TENPINS & MORE

champs TJ Gaudette & Marcos Armijo

        TJ Gaudette and Marcos Armijo captured JBT titles in exciting NM-TX Conference action at Tenpins & More @ Rio Rancho.

        Nick Lee and Hannah Stedman opened the scratch division stepladder finals by tying at 201, forcing a one-shot rolloff that Lee won in the second round 20-19.  Lee then beat Matt Helmick 223-160, and followed with a 174-163 loss to Caleb Goehring- I list the loss first because it was Lee's first third place finish of his long JBT career, completing his collection- an accomplishment he sought after almost as much as another title.  However, it was Caleb who moved on to the finale.

        Top seed TJ Gaudette took over the lead with a big game eight, but Goehring, bowling in his first JBT all season after an all-star season in the handicap division last year, impressed everyone by being at or near the top of the leaderboard all day.  However, he struggled on the right hand lane all game, and TJ's mid-game six-bagger was more than enough to cruise to a 232-203 win and his long-awaited first career JBT title.

        Armijo climbed the ladder en route to his 2nd career JBT title.  He began with a 234-227 squeaker over first-time finalist Nicole Gallegos.  Marcos then got past Mario Trujillo 207-190, and then in a great battle against points leader Josh Helmick, emerged victorious by a 265-247 score to reach the title match.

        Top seed Kyle Madrid led every round of the tournament, but ran into a steamroller in Armijo, who kept up the hot streak with a 232-203 win for the title.  The win was hugely important for Armijo, who edged closer to Helmick in the points race and added the all-important win to his season-long stats.

        Thanks to everyone at Tenpins for another great job hosting our Tour.  Over $1,300 in scholarships were awarded to bowlers of all averages- want in on the fun?  Come on down to the next JBT event, it's that simple!