FOUNTAIN BOWL

champs Joe Grondin & Jacob Murray

            Joe Grondin and Jacob Murray earned JBT titles in a great day of So Cal Conference fun and action at Foutain Bowl.

            Michael Ma opened the handicap division stepladder finals with the closest of wins, throwing all three strikes in the tenth frame for a 208-207 win over Tre Mitchell.  Ma rolled on with a 236-190 win over Dawson Reese.  Ryan Galland then threw a big game to stop Ma 269-206 and advance to the title match.

            Top qualifier Jake Murray is from San Diego, not State Farm as his shirt suggests, but he ensured himself at least a second place finish by running away with the tournament for the #1 seed.  He left no doubt in the title match either, defeating a tiring Galland 252-152 for the first title of his JBT career.

        The scratch division enjoyed the debut of our 'tennis' format, where finalists played a series of one-frame rolloffs, scored just like a game of tennis.  Tied rolloffs began 'rallies', making every single shot pivotal to a bowler's score.  Oscar Chan won the first game against Brandon Wanders after Wanders made a nice comeback from 15-40.  Grondin then stepped in and proved to be as tough as they come, as every time his opponent struck, he would answer with a strike of his own, then putting points away with his own clutch shots.  He defeated Chan at love, frustrating him at every chance.  Wesley Low then took him to deuce, but Grondin kept answering the call and put him away from there.

        The title match west best-of-3 games, and after Grondin won the first game, top seed Kyle Duster put on a gritty performance to tie it up.  The tiebreaker game was intense, as Grondin was so far left he was running out of boards to move to, while Kyle, um, skirted along the edge of defeat but hung in there.  Finally, at 40-30, Joe put the match away, earning the second title of his JBT career.

        Ashley Dunn and Renee Gentry put on a clinic in the Women's Series title match, with Dunn coming up with a 244-224 win in a rematch from the Mira Mesa girl's title match.

        Want in on the most unique and exciting fun around?  Just check out our schedule and come on down!