AZ INVITATIONAL

champs Cortez Schenck, Adel Wahner, and Phillip Sauve

        Three veterans added JBT major titles to their collections, winning their divisions of the 20th annual Arizona Conference Invitational, hosted by Let It Roll Bowl in Phoenix.

        Top seed Nick Devlin rolled to the #1 seed on a very tough pattern, but got beaten up early in the triple elimination matchplay rounds.  He then started an incredible string of survival, partially due to clutch shots and partially due to some unfortunate breaks from his opponents.  He survived against Harley Sweigart, Russ Oviatt, and Joe Grondin to be the last bowler standing to face Cortez Schenck, who had gone through all rounds with only one loss.  Needing to put together two wins against Schenck to steal the title away, Devlin came up with the 2nd high game of the day in a 269-237 win.  Unfortunately for Nick, the luck ran out there, as Cortez won the deciding game convincingly, good for the 77th title of his amazing JBT career.

        In the handicap division, it was good to be a Sauve, as younger brother Mark led the qualifying round, and both he and older brother Phillip made it to the final four of matchplay.  In that round, Phillip eliminated Samantha Potter, while nine year-old Avery Domaguin eliminated Mark, setting up a situation where she'd have to beat Phillip twice for the title.  Sauve had been snakebit in many recent finals, but he was not about to let that happen this time, rolling a big game to defeat Domaguin and claim the $1,000 top prize and second career JBT title, both of which are majors (YNMO, 2015). 

        Amanda Atkin and Adel Wahner played for the Girls Invitational title, which was no surprise as they were familiar foes in a competitive AZ race.  Amanda, who bowled so well she would have qualified #6 in the scratch division, couldn't keep up the same pace in the title match, and Adel rolled to the Invite title and $200 bonus, while Atkin earned $100, courtesy of fantastic sponsor Valley Crest Landscaping, who also made a big donation to the day's raffle and prize fund.

        Thanks to everyone at Let It Roll for another great job hosting our Tour.  Want in on the most fun and excitement in youth bowling?  Just check out our new schedule and join us all summer long!