.  In round six, eight bowlers remained.  In that round, Kent gave #3 Cameron Weier his second loss, #7 Jordan Plunkett eliminated #14 Sarah Boe, defending Invite champ #16 Josh Jackson eliminated #12 Tristan Curtis, and #8 Makayla Douglas eliminated #9 Jared McNeal.

        That left five bowlers, which gave Weier a bye, while Douglas eliminated Jackson, and Kent gave Plunkett loss #2.  Now with four bowlers left, Plunkett eliminated Weier, while Kent ended the fine run of Douglas (the high scratch finish of her career and a great time for it), setting up a title match situation where Weier would have to beat Kent three times for the victory.

        Beating Marshall even once had proven impossible so far, but if anyone could do it the always-tough Weier would be a good candidate, but Kent would have none of it, saving the best in an already awesome day for last in a 280-219 win in the first game for the championship and $1,000 prize.  We're checking the JBT records, but it's the first time we can recall a bowler being the top seed and then going completely undefeated through matchplay in our triple-elimination format.  The only bad news is that Kent did fall just short of Plunkett's point lead, but that shouldn't overshadow an awesome season for Kent, with six titles and over $3,000 in scholarship earnings, with the TPC yet to come.   The top 20 in points now advance to the TPC in Las Vegas, with $2,000 on top for the champs there.

        Aaron Yoon, Portland OR, earned the top seed in the handicap division, and performed well in the early matchplay rounds, getting to round six with only one loss.  #4 Evan Pendergraft (the only 'exempt' bowler that would have made the finals without benefit of the exemption) did even better, going undefeated through five rounds, and staying that way with a round six win over #6 Nathan Coigny.  In other matches that round, Yoon eliminated #3 Bri Hemming, #2 Zoe Mahn eliminated #14 Luke Jordan, and #12 Robert Altieri eliminated #7 Khalid Lucas.

        Now with five bowlers left, Mahn earned a bye, while Coigny eliminated Altieri and Yoon gave Pendergraft his first loss.  Coigny then eliminated Mahn, but was eliminated himself by Yoon in the next round, setting up a rematch between Yoon and Pendergraft where  Aaron would have to beat Evan twice to win the title.

        Pendergraft had been solid all day, and seemed to get better in the later rounds, finishing with a 221-193 win over Yoon for the title and the $1,000 payday.  The win, the second of the season, all but locks up the Bowler of the Year award for the points leader as well- what a day for Evan!

        Over $7,000 in scholarships were awarded to qualifiers from all over the Northwest- wow!  West Seattle Bowl did a terrific job hosting our Tour for the first time.  Thanks to everyone who made this a great Pac NW season, and please help us spread the word for the next season of JBT events starting in August, which will be posted on our website, www.bowljbt.com, soon!