GOLD COAST LANES

champions Matt O'Grady & Ryan Howard

Matt O'Grady completed a west-coast swing of domination, while Ryan Howard claimed victory in his rookie campaign, in exciting JBT SW action at Gold Coast Bowling Center.

The scratch division finals began with a pair of veteran Arizonans going at it, as 4-time winner Christian Jensen got the best of the JBT SW's all-time best, defeating Steven Black by a 248-213 margin.  

In round two, Brandon Allred, currently second in Mojave points, defeated Jensen 224-204.  Allred then fell to second seed Nathan Panaligan, who in addition to the points lead has dominated every Mojave statistical category this year, 213-206, to advance to the title match.

Top seed Matt O'Grady, an east-coast JBT superstar, was completing a three-tournament JBT SW swing which already saw him win in Kingman and finish eighth at the Main Event.  He led this event easily as well, firing all eight games over 220.  Matt left no doubt in the title match either, as he got off to a fast start while Nathan stumbled.  The end result was a 279-167 whooping of Panaligan, good for his 2nd JBT SW title, and 32nd career JBT title overall.

The handicap division stepladder opened with Joshua Ferrer, brother of 2005 Mojave Invitational champ Jordan, defeating Josh Chefalo 218-166.  In round two, newcomer Nathan Almoina took care of Ferrer 176-135.  In a close semifinal match, Krysta Nadeau defeated Almoina 210-201 to advance to the finale.

Top seeded Ryan Howard averaged over 210 in his JBT SW debut to nab the top seed in a high scoring day.  He found himself in a battle against the tenacious Nadeau, however, with both bowlers rolling fine games. In the end, Howard had just enough left for a 230-223 win over Nadeau, good for his first career JBT SW title.

Everyone who finished in the top 5 qualifies for the 2006 JBT SW Mojave Invitational Tournament, the regular season's year end event, featuring a guaranteed minimum $1,000 first place scholarship in each division.  Top season-long point scorers also qualify for the 2006 JBT SW Touring Players' Championship, featuring a guaranteed minimum $2,000 first place scholarship per division! 

Thanks to everyone at Gold Coast for hosting this great event. 84 entrants shared in over $1,900 in scholarships awarded.  Please continue to help spread the word about the terrific benefits of bowling JBT SW events!