PAC NW INVITATIONAL  

champs Todd Hopfner & Travis McAllister

Entrants in each division bowled a six-game qualifier, with the top 16 advancing to two-game total pinfall single elimination matches.  Hopfner absolutely dominated the high-scoring field, averaging just shy of 250 in qualifying to earn the top spot, gaining a two-round bye in matchplay.  In round one, #16 Jon Homiak upset #9  Cody Stone 420-415, #11 Jordan Plunkett got by #14 Kirk Williams 491-427, #15 Nick Amrein upended #10 Kevin Nagasawa 453-350, and #12 Catherine Rawsthorne beat #13 Daniel Carroll 372-364.

In round two, Homiak rolled a huge 523 two-game set to beat Tyler Cruz, Plunkett benefitted from a 10th-frame implosion from Cameron Weier to advance 468-437, Matt West doubled in the tenth to beat Amrein 397-394, and Dean Richards eliminated Rawsthorne 404-330.

In the third round, the top four seeds came in and three of the four advanced.  Hopfner ended Homiak's fine run 421-391, #2 Jake Klemsen defeated West 441-385, #3 Matt Kemper was upset by Plunkett 471-439, and last but far from least, #4 Rob Edwards used his second 299 game of the day to help oust Richards (a 258 first game didn't hurt either), 557-406.

In single-game final four matches, Hopfner eliminated Plunkett 221-195, while Edwards, in a battle that may prove crucial in the Bowler of the Year race, Edwards beat Klemsen 243-215, to set up a terrific title match.

On paper, the title match should have been all about Edwards, who already has won twice this season and led the points chase, but Hopfner, who hadn't made a top-5 finish at all this season, showed absolutely no flaws in a brilliantly bowled title game.  In the end, Todd's 242-201 win was good fir his first career JBT title and a cool $1,000 scholarship.

The handicap division was also filled with its share of exciting action.  In round one of the matchplay finals, #14 Patrick Hickok threw 268 and 256 scratch games to overwhelm #11 Clayton Bult 530-385.  In other matches, #12 Ryan Laird defeated #13 Sam Burns 440-400, and #10 McAllister got by #15 Zach Hemming 485-328.

In round two, all four lower seeds advanced, with #9 James Nagasawa ousting Justin David 473-445, McAllister sneaking by Brett Hall 464-453, Laird defeating Malachi Kahr 491-382, and Hickok still striking in a 461-388 win over Megan Page.

Round three brought in the top four seeds, and they fared a little better with two wins.  Top seed Brandon Nylund ousted Nagasawa 491-382, and #4 Matt Matias beat Laird 465-396.  However, #3 Thomas Nylund fell to Hickock 430-382, and McAllister remained on a roll, beating #2 Kyle Frederick 500-459.  However, nobody felt too badly for Kyle, who earlier in the day won our incredible PowerBowl progressive jackpot, capturing a $2,500 scholarship!!!

In one-game final four matches, Nylund finally stopped Hickok 216-168, while McAllister got by Matias 216-204, setting up a terrific title match.

Travis and Brandon had both been doing an awful lot of striking all day long, and neither one changed that gameplan during an extremely well-bowled title match.  After Travis finished up with 238, all he could do was watch as Nylund needed 18 in the tenth to win.  However, a 4-9 stood on Brandon's first ball, stunning the crowd.  Brandon took his time, made a great effort at the split, but caught too much of the 4-pin, missing the split, and giving McAllister the 238-229 victory, and his first career JBT title.  With bonuses, the title came with a $1,115 scholarship windfall for Travis!

Thanks to everyone at Triangle for a great job hosting the JBT for the first time, as well as to all our our host centers throughout the season!

In all, the Junior Bowlers Tour awarded $13,772 in 7 events in its inaugural Pacific Northwest season, a total we're quite proud of, and hope you're pleased with as well.   Pac NW bowlers will earn even more in national year-end JBT events this summer.  

The second season of JBT Pac NW events will begin in Fall 2007- check our huge website, www.bowljbt.com, for all the details.  Our events are open to junior bowlers of all ages and all averages- all you have to do to be part of it is to come on down!