HOLIDAY / LEISURE 2-HOUSE EVENT

champs Cortez Schenck & Nathan Tran

        Demanding conditions in two different centers weren't enough to beat down Cortez Schenck and Nathan Tran, as they captured JBT titles in a unique two-house event at Holiday Bowl and Leisure Bowl, in exciting New Mexico-Texas Conference action.

        After five qualifying games on the tough 'Montreal' pattern at Leisure, semifinalists moved across the street to Holiday for the rest of the event.  Zach Martinez opened the scratch division finals with a 186-179 grindout win over previous day's champ William Yoder.  Martinez then beat early-event leader Braxton Williams 221-148, and followed with a 191-182 win over Sara Vargas to move on to the title match.

        Martinez, who hadn't won since a doubleheader sweep at Cliff Castle back in 2010, hitched a ride from Arizona to the tournament with top seed Cortez Schenck, who despite his usual excellent results, hadn't won a regular season singles title since Isleta in May.  The match came down to the final frame, and when Martinez couldn't get the first strike in the tenth frame, Schenck locked up a 203-202 win, and the 19th title of his still extremely young JBT career.

        Allie May, recovered from an injury that sidelined her for the summer, opened the handicap division stepladder with a 252-211 win over Nicole Pinge.  Tran then completely took over, blowing out May 257-186, and following with a huge 264-220 win over California bowler Shauna Schultz to reach the title game.

        Top seed Kelly McNeil has had steady results in her career, but still was looking for her first singles title (she does have a Doubles win).  However, she faced a runaway 'Tran' in Nathan, who kept the strikes going in a 218-193 win, good for his first career JBT title.

        Vargas topped off her excellent weekend with a 170-168 squeaker win over Adel Wahner to sweep the weekend's Women's Series events, in addition to her back to back top 5s in the regular scratch division.

        Thanks to the great folks at both Leisure and Holiday for their cooperation in making the unique two-house format a smooth success.  Over $1,100 in scholarships were earned- want your piece of the fun?  Check out our schedule and come on down, that's all you have to do!