STARLIGHT LANES

champions Justin Medina and Vincent Michel

Justin Medina made history with the best stepladder performance JBT SW has ever seen, while Vincent Michel took a more conventional route to his first JBT title, in exciting action at Starlight Lanes.

The handicap division saw a NM-TX record 72 entries, which were whittled down to 8 for the stepladder finals.  In the opening round of the finals, Ryan Scheer won round one with a 227 that was enough to defeat Paul Carper (221) and Allen Chinana (206). 

Round two saw a hard fought battle that Charlie Elliott led, with his 226 proving to be a winning score over Kara Casaus' 212 and Scheer's 190.  Michel took over in the semifinals, rolling a big 259 to oust Aaron Winchester, who rolled a very nice 234, and Elliott, who struggled to a 173.

Michel had a tough task against top-seed Jessica Palma, who had easily the best day of her JBT SW career, leading after all eight rounds.  However, the title match proved to be a struggle, with neither bowler taking charge early.  A late double by Vincent seemed to lock it up for him, but a short count in the tenth frame allowed Palma a last chance to double for the win.  Jessica's first shot was perfect, but the second came up high, and the result was a 197-195 win for Michel, good for the first title of his JBT SW career.

It was a high  scoring event in the scratch division, highlighted by a career day from Justin DeDera, who blasted a 300 game in qualifying, the first of his JBT SW career.  His +216 5-game and +412 8-game totals were high in the Conference this season, easily grabbing the top seed.

Before the title match, Bill Grant opened the stepladder with a 201-162 win over Shane Peck, who has now qualified for his third Invitational already.  Andy Byer then defeated Grant 233-208, advancing to face Justin Medina-- advancing to face Pete Weber after a bad night's sleep may have been easier.

Medina, a NM-TX Conference veteran still searching for his first JBT title, started aggressively against Byer and never looked back, stringing the front nine and turning Byer into an unlucky By-stand-er.  The large crowd then became silent as Medina struck in the 10th, tripped a 4-pin in the 11th, and threw a perfect 12th ball, and the place went nuts for the second perfect 300 game ever rolled in a JBT SW stepladder finals.  We know that 300 games aren't the rarity they used to be in the bowling world at large, but this one had all the spine-tingling excitement of 300s of the past- congratulations Justin!

Medina then had to gather himself to face DeDera- I guess it was a big day for Justins in the scratch division.  Not only did he gather himself, it looked as if he may do it again!  In the end, a sixth-frame 8-count was all that separated Medina from perfection AGAIN, as he blasted DeDera 278-206 for the win.  The 578 2-game finals performance is easily the highest two-game stepladder performance in our 320+ tournament history.

  Everyone who finished in the top 5 qualifies for the 2006 JBT SW NM-TX 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! 

  Big thanks to Margaret, Jerry, Gary, and the staff of Starlight Lanes for a terrific job hosting our event, which awarded $1,674 in scholarships.

Starlight Lanes (Sat.)- final results and optional scholarship winners
10/29/2005        
New Mexico-Texas Conference      
       
Scratch Division      
rank name city, state score prize
1 Justin Medina Santa Fe, NM p 306 $215
2 Justin DeDera Albuquerque, NM p 412 $151
3 Andy Byer Albuquerque, NM p 281 $101
4 Bill Grant Rio Rancho, NM p 156 $56
5 Shane Peck Riverside, CA p 135 $95
6 Stephen Gaucin El Paso, TX p 120 $11
7 Jeremy Medina Santa Fe, NM p 119 $11
8 William Entsminger El Paso, TX m 54  
9 Jerod Florez Bosque Farms, NM p 24  
10 Tom Anderson Chandler, AZ p 22  
11 Sam Cuevas Lubbock, TX  m 4  
12 Philip Stephens Phoenix, AZ m 20  
13 Dan Romero Santa Fe, NM m 75  
14 Josh Brown Albuquerque, NM m 124  
15 Christina Waldron Albuquerque, NM m 169  
16 Ashley Dale Albuquerque, NM m 177  
       
       
Handicap Division      
rank name city, state score prize
1 Vincent Michel Albuquerque, NM p 215 $215
2 Jessica Palma Albuquerque, NM p 239 $160
3 Aaron Winchester Santa Fe, NM p 215 $75
4 Charlie Elliott Santa Fe, NM p 139 $110
5 Kara Casuas Roswell, NM p 126 $50
6 Ryan Scheer Rio Rancho, NM p 116 $64
7 Allen Chinana Jemez Pueblo, NM p 119  
8 Paul Carper Rio Rancho, NM p 106 $89
9 Blake Brown Albuquerque, NM p 97  
10 Raymond Chinana Jemez Pueblo, NM p 94  
11 Melanie Shelton Albuquerque, NM p 83  
12 Jordan Oppenheim Rio Rancho, NM p 78 $20
13 Michael Valdez Santa Fe, NM p 73  
14 Ashley Belden Tijeras, NM p 72 $35
15 Kyla Casuas Roswell, NM p 72 $15
16 Julian Ortega Roswell, NM p 70  
17 Nathan Hughes San Jose, NM p 63  
18 Cameron Peck Riverside, CA p 62 $75
19 Vincent Tosa Jemez Pueblo, NM p 38  
20 Jacob Gill Albuquerque, NM p 36  
21 Taylor Cruz Santa Fe, NM p 36 $30
22 Krista Casaus Roswell, NM p 36  
23 Camille Martinez Santa Fe, NM p 35  
24 Justin White Phoenix, AZ p 28 $45
25 Sabrina Vargas Albuquerque, NM p 26  
26 Michale Hinojosa Las Cruces, NM p 24  
27 Debbie Jarzemba Albuquerque, NM p 22  
28 Brittany McComb Albuquerque, NM p 22  
29 Rachel Thompson Albuquerque, NM p 17  
30 Tanner Palmer Amarillo, TX p 16  
31 Justin Roach Albuquerque, NM p 3  
32 Jeremy Baca Los Lunas, NM m 2 $14
33 Olivia Silva Albuquerque, NM m 8  
34 James Scott Roswell, NM m 26  
35 Brooke Scarberry Roswell, NM m 63  
36 Jeremy Elder Rio Rancho, NM m 72  
37 Audrey Martinez Albuquerque, NM p 56  
38 Brandon Dye Roswell, NM m 4  
39 Alex Powell Phoenix, AZ m 5  
40 Brad Johnson Albuquerque, NM m 6  
41 Mariah Martinez Albuquerque, NM m 10  
42 Seth Jaramillo Albuquerque, NM m 15  
43 Donald Guariello Santa Fe, NM m 16  
44 Mike Romero Santa Fe, NM m 16  
45 Maisie Martinez Albuquerque, NM m 17  
46 Brianna Jaramillo Albuquerque, NM m 21  
47 Eric Kear Albuquerque, NM m 22  
48 Travis Gudel Albuquerque, NM m 23 $21
49 Mark Mares Los Lunas, NM m 26  
50 Kendall Kipp Albuquerque, NM m 28 $21
51 Jamison Spam Rio Rancho, NM m 29  
52 Tad Scott Roswell, NM m 29  
53 Jesse Henson Hobbs, NM m 32  
54 Zachary Barnard Albuquerque, NM m 33  
55 Santiago Withers Albuquerque, NM m 35  
56 Elizabeth Romero Santa Fe, NM m 41  
57 Austin Mansfield Albuquerque, NM m 41  
58 Kylee Kipp Albuquerque, NM m 43  
59 Sara Vargas Albuquerque, NM m 43  
60 Cody Mansfield Albuquerque, NM m 52  
61 Eric Sanford Las Cruces, NM m 68  
62 Lacey Shelton Albuquerque, NM m 77  
63 Juan Romero Albuquerque, NM m 80  
64 Brenda Salgado Espanola, NM m 80  
65 John Perea Santa Fe, NM m 83  
66 Heaven Pajala Albuquerque, NM m 84  
67 Kassi Johnson-Willis Roswell, NM m 84  
68 Susan Kurzeka Albuquerque, NM m 108  
69 Janeyl Carper Rio Rancho, NM m 115  
70 Tony Garcia Santa Fe, NM m 125  
71 Diaz, Sophie Santa Fe, NM m 148  
72 Justin Silva Albuquerque, NM m 164  
       
High Female: Waldron 831      
Cuts: scratch +25; handicap -1      
Storm Ball Winner: Susan Kurzeka    
Jr. Gold Qualifier: none      
       
TOTAL AWARDED THIS EVENT: $1,674