THE ORLEANS

champs Derek Acuff & Josh Franz

        Derek Acuff and Josh Franz captured JBT titles in exciting action at The Orleans.

        The scratch field was strengthened by bowlers in Vegas for college tournaments, and Wisconsin Whitewater's Nick Kruml showed he knows how to handle stepladder matches, winning round one with a big 265-223 score over Lanndyn Carnate.  Nick's next match was an epic against Midland University and Pac NW Conference  Perry Crowell IV, with Perry doubling in the tenth for a 256-241 win.  Jakob Butturff then torched the pair for a 267-194 win over Crowell to advance to the title match.

        The cut was only -51, but the top players carved out a nice look on the 'middle road' lane pattern, and top seed Derek Acuff, trading the lead with Jakob all day long, grabbed it back with a big 259 game eight.  The two premier lefthanders on Tour put on a great title match show, with Derek coming back from an early deficit for a 255-237 win for the title.  It's the 14th of his excellent JBT career, putting him just one behind Butturff in what should be a great battle for a while for JBT portside predominance.

        The handicap division finals opened with a strike-fest as well, with Anthony Dang beating Megan Carlson, who earlier thrilled the crowd with a 299 game, by a 254-248 margin.  Mojave Invitational champ Brendan Lindsey then defeated Dang 200-186.  In the semifinals, Erica Pursell beat Lindsey 204-173, to set up an all University of Arizona match against top seed Josh Franz.

        Pursell started slowly but then staged a furious comeback in the second half of the game (much like the UA basketball and football teams did the night before), but Franz had just enough left to hang on for the 214-203 win, and the first title of his JBT career.

        Randi Speiler captured her second Impact Bowling Women's Series win of the season with a 216-184 win over Pac NW bowler Breanne Mattson.  She needs one more win to get into the Girls TPC this summer.

        Thanks as always to the crew at The Orleans for a great job hosting our events.  Want in on the fun?  Check out our schedule and come on down, it's that easy!