2011 Touring Players Championship

champs Tristan Curtis & Vince Bachteler, flanked by runners-up Marshall Kent & Kjerstin Richards

        Tristan Curtis, Fife WA, and Vince Bachteler, Port Orchard WA, each earned $2,000 scholarships as champions of the 2011 Junior Bowlers Tour's Touring Players Championship, hosted by Strike Zone at Sunset Station in Henderson, NV.

        Over $16,000 in scholarships were earned by the 111 bowlers who qualified for our most elite and important event by finishing in the top 20 in season-long points in their local conferences.  The Pacific Northwest conference again dominated, with all four title match bowlers, and 11 of the 20 finalists all hailing from that obviously tough conference.

        After 23 games over two days, the fields were whittled to four for the stepladder finals, and in the scratch division opener Jakob Butturff threw the first five strikes en route to a 234-176 win over fellow Las Vegas bowler Zack Hattori.  Even though Zack made the headlines this summer with his Teen Masters win and Junior Gold runner-up finish, Jakob made the top 16 at Gold as well, and beat Zack three times in this tournament, so perhaps another star is quickly rising out of glitter gulch.  Tristan then turned the tables on Jakob in match two, also starting with the front five in a 219-177 win over Butturff, setting up the all-Washington title match.

        Top seed Marshall Kent, last year's TPC runner-up (about the only thing he didn't win last year), seemed focused to avenge that defeat and absolutely destroyed the field to lead after all four patterns.  The last pattern was his weakest though, and when Curtis also cooled off, the title match became a total grind in the challenging environment.  Marshall's unconverted washout in the tenth frame gave Tristan a chance to strike on the first ball in the tenth to swipe the title away, but it was on a lane he hadn't struck on all game.  Somehow Curtis dug deep and got the strike, resulting in a 186-177 win and the championship.  The emotional win was the fourth of his JBT career and first JBT major title.

       All four handicap finalists represented the Pac NW (the top 6 in fact), and Max Polhill opened up the stepladder with a 217-167 win over Connor Gracia.  Max looked to be in good shape in match two, but Bachteler came back from nowhere to string strikes from frame eight to take away the match 217-193, advancing to the championship game.

        Top seed Kjerstin Richards had taken away the lead from Vince with a position round win in game eight of the finals, so it was fitting that the two met again to decide things.  Kjerstin built an early lead in the first half of the game, but just like the previous match, Bachteler came roaring back, and when Richards couldn't strike on her first shot in the tenth frame, he secured a 210-194 win, the $2,000 top scholarship prize, and the second title of his JBT career.

        Riley Dempsey's 10th place finish and Cortez Schenck's 27th place finish were plenty to hang onto the All-Conference Bowler of the Year awards.  Cameron Smith's 300 game was the only of the event on the exacting conditions.  Thanks as always to the Strike Zone staff for hosting this terrific event!

Second chance winners (included above): scratch: Sarah Boe +62, Catherine Rawsthorne +31, Rane Lacona +29, Thomas Nute +19, Teddy Lucente +8; handicap: Brandon Duffy +124, Corbin Hirsch +118, Dakota Thompson +89, Jhared Gonzalez +66, Kolby Crowell +33

Deca-Game winners (included above): Kyle Karpovich 243, Kyle King 233, Marshall Kent 226, John Jordan 222, Correen Lieber 211, Anthony Tripi 211; Luke Jordan 271, Toby Shepherd 230, Randi Speiler 227, Joey Balistreri 225 

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2011 TPC qualified bowlers: