WESTERN BOWL

champions Justin DeDera and Jessica Palma

Two New Mexicans found the Texas panhandle very much to their liking, capturing titles in exciting JBT SW action in our first visit to Western Bowl in Amarillo.

The scratch division stepladder finals opened with Geoffrey Young, the previous day's champion, defeating Sam Cuevas, the bowler Young beat for that title, by a 245-215 score.  Cuevas had also rolled the event's only 300 game, his second of the season, earlier in the day.

The finals the rest of the way was as close as it could possible be.  In match two, Bill Grant went double-9 in the tenth frame, forcing Young to get all three strikes to tie.  Geoffrey, already working on a double, stepped up and did exactly that to tie the match at 200.  Grant elected to go first in the one-shot rolloff, and struck, but Young was still clutch, striking again to force a second rolloff.  In that rolloff, Grant got a 9-count, and Geoffrey came up with one more strike to win the exhausting match.

After all those strikes, Young fell back down against #2 seed Justni DeDera, finishing out with a 201 game.  Needing only a high count to advance, DeDera's first ball came in very light, leaving a  2-7-8.  He got the two pins he needed of the split to win 202-201 and advance to the title match.

Top seed Zach Barton had snuck into the #1 seed by two pins, and he and DeDera engaged in a tense title match where neither bowler could get a string of strikes going despite many pocket hits.  In the end, Barton finished with 203, forcing DeDera to fill 19 pins to win.  Justin's tenth frame was again shaky, leaving a 2-4-8.  He made the spare again, took a deeeeep breath, and filled the 9 pins on the fill ball, for a breathtaking 204-203 win, and his 6th career JBT SW title.

The handicap division finals opened with Jessica Palma blasting a big 255 game to win round one of the finals over Ashley Belden (199) and Ross Taylor (183).  Miss Palma continued her winning ways in round two, rolling a 217 to just get past fine efforts from Kameron Betts (213) and Jordan Spam (203).  The semifinal match was an all New Mexico affair, and it was Jessica again, converting a 4-7-10 split en route to a 228 game that beat Jeremy Baca's 199 and Justin Silva's 192, advancing her to her second title match of the season.

Top qualifier Chris Fox had led the field by a considerable margin, but Palma had built up a lot of momentum, which she was able to maintain through the title match.  Despite a respectable 196 from Fox, Palma came up with a big 232, climbing the ladder and finally capturing a long-awaited first JBT SW title.

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! 

Thanks to Mr. Randy Webb and everyone at Western for a wonderful first visit to their beautiful center.  71 entrants shared in over $1,800 in scholarships awarded.  Please continue to help spread the word about the terrific benefits of bowling JBT SW events! 

Western Bowl- final results and optional scholarship winners  
3/26/2006        
New Mexico-Texas Conference      
       
Scratch Division      
rank name city, state score prize
1 Justin DeDera Albuquerque, NM p 274 $215
2 Zach Barton Allen, TX p 276 $225
3 Geoffrey Young Denton, TX p 141 $70
4 Bill Grant Rio Rancho, NM p 251 $50
5 Sam Cuevas Lubbock, TX p 221 $65
6 Josh Arceo Albuquerque, NM p 64 $25
7 Andy Byer Albuquerque, NM p 62  
8 Anthony Johnson Amarillo, TX p 62 $10
9 William Entsminger El Paso, TX p 28 $30
10 Chris Davis Amarillo, TX m 5  
11 Kenneth Lezo Amarillo, TX m 8  
12 Christina Waldron Albuquerque, NM m 32 $30
13 Chad Cawthon Amarillo, TX m 3 $10
14 Brian Collier Amarillo, TX m 64  
15 Jerod Florez Bosque Farms, NM m 66  
16 Christopher Yoshimura Lakewood, CO m 71  
17 Jeremy Medina Santa Fe, NM m 101  
18 Dan Romero Santa Fe, NM m 152  
       
Handicap Division      
rank name city, state score prize
1 Jessica Palma Albuquerque, NM p 183 $245
2 Chris Fox Amarillo, TX p 289 $110
3 Justin Silva Albuquerque, NM p 247 $160
4 Jeremy Baca Albuquerque, NM p 226 $60
5 Kameron Betts Amarillo, TX p 218 $92
6 Jordan Spam Rio Rancho, NM p 210 $61
7 Ross Taylor Amarillo, TX p 206 $35
8 Ashley Belden Tijeras, NM p 170 $30
9 Brandon Simmons Amarillo, TX p 163 $30
10 Michael Hinojosa Las Cruces, NM p 143 $15
11 Sonya Taylor Amarillo, TX p 131 $75
12 Doug Cherry Amarillo, TX p 112  
13 Kyla Collier Amarillo, TX p 99  
14 Janeyl Carper Rio Rancho, NM p 93  
15 Jamison Spam Rio Rancho, NM p 83  
16 Nathan Herring Amarillo, TX p 82 $10
17 Sara Vargas Albuquerque, NM p 72  
18 Dillon Bridge El Paso, TX p 62 $30
19 Kaycie Wertz Amarillo, TX p 41 $45
20 Thomas Gutierrez Albuquerque, NM p 34 $15
21 Sabrina Vargas Albuquerque, NM p 32  
22 Mark Mares Los Lunas, NM p 27  
23 Wendy Shelton Albuquerque, NM p 23 $10
24 Kat Swindell Amarillo, TX p 23  
25 Danielle Chrzanowski Amarillo, TX p 11  
26 Kirsten Kelley Amarillo, TX m 9 $15
27 Charlie Elliott Santa Fe, NM m 29 $12
28 Cameran Short Newton, KS p 18  
29 Mike Romero Santa Fe, NM p 18  
30 Alex Ellis Phoenix, AZ p 16  
31 Audra Nagel Amarillo, TX p 16  
32 Forrest Lockhart Lubbock, TX p 13  
33 Jonah Snell Amarillo, TX p 11  
34 JJ Johnson Hobbs, NM p 10  
35 Jeff Tillman Hobbs, NM m 14  
36 Paul Carper Rio Rancho, NM m 16  
37 Jennifer Kurns Amarillo, TX m 17  
38 Susan Kurzeka Albuquerque, NM m 18  
39 Sophie Diaz Santa Fe, NM m 26 $10
40 Tanner Palmer Amarillo, TX m 33  
41 Elizabeth Romero Santa Fe, NM m 35  
42 Sydney Bowerman Amarillo, TX m 43  
43 Rachel Thompson Albuquerque, NM m 44  
44 Joseph Lynch Lubbock, TX m 52 $10
45 Travis Turner Amarillo, TX m 53  
46 Debbie Jarzemba Santa Fe, NM m 53  
47 Christopher Linn Amarillo, TX m 70  
48 Lacey Shelton Albuquerque, NM m 70  
49 Erin Kelley Amarillo, TX m 105  
50 Zachary Barnard Albuquerque, NM m 108  
51 Brady Wertz Amarillo, TX m 115  
52 Tommie Hall McDonald, NM m 118  
53 Jamie Tillman Hobbs, NM m 122  
       
Cuts: scratch -3; handicap +20      
 Ball Winner: William Entsminger (again!)    
       
TOTAL AWARDED THIS EVENT: $1,805