ARIZONA INVITATIONAL

champs & finalists

            Daryus Alo and Aiden Crabtree each earned $1,000 scholarships as champions of the 29th annual JBT Arizona Conference Invitational Tournament, hosted by Let It Roll in Phoenix.

            Bowlers earned their spots here through season-long performance, then rolled five qualifying games on a very challenging pattern, with the top 16 advancing to dramatic triple-elimination matchplay.  Gage Baker (son of PBA all-timer Mark) was brilliant in the scratch division, averaging nearly 220 to grab the #1 spot, but quickly went 0-2.  Meanwhile, Alos (#2 Daryus and #7 Gyrus), and Harnits (#13 Nick and #16 Nate) got through to the final six. So did Baker though, making a great comeback and eliminating Nick in round seven.  Nate also bowed out in that round to #3 Christian Ortega, while Daryus handed Gyrus his second loss.  Ortega then ousted Gyrus, earning himself a huge bye in the process.  In the penultimate round, Daryus blasted 279, by far the high game of the day, to eliminate Baker in third.  That only left Ortega, and Alo continued to be unstoppable, winning the last match and the Invite, the 7th title of the talented Las Vegan's JBT career. 

            In handicap, Tucson's Aiden Crabtree continued his hot second half of the season by grabbing the #1 seed, then cruising through seven rounds of matchplay with only one loss.  He kept it going in round eight, eliminating #2 Garrett Huizar.  Simultaneously, 7 year-old Harvey Howe continued to wow bowlers and families alike by eliminating #6 Abi Hunt, leaving a scenario where Harvey now had to beat Aiden twice to swipe away the title.  He was more than up to the task in game one, rolling the back four strikes to easily get past Aiden.  Crabtree was able to regroup wonderfully in the deciding game though, coming back to win the match and the Invitational title, adding another $1,000 to his JBT earnings.

               In the Girls Scratch portion of the Invite, Hunt won her first girls title and $200 bonus with a win over dominant All-Conference girls point leader Kendall Bollea.  In U17, Baker and Ortega didn’t meet in matchplay so had to play after the final, and in a casual but very well bowled match, 14 year-old Ortega completed a great rookie scratch season with a win over Gage.

               Baker’s third place finish was just enough to edge JR Barczyszyn and Nathan Harnit for the scratch division Bowler of the Year honor, while Jeffrey Crowley held his lead over Andrew Lynnes for handicap B.O.Y.  Jason Gootzeit stayed ahead of Baker for U17 Bowler of the Year, while Girls Scratch honors went to Bollea, who won 7 of her 13 Girls Scratch titles this season in AZ events.

               Huge thanks to the Let It Roll team for always being great hosts, as well as all of our other hosts and sponsors that made for another fantastic season.  Top season-long point scorers now advance to the Touring Players Championship this July, where they’ll take on the all-stars from all other JBT Conferences for our most prestigious title!

JBT 2025 INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENTS

$25,000 in scholarships

MINIMUM GUARANTEED!

Mojave: June 1, 9:30 AM, at Strike Zone

So Cal: June 8, 9:30 AM, at Winnetka Bowl

Mountain: June 15, 9:30 AM, Silva Lanes

Pac NW: June 22, 9:30 AM, at Triangle Bowl

Arizona: June 28, 11 AM, at Let It Roll   (T of C/ non-C Sunday 6/29)

ENTRY FEE: $60

Includes all scholarships except $2 scholarship brackets in both divisions

Eligibility:

Each event is open to anyone making TWO top-5 finishes in that Conference this season,

OR the top 40 in season-long points in that Conference after the last regular season event 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 bowl 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- $125

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!!!