HOLIDAY BOWL

champs Cortez Schenck, Adel Wahner, and Donius Jeffries II

        Cortez Schenck ended a protracted title drought, while Donius Jeffries II made it II titles in his career, in JBT New Mexico-Texas Conference action at Holiday Bowl.

        Bowlers competed in the dramatic pick-your-poison format, where higher seeds chose who they wanted to bowl in matchplay.  Vanessa Romero made her first scratch cut an even bigger success by downing top seed Angel Ortega in the quarterfinals, but fell to Schenck in the semifinals 215-194.  In the other semifinal, defending Bowler of the Year William Yoder downed previous day's champ Stefan Wood 227-207 to also reach the title match.

        The finale had the credentials to be a high-octane thriller, and it didn't disappoint one bit, as both bowlers were locked in on the title pair.  A late solid-8 from Schenck gave Yoder a glimpse of a chance, but Cortez quickly closed that opening with five in a row to close out a 258-248 win in a terrific match between the two talents.  It's Schenck's first win of the season after six tries, first since May 3 in El Paso, and the 55th overall of his amazing JBT career.

       Aileen Linares bowled brilliantly to lead handicap qualifying, but matchplay can be cruel, and Josie Herson was poisonous to Aileen, as she eliminated her in round one.  Herson fell in the next round to Jacob Lucero who made it back to back top-5 finishes to open up the season by reaching the semifinal round, but he fell there 189-192 to Jeffries.  In the other semi, Justin Hackney beat Katie McNeil 235-196 to advance to the title match.

        Justin and Donius are league teammates, which can sometimes lead to awkward matches, but not this time, as both finalists bowled very well in the title game.  In the end, Jeffries' tenth frame spare was good enough to escape with a 232-226 win, and the second title of his JBT career.

        Adel Wahner made it two for two on the new season, defeating Vanessa Romero 214-188 to win the day's Women's Series event.  Matteo Bergonzi almost became the first PowerBowl champ of the new season, settling for a $50 win on the last shot.

        Thanks as always to the terrific Holiday Bowl team for hosting our Tour.  Want in on all the fun and excitement?  Just come on down to teh next JBT event, that's all there is to it!