PAC NW INVITATIONAL

Liam Hardman, Andrew Guba, Piper Chalmers, Austin Thompson, Dylan Lucas

        Andrew Guba and Austin Thompson each earned $1,000 scholarships as champions of the 2023 JBT Pacific Northwest Conference Invitational Tournament, hosted by Longview's historic Triangle Bowl.

        After five qualifying games, sixteen bowlers in scratch and handicap advanced to thrilling triple-elimination matchplay.  In the scratch division, Nevada's Andrew Guba continued one of the hottest streaks we've seen in quite some time, knocking off one talented bowler after another, staying undefeated through eight rounds.  After Guba eliminated Mary Sicard and Liam Hardman eliminated Mac Kaurin, it left only Liam with two losses and the unenviable task of having to beat Andrew three times in a row to take away the title.  Game one was on a pair he said he didn't like but Hardman blasted 255 to finally give Guba a loss, but Andrew wasn't about to let it happen again, winning the second game and capturing the title.  After starting the season as a one-time champion, Guba wins his second Invitational of the season, tenth title of the season, and 11th of his now stellar JBT career- wow!

        Handicap division top qualifiers struggled in matchplay, as #1 seed Benjamin Lang and #2 Sawyer Jones bowed out early, leaving the field wide open, and #4 Thompson took advantage, getting through four round undefeated before losing to #8 Lucas Lyle.  After seven rounds the field was narrowed to four, and in round eight #3 Dylan Lucas eliminated Lyle, and Thompson eliminated #11 Annabelle Chui, setting up a scenario where Lucas had to beat Thompson twice to win the title, in a rematch of the West Seattle final.  Dylan was up to the challenge in game one, but Thompson rebounded with a 199 scratch next game, plenty to win the match and take the title, the second of the season and his career.

        Piper Chalmers beat Mary Sicard for the Girls Scratch Invite win and weep the weekend, but it wasn't enough to overcome Mary's points lead for Bowler of the Year.   Harry Davis not only qualified first for matchplay, but he also beat Bud Sicard for the U17 title, a $200 bonus scholarship.  Bud had already long since wrapped up Bowler of the Year in both scratch and U17 in an excellent season.  Eddie Strange edged a pack of other bowlers (including Thompson) for handicap Bowler of the Year honors.

        Giant thanks to the team at Triangle for hosting a fantastic weekend which awarded over $9,000 in scholarships to all ages and skill levels.  Want in on all this fun and action?  Season 28 starts in August- check out our schedule and come on down!

Date: Sunday June 11, 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 Pac NW Invitational is open to anyone who EITHER had a top-4 finish in a Pac NW Conference event this season, OR the top 32 in the Pac NW Conference points standings after the last regular season Pac NW Conference event (the day before at Triangle).  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 Pac NW and All-Conference points.  After the Invitational, the top 20 in the final Pac NW 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!