MOJAVE INVITATIONAL

champs Cortez Schenck, Adel Wahner, and Jopfel Gafate

        Three JBT veterans added a major to their collections, capturing titles at the 2016 JBT Mojave Conference Invitational, hosted by Gold Coast Lanes in Las Vegas.

        After five games of qualifying on two different lane patterns, bowlers competed in triple elimination matchplay, and Cortez Schenck jumped out to a 4-0 start before TJ Rock gave him his first loss.  Top seed Wesley Low also cruised through matchplay, going 6-1 to start.  In round eight, Rock stayed alive by giving Low his second loss, and Cortez defeated early leader Jerod Walker, leaving three bowlers and giving Rock a valuable bye, letting him watch as Schenck eliminated Low setting up a one game title match rematch.

        TJ's breakthrough performance was halted in the title match, as Cortez was able to pull out the win, good for his 76th career JBT title and $1,000 top prize, while Rock pocketed $500 for second.

        Handicap division top seed Tim Hill struggled in matchplay, surviving to his round 5 bye but bowling out in round six.  Marguerite Evans had the opposite result, going 6-0 from the #11 seed before Sam Espiritu handed her her first loss.  By round nine, only four players remained, all with two losses, setting up a two round, single elimination bracket.  In one match, Jopfel Gafate stopped 9 year-old Avery Domaguin's excellent run, while Evans eliminated Espiritu in a rematch, but the third place points were just enough for Sam to squeeze by Samantha Conti for Mojave handicap Bowler of the Year. 

        In the resulting title match between Evans and Gafate, Jopfel, the man with the fan, had the better plan, as he defeated Evans for the title, and the $1,000 top prize.

        Adel Wahner consolidated her girls all-conference Bowler of the Year bid by leading Girls Invitational qualifying, then defeating #2 seed Rachel Csanyi for the $200 bonus as Invite champ.

        Thanks as always to the team at Gold Coast for hosting our Tour.  Want in on all this fun, excitement, and big bucks for all ages?  Just check out our schedule and come on down!