TENPIN ALLEY

champs Cortez Schenck & Tanya Paris

        Cortez Schenck piled on yet another title to his collection, while Tanya Paris tasted JBT victory for the first time, in exciting New Mexico-Texas Conference action at Las Cruces' Tenpin Alley.

        Bowlers were challenged by a tricky lane pattern and the 'pick yer poison' format, where higher seeded bowlers choose who they want to bowl in matchplay.  William Yoder took over the qualifying lead from Ahkeen Williams, but did not have the antidote for his chosen poison, as Joey Balistreri pulled off the upset.  Meanwhile, Williams had better luck, beating Brandon Gill to get to the semifinals.  His luck stopped there as he couldn't get the tenth frame double he needed, falling to Cortez Schenck in the semifinals 205-187.  Balistreri's run was also stopped in the semis, as Mark Vigil defeated him 214-171 to advance to the title match.

        Vigil was appearing in his first scratch division title match, while Schenck was recovering from what has been a slump by his standards, having not won since early January.  Though Mark bowled a fine game, Cortez gave him no chance, throwing the high game of the entire tournament in a 248-196 win for the title.  It's the 15 year-old's 29th career JBT victory, moving him past Jakob Butturff for 5th place on the all-time titles list.

        Paris qualified in the middle of the handicap field, then won three thrilling matches to reach the final: 408-401 over Noah Martinez, 454-445 over Joleigh Murphy, and 231-218 over Jarred Starr-Moncayo in the single-game semifinal.  In the other half, top seed Ryan Byer continued his total domination of the field, first knocking out #2 seed Jacob Bates in a brave round-one choice, then beating Isaac Medore, and finally Jacob Marquis in the semifinals to reach the title game.

        Each finalist had a second place finish to their credit before, and in this match it was Paris who was able to stop Byer's momentum, defeating Ryan 214-191, earning Tanya her long-awaited first career JBT title.

        Newcomer Elexis Sledge (who along with her brothers Trey and Elijah all made it to matchplay) was the top Women's Series qualifier, but Sara Vargas came up with a clean game to beat Sledge 187-167, to earn the day's Women's Series title.

        Thanks to the the crew at Tenpin Alley for hosting our Tour for the first time on over six years!  Want in on all the fun and excitement?  Just check out our schedule and come on down to the next JBT event, it's as simple as that!