PAC NW INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

champs Jacob Mullen & Evan Smith with Tyler Coates and Reagan Lorey

        Jacob Mullen and Evan Smith earned $1,000 scholarship prizes as champions of the 2018 JBT Pacific Northwest Conference Invitational tournament, held at Narrows Plaza Bowl in Tacoma.

        Mullen, on a mission to catch Makana Wong for Bowler of the Year, easily nabbed the top seed after five games on a very challenging pattern for triple elimination matchplay.  The matchplay rounds went just as well, going 6-1 in the first seven round, including handing #3 Tyler Coates his first loss.  In the bext round Coates earned a bye, while Jeremy Holman was eliminated by AJ Schock, and Mullen gave Hunter Bower loss #2.  Now with four left, Coates eliminated Bower and Mullen eliminated Schock, setting up a best of 3 match between Mullen and Coates, the winners of last season's scratch and handicap Invites respectively, for the title.

       Jacob coasted to a win in the first game, but things almost literally fell apart for him when his thumb split early in the next game, while Coates got off to a hot start.  However, Mullen was able to recover his game, and Coates struggled in the second half of his, allowing Jacob to come back and win the game and the title.  It was the 9th of his career, and the points that come with it allowed him to jump over Wong and capture the coveted Bowler of the Year honor.

        Cosmo Castellano and Kaylee Wilson bowled great in qualifying to grab the top two seeds for matchplay, but struggled in that round, both bowing out by round four.   #3 and #4 got to the final six though, with #4 Evan Smith eliminating Silas Le Blanc, and #3 Dawson Reese falling to #8 Paul Lemay, joining #9 Ryan Smerud in the final three.  Smith ousted Smerud in the next round, setting up a best two of three between Smith, the 2016 TPC champ, and Lemay, already enjoying his best ever finish, for the title.

        The next two games were all Evan, as she ground out the marks on the tough pattern to comfortably win the match and the title, second major, and another $1,000 windfall.

        Smith was in the Priority Girls Invitational title match as well, but Regan Lorey continued her season long dominance with a win there, earning $200 and consolidating a Bowler of the Year season in that subdvision.  In an entertaining match that was as much about blowing off steam after the tense scratch final, Coates defeated Isaac Mailkoff to win the U17 Invitational, boosting his winnings to $700 on the day.

        Thanks to the team at Narrows Plaza for a great hosting job!  The top 20 point scorers now move on to the TPC in Vegas, where they will compete against the JBT's best for over $20,000 in scholarships!        

$20,000 in scholarships

MINIMUM GUARANTEED!

NM-TX: May 20, 9:30 AM, at Silva Lanes

Mojave: June 10, 9:30 AM, at South Point Plaza

Pac NW: June 24, 9:30 AM, at Narrows Plaza

Arizona: June 17, 9:30 AM, at Brunswick Mesa

So Cal: July 1, 9:30 AM, at Mira Mesa

ENTRY FEE: $50 scratch, $40 handicap

 Includes all scholarships except $2 scholarship brackets in both divisions

Eligibility:

Each event is open to anyone making a top-5 finish in that Conference this season, OR the top 10 in the final regular season event in that Conference, OR the top 32 in season-long points in that Conference

Format:

-QUALIFYING: Bowl 5 games across 10 lanes.   The top eleven 5-game totals, plus the top 5 season-long point scorers, advance to the triple-elimination finals!  (If a top-5 player does not show or chooses to bowl in the opposite division, additional bowlers will be taken to complete a 16-player field)

-FINALS: Bowlers will play TRIPLE elimination match play (keep bowling until you lose 3 times), until a winner is determined

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GUARANTEED PRIZE FUNDS, each event:

1^st-$1,000

2^nd- $500

3^rd- $250

4^th- $150

5^th- $100

Additional spots earn scholarships on a 1:6 ratio

PLUS The top 5 point scorers going into each Invite will have Invite winnings augmented to $50 minimum

ALL OTHER JBT RULES APPLY. SEE YOU THERE, DON’T MISS IT!!!