28th ANNUAL ARIZONA INVITATIONAL

champs and finalists

        Aliyas Sargento and Brayden Sibilla earned $1,000 scholarships each as champs of the 28th annual JBT Arizona Invitational, hosted by Let It Roll in Phoenix.

        After five games of qualifying, sixteen scratch and handicap bowlers advanced to physically and mentally grueling triple-elimination matchplay.  Cayden Matherly bowled great to nab the top seed, and survived seven, bowing out to Dylan Donahue.  Donahue and Asher Toberer exited in the next round, leaving Daryus Alo and Brock Bivins to play, in effect, a semifinal game while Sargento earned a much needed bye.  Brock narrowly beat Daryus in that match to set up the one-game finale.  Aliyas got a bad forearm cramp right before the start of the match, but bravely carried on, with the reduced power actually seeming to work in his favor on the demanding condition.  Bivins, meanwhile, put up an outstanding 235 game, but Sargento wowed with a front-seven, 259 performance to capture the title, and an amazing bookend to his season, having won Desert Open to start it off last August.

        Sibilla, already with a third place finish in this season's Mojave Invitational, qualified 8th here and caught fire, going through five rounds undefeated.  In round seven, Thomas Glass and Isaiah Pino were eliminated, but the fine performances locked up a TPC berth for Thomas, and Bowler of the Year for Isaiah!  With four bowlers left Abi Hunt bowed out in round eight, leaving a similar setup as scratch had, with Sibilla (now with two losses) enjoying a bye, while Pablo Ypina eliminated tough Christian Ortega to set up the final.  Ypina was looking to match Aliyas as Desert Open and Invite dual champs, but did not have a great look on the final pair, and Brayden remained strong, for the win, and third JBT title of his excellent season!

        Toberer's fine day included a win over Aiden Ruiz-Jimenez for the U17 subdivision win, while Mackenzie Paige beat Jadeyn Mabry for the Girls Scratch victory.  Cesar Padilla had a quiet matchplay round, but was uncatchable, coasting to his second consecutive scratch Bowler of the Year award.  Huge thanks as always to the Let It Roll team for being fantastic hosts for our Tour every time.  Top bowlers now advance to the JBT Touring Players Championship, where the best of teh best will compete for our Tour's most prestigious title.

scroll below for the qualifier list

Date: Saturday June 29, 2024  (This is ONE tournament that is one day long, open only to those who qualified for it based on their performance this season (see below). 

Start Time: Bowling begins at 11 AM.

Re-entries?:  There's only one qualifying squad, so there are no re-entries this event..

Reservations:  There is no need to reserve a spot, since it's an Invitational.  The tournament will not sell out- if you qualified, we will have room for you.   You can prepay (not required) at the 'Prepaying' section of this website. 

Eligibility: The AZ Invitational is open to anyone who EITHER had TWO top-5 finishes in AZ Conference events this season, OR finished in the top 32 in the AZ Conference points standings after the last regular season AZ Conference event (Best In The West 5/4-5).  Also, simultaneous with the main Invitational are the Girls Scratch and U17 Invitationals;  (it is possible you may qualify for only the Girls and/or U17 Invites but not the main Invite; in that case you still bowl the qualifying round but cannot make the main Invite cut).   Visit the 'statistics' section of the website to check on your points.

Format: Qualifying round is 5 games.  The top 5 season-long point scorers earn a bye into the finals (but are still playing for their seeding within the finals). The next 11 bowlers also qualify for the finals, for a total of 16 finalists.  Finals are triple elimination matchplay- keep bowling until you lose three times, which will eventually leave only one bowler- the champion- standing.

Divisions/ Averages:  Scratch or handicap.  It is the bowlers' choice of division, regardless of which division you bowled in to qualify for this event.

Points:  This event counts for TRIPLE AZ and All-Conference points.  After the Invitational, the top 20 in the final AZ Conference points standings advance to the Touring Players Championship, July 25-28 in Las Vegas, with $2,800 scratch and handicap first place scholarships.   Visit the 'statistics' section of the website to check on your points.

Entry fee: $60.  Scholarship brackets are available for $2 each.  Raffle tickets for Ebonite bowling balls, and our PowerBowl and '28' jackpots, are available on-site. 

Sponsor Incentive bonuses:  1) IAM Bowling: Bowlers making the final match of an event (scratch or handicap) wearing an IAM patch (good), any IAM shirt (better), or an IAM JBT shirt (best) earn point bonuses towards a $5,000 IAM incentive jackpot.  (The IAM patch is requested to be worn by all bowlers).   2) Virtue Bowling: Bowlers making the final match of an event (scratch or handicap, win or lose), using a Virtue Bowling shirt or patch, and a Virtue drilled ball, earn a $25 Virtue gift card.  

Scholarships: 1:6 in each division earn scholarships, scratch and handicap.  Minimum prizes are $1,000, $500, $250, $125, $100.  The top 5 in points heading into the event earn a minimum $60 scholarship regardless of finish in the event.

Lane conditions: conditions vary from event to event, and are not posted prior to the event (unless otherwise announced).  Some events do not post the pattern until after qualifying.  Be ready for anything- it makes you a better bowler!  Check out previous patterns and corresponding cut scores at the 'lane conditions' section of this website.

Dress code:  Anything goes EXCEPT tank tops, gym shorts, clothing promoting alcohol, drugs, or firearms, or excessively ripped or short clothing, subject solely to the director's discretion.  However, bowlers wearing slacks or dress shorts/skirts, and a 'name shirt' or PBA-style 'dye-sub' shirt, or college or high school team shirt, earn an extra 10 points on their season-long points total.  If you're not sure about dress code, check with us.  If you're new to us, the vast majority of the bowlers do dress in the 'bonus' dress code, and those points become very important, so plan accordingly.

We hope you qualify for this prestigious event- do not miss it if you do!

Invitational qualifiers:

U17 Invitational qualifiers:

Girls Scratch Invitational qualifiers: