BRC KYRENE 

Scratch champ Kevin Saunders, Steve Bodinet of Home Helpers-Direct Link, handicap champ Kyle Frederick 

    Kevin Saunders came up big again on a tough condition, while Kyle Frederick grabbed control of the handicap division in exciting Arizona Conference JBT action at BRC Kyrene Lanes, presented by Home Helpers-Direct Link.

    The scratch division stepladder finals opened with a great potential for the first three-way tie match in JBT history.  Unfortunately for Kyle King, after Theo Douthit and Kevin Narciso tied at 191, King opened in the tenth for 178, setting up a one-shot rolloff which Theo won 10-9 to advance.  In round two, Bill Grant escaped with a 189 game to advance over Douthit (167) and Cameron Smith (170).  

    The semifinal match featured three of our biggest stars.  Kevin Saunders rolled a 220 to win the match over Grant (171) and Steven Black (180), but that fact was overshadowed by the fact that that game wraps up the unparalleled JBT career of Steven Black, who announced plans to go adult after this event (he won that event, an ACBA, the next day!).  Steven bowled the second JBT event ever held in 1997 (the first, that he missed, ironically was at Kyrene), so it really is the end of an era for our Tour.   Among his many phenomenal stats, Black finishes with 256 events bowled (nobody else has 200), 42 titles (second is 22), 141 top-5 finishes (second is 58), 5 Bowler of the Year awards, and $38,758 in career JBT scholarship earnings- what an amazing mountain of statistics for this talented bowler.

    Saunders faced top-seed Chris Weyrauch for the title.  Chris also led at Cliff Castle on a similarly demanding pattern, so he was full of confidence all day long, easily leading the 75-player field.  However, after a three-bagger to open, he hit his ankle on a spare attempt, and the title match was downhill from there.  Kevin, who is always in the hunt on our tougher conditions, took advantage, capturing his 8th career JBT title with a 225-190 victory.

    The handicap division finals opened with Barbara Lampkin squeaking by with a 183 game that edged Blake Kalaf (181) and Keaton Karpovich (176), who bravely stayed in the game despite a torn thumb.  In a much higher scoring round two, Holly Emery marked in the tenth for a 231 game that beat Lampkin (210) and Joshua Shoup (218).  In a close semifinal battle, Anthony Tripi shot a 224 to reach the title match over Emery (187) and Jason Moore (221).  

   Top qualifier Kyle Frederick is almost always in a bowling center these days, and it paid off for him by leading the field on the grueling pattern.  After a few title match disappointments in the second half of last year, Frederick remained in control the entire game, cruising to 237-186 win over Tripi.  The victory was the third of his JBT career, and vaults him to an early lead in the handicap division points race.

  Kris Zahn of Arizona High School bowling also raffled off an Ebonite bowling ball at the event.  She is working hard to expand high school bowling in our state, which JBT supports 100%.  You can get lots more information from Kris by contacting her at kris@kriszahn.com. 

     A near-record 138 bowlers competed in the event.   Everyone who finished in the top 5 qualifies for the 2007 JBT Arizona 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 2007 JBT Touring Players' Championship, featuring a guaranteed minimum $2,000 first place scholarship per division! 

     Big thanks to everyone at Kyrene for their usual terrific job hosting our events.  Over $3,600 in scholarships was awarded.  Want in on the fun?  Come on out to the next JBT event, it's as simple as that!