SO CAL INVITATIONAL at WINNETKA BOWL

champs and finalists; click to enlarge

        Michael Marmolejo and Ezekiel De Guzman each earned $1,000 scholarships as champions of the 2023 JBT So Cal Invitational, hosted by Winnetka Bowl.

        After qualifying, sixteen finalists advanced to triple elimination matchplay, headed in scratch by top qualifier Tyler Castronova.  Tyler hung on through seven rounds of matchplay, before bowing out to Daniel Hong in that round.  That left five bowlers all with two losses who went in a merry go round for the remainder of the event, with an elimination and a bye created each round, with Hong, Andrew Guba, and Mac Kaurin bowing out in that order.  That left Marmolejo and Josh Abigania.  Michael has had notoriously bad luck in his JBT finals, while Abigania is one of the hottest bowlers on tour.  This time, though, Marmolejo left nothing to chance, starting with an early string on the demanding lane pattern, and not giving Josh a chance to catch up, earning the Invite win, his third career JBT title and first major.

        #2 seed Max Torres got hot in handicap matchplay, getting through seven rounds undefeated, including eliminating #14 Neel Kankariya in that round.  In the same round, #1 De Guzman eliminated #10 Seth Le, creating a three-bowler rotation between him, Max, and #6 Andrew Sanchez that lasted three more games, until Sanchez finally eliminated Torres, leaving him and De Guzman to play one last game for the title.  All Ezekiel did was come up with his second best game of the day to win the Invite for his first career JBT title and $1,000 scholarship windfall.

        Castronova's fine day continued with a win over Katelyn Abigania for the U17 title and $200 top prize in that subdivision.  In Girls Scratch, Katelyn faced off against Lindsay Greim for the second straight day, and after a one pin win yesterday, they tied today at 190, with Abigania winning the rolloff for the title to cap off a Bowler of the Year season.   Elias O'Hollaren earned Bowler of the Year in both scratch and U!7, while Ethan Chambers held off a pack of bowlers for handicap B.O.Y. honors.

        Huge thanks to the team at Winnetka for their usual great hosting job.  Over $9,000 in scholarships was awarded over the weekend to all ages and skill levels.  The top 20 move on to the TPC, and for everyone the new season starts in August- check out our schedule and come on down!

Date: Sunday June 4, 2023  (This is ONE tournament that is one day long, open only to those who qualified for it based on their performance this season (see below). 

Start Time: Bowling begins at 9:30 AM.

Re-entries?:  There's only one qualifying squad, so there are no re-entries this event..

Reservations:  Please email director@bowljbt.com to reserve a spot.  The tournament will not sell out- if you qualified, we will have room for you, but please still email us so we can plan an efficient event.   You can prepay (not required) at the 'Prepaying' section of this website. 

Eligibility: The So Cal Invitational is open to anyone who EITHER had a top-4 finish in a So Cal Conference event this season, OR the top 32 in the So Cal Conference points standings after the last regular season So Cal Conference event (the day before at Winnetka).  Also, simultaneous with the main Invitational are the Girls Scratch and U17 Invitationals;  (it is possible you may qualify for only the Girls and/or U17 Invites but not the main Invite; in that case you still bowl the qualifying round but cannot make the main Invite cut).   Visit the 'statistics' section of the website to check on your points.

Format: Qualifying round is 5 games.  The top 5 season-long point scorers earn a bye into the finals (but are still playing for their seeding within the finals). The bext 11 bowlers also qualify for the finals, so 16 total bowlers.  Finals are triple elimination matchplay- keep bowling until you lose three times, which will eventually leave only one bowler- the champion- standing.

Divisions/ Averages:  Scratch or handicap.  It is the bowlers' choice of division, regardless of which division you bowled in to qualify for this event.

Points:  This event counts for TRIPLE So Cal and All-Conference points.  After the Invitational, the top 20 in the final So Cal Conference points standings advance to the Touring Players Championship, July 27-30 in Las Vegas, with $2,500 first place scholarships.   Visit the 'statistics' section of the website to check on your points.

Entry fee: $60.  Scholarship brackets are available for $2 each.  Raffle tickets for Ebonite bowling balls, and our PowerBowl and '27' jackpots, are available on-site. 

Sponsor Incentive bonuses:  1) IAM Bowling: Bowlers making the final match of an event (scratch or handicap) wearing an IAM patch (good), any IAM shirt (better), or an IAM JBT shirt (best) earn point bonuses towards a $5,000 IAM incentive jackpot.  (The IAM patch is requested to be worn by all bowlers).   2) Virtue Bowling: Bowlers making the final match of an event (scratch or handicap, win or lose), using a Virtue Bowling shirt or patch, and a Virtue drilled ball, earn a $25 Virtue gift card.  

Scholarships: 1:6 in each division earn scholarships, scratch and handicap.  Minimum prizes are $1,000, $500, $250, $125, $100.  The top 5 in points heading into the event earn a minimum $60 scholarship regardless of finish in the event.

Lane conditions: conditions vary from event to event, and are not posted prior to the event (unless otherwise announced).  Some events do not post the pattern until after qualifying.  Be ready for anything- it makes you a better bowler!  Check out previous patterns and corresponding cut scores at the 'lane conditions' section of this website.

Dress code:  Anything goes EXCEPT tank tops, gym shorts, clothing promoting alcohol, drugs, or firearms, or excessively ripped or short clothing, subject solely to the director's discretion.  However, bowlers wearing slacks or dress shorts/skirts, and a 'name shirt' or PBA-style 'dye-sub' shirt, or college or high school team shirt, earn an extra 10 points on their season-long points total.  If you're not sure about dress code, check with us.  If you're new to us, the vast majority of the bowlers do dress in the 'bonus' dress code, and those points become very important, so plan accordingly.

We hope you qualify for this prestigious event- do not miss it if you do!