20th Century Lanes

champs Tanner Bouwens & Jake Mullen

        Tanner Bouwens and Jake Mullen claimed their first JBT titles in exciting Pacific Northwest Conference action at Portland's 20th Century Lanes.

        The exciting 'oadotat' format, which stands for 'one and done or two and through', has bowlers roll matchplay after a cut to sixteen bowlers after five games.  The higher seed bowler in each match only had to win one game to advance, while the lower seeded bowled had to win twice, putting a premium on your qualifying total even though pinfall is dropped for matchplay.  Unsurprisingly, seven of the top eight seeds advanced in round one, with only #12 Alex Earle pulling off the upset, but he couldn't do it twice, as #4 Aaron Yoon stopped him in round two.

        In the final four, Yoon advanced to the title match with two-game upset over top seed Tanner Spacey, who had dominated the tournament to that point.  Bouwens, the #2 seed, reached the finals with a win over #6 Jordan Ferrer from Nevada.  Aaron had the momentum going into the title match, but Tanner quickly stopped that with an early strike barrage, and was able to cruise to a 199-148 win, good for the first title of his JBT career.

        Sixteen handicap finalists were also whittled down to the final four.  In those matches, top seed Mullen continued his roll with a 283-182 win over #5 Katie Elliott, while #2 Sebastian Polhill advanced to play Jake for the title by sneaking past #6 Andy Herrmann 179-170.   Polhill was looking to be the youngest bowler in JBT history to win two titles, but the talented six year-old was totally out of gas.  Even though Mullen came up with his low game of the day, it was enough for a 190-178 win, and the first JBT title of Jake's career.

        Courtney Couch won her 2nd Women's Series title this season already with a win over top seed Makayla Douglas.  She only needs one more win to qualify for the 2012 JBT All-Conference Girls Championship.

        Thanks as always to 20th Century for hosting out event, which awarded over $1,500 in scholarships to bowlers of all ages and averages.  Want in on all this fun and excitement?  Check out our schedule and come on out to the next JBT event, it's that simple!