JBT History

JBT HISTORY

A lot of people ask us how all of this came about. Below is a brief history of the JBT- and of our east-coast cousins, who made it possible...

1973

JBT creator Chuck Pezzano Jr. runs the first "JBT-like" event at Bowla Bowla in New Jersey.

1989

I bowl my first JBT event- Four Seasons Rec. in Union NJ, May 13, 1989. Somehow I win, but I soon regain my true form and don't win again for 4 years.

1996

I win my 12th and last JBT title at Holiday Lanes in Claymont DE. Shortly after, I become an assistant tournament director for Chuck.

1996-97

I move out to Tucson for grad school at U of A. On day two, I bump into Jeff Houston at Golden Pin, who knew a friend of mine in Maryland. Talk turns to JBT, and the fact that nothing like that exists in Arizona. This leads to a meeting with Metros and Junior Classics, which leads to February 22, 1997, our first JBT SW event, at Kyrene Lanes. Shawn Wood and Kari Johnson win the initial event, in which $610 in scholarships is handed out to 41 bowlers (24 scratch, 17 handicap). Event #3 at Country Club was the largest, with 55 entries. Country Club also led scratch entries at 35, and tied for handicap entries with Mission Bell at 21. Brice Scheiffer and Mike Weldon captured the first Invitational titles. $5659 was awarded in 8 events. Andrew Cain led in earnings at $618, and average at 219. Cain and Mathew Jones capture scratch and handicap Bowler of the Year titles, respectively. Brandon Lopez rolled the first 300 in JBT SW history, and the only one of the season.

Everything about our program was copied (with permission) from east-coast JBT, and slowly modified to meet the needs of Southwestern bowlers. All that seems incredibly innovative out here is really a result of 23 years of extremely hard work by Chuck to get to that point, so we are deeply indebtted to him and to JBT east coast. For much more detail on the east coast JBT's history, visit their website at www.jbtbowling.com.

1997-98

The Tour expands greatly in its first full season, with 18 events conducted and over $15,000 awarded. Andrew Cain again wins the money title with $1,682, capturing an amazing ten events along the way, including the first four, on his way to his 2nd straight B.O.Y. Andrew also led the average race at 222. In the handicap division, Mike Salem wins 3 out of the first 5 events, but Paul Neibuhr puts together the better full season for B.O.Y. The 60 total and 34 scratch entries at Kyrene were the season's best, and the 39 handicap entries at Green Valley Lanes led that category.

1998-99

This was a fairly status quo season for the JBT SW. Only 15 events were conducted, and $15,715 was awarded, only $500 more than last year, but with less events that means more was being given out at each event, as per event entries climbed. All 15 events were still in the original Tucson-Phoenix corridor. The season-opener at Kyrene was again the entry-count high water mark, with 78 total, 30 scratch, and 48 handicap being the best that season- except the Doubles. The first Doubles the previous season did not do well, with only 26 teams bowling. This season, the Doubles was moved to its pre-Christmas time slot, and it exploded with 53 teams bowling, for the largest event of the year, a position it still easily holds. Individually, Andrew Cain again won the money race, with $1,279, as well as his third straight Bowler of the Year crown and four more titles. Shannon Pluhowsky nabbed the average crown at 220, the first and so far only female to snare that award. Brian Colucci won three handicap division titles en route to his Bowler of the Year award. Marcus Stermer and Eric Matheny won the season-ending Invitational, which handed out $2,300, our biggest event to date.

1999-2000

This was a landmark year for the JBT SW in many ways. We began to focus on expanding our program to new areas, first and foremost New Mexico, which we had been attracting bowlers from since the beginning. Three successful events were held in New Mexico that year, and the groundwork was laid for future expansion. Overall, we expanded to 20 events, and awarded $26,129 in scholarships ($1308 per event), a big jump up in all of those categories. The biggest regular season event by far was at Tucson Bowl, where an unexpectedly large 112 bowler field led to a long day. The Doubles continued to flourish, attracting 70 teams this year.

Individual highlights were led by Scott Carnahan, who won the first three handicap events of the season on the way to his first B.O.Y. title, a feat still never duplicated in that division. Andrew Cain won four more titles, including the Invitational (Labriel Leach captured the handicap Invitational), to 'finish' (see 01-02) with 21 for his career (in only 61 events, a winning ratio we believe is pretty much untouchable). Scratch Bowler of the Year, however, went to Mike Ramsey, who also won four times, and competed in all the events while Andrew split his time with the ASU team. Cain did set the all-time JBT average record with a 228 season-long clip, and was the season money leader with $1,764. 300 games were rolled by Andrew Cain (2), Jason Craigen, and Shannon Pluhowsky, who also rolled a then-high 826 series.

2000-01

The idea of multiple conferences, similar to east coast JBT with its five conferences, came to the Southwest with the opening of the New Mexico-West Texas Conference. In all, 19 Arizona and 12 NM-TX events were held, for a total of 30 (one event was 'dual points', a new concept). In all, over $40,000 was awarded, pushing us past the $100,000 mark in our history- a huge landmark at the time. Singles-event entries topped out at an even 100 at AMF Thunderbird, while the Doubles turnout spiraled upward again to 96 teams.

In Arizona, Steven Black won three times to begin his B.O.Y. run, while Grant Sudbeck captured the Scratch Invitational. The Handicap Invitational was won by Gabe Terrell, while Bowler of the Year went to Hasan Kural, who captured the season-opener at Shake Rattle and Bowl. Our visit to that center began another popular tradition of kicking off the season there. In New Mexico, CJ Brown captured scratch B.O.Y. with 3 titles, while Sandra Kraykovich gained handicap honors with 1 victory. Black also won the average crown at 213, and the money title at $1,541. 300s were rolled by Clint Thompson, Rusty Rickett, Mathew Jones, Ryne Hutcheson, Chris Klerk, and Hugh Rodman. Jones' 300 was especially memorable since it came in the title match- and was thrown with an original AMF Angle ball to fight the drying lanes.

2001-02

Growth continued steadily in season 6. Arizona grew from 19 to 24 events, while NM-TX grew from 12 to 14, for 37 events overall. Scholarship payouts climbed dramatically, to almost $77,000 awarded ($2,080 per event), which in turn really helped average entries- 1371 total entries were recorded in 00-01, and over 3,200 were tallied in 01-02! Kyrene held the biggest singles stop of the season with a still-record 125 total entrants, with a still-record 98 handicap. The Doubles attracted an overflow crowd of 102 teams, and a NM-TX Doubles was added which brought in 62 teams. 3 other singles events attracted over 100 entries, and three special format events were added- the instantly popular PBA-JBT Pro-Am, the Laughlin Baker Doubles Challenge, and the Tournament of All-Time Champions, won by Andrew Cain in a nasty case of deja-vu for all JBT bowlers.

Individually, Steven Black captured his second straight Arizona Scratch Bowler of the Year honors, while Aaron Foshie captured the handicap crown. Black also won the points title, the AZ Invitational, and led all bowlers with over $4,300 in scholarship winnings and five titles. Nick Arguellez captured the AZ Handicap Invitational in amazing fashion by rolling a 296 in game #2 of the Last Chance squad to come from nowhere to win that squad, then go undefeated through11 rounds of matchplay to win the event. In NM-TX, Mike Moyer dominated the scratch division for Bowler of the Year honors, while Mark Mares did the same to the handicap division for his first B.O.Y. title. JD Nance captured the Invitational title, while Dakota Kiser became the first Texan and youngest Invitational champ to date with his handicap win. Eight 300 games were rolled during the season.

2002-03

Season 7 built on season 6's growth. In AZ, 28 events were conducted, while NM-TX added one more for 15, for a total of 42 events tour-wide. $110,335 was awarded this season, marking the first time we awarded over $100,000 in a single season. Entries continued to grow, reaching a high of 115 at Shea Village, while 8 singles events topped 100 entries. The AZ Doubles hit an overflow record of 122 teams. A PWBA National Pro-Am was a great success- it's sad this was to be the only year we could run it (come back, PWBA!!). In addition to our other special events doing well, a Scratch Challenge event was run at Fountain Bowl, and the Firecracker began our foray into the world of bigger-money summertime events.

Individual efforts were again led by Steven Black, who captured AZ Scratch Bowler of The Year, the points title, the money title ($5,800 plus), and seven wins tour-wide. Nine 300 games were bowled during the season. Chris Ingram had a consistent year to win AZ Handicap Bowler of the year, just edging out Aaron Foshie's point-leading effort to repeat. Emily Ornelas captured the handicap Invitational for a cool $1,000 payday, while JD Nance claimed the scratch crown, becoming the first bowler with two JBT SW "majors". CJ Brown captured the NM-TX Invitation en route to regaining his Bowler of the Year crown, while Paul Carper won the NM-TX handicap Invite, but Raymond Johnson won Bowler of the Year in a very hard fought race.

2003-04

Our biggest season by far began with the opening of two new Conferences, Southern California and Mojave. The JBT SW now covers a geographic distance of more than half the country east to west (San Diego to Lubbock), with a core group of crazies bowling every event possible. In all, 26 AZ, 15 NM-TX, 12 Mojave, and 11 So. Cal events were run for a total of 63 total events, up from 42 last season. The 4 Invitationals alone awarded over $25,000 in scholarships, and a total of $136,349 was awarded this season, pushing us over the $400,000 mark in our history. Combined, JBT and JBT SW have now awarded over 2.6 MILLION dollars in scholarships, by far more than any other junior bowling organization in the world!

In all, 15 events attracted 100 or more entrants, including the AZ Doubles, now maxed at 120 teams. 42 scratch bowlers entered at Cerbat Lanes for a new record, while the 120 total entrants at McRay was the second-best singles turnout ever. How else to quantify such an incredible year? We've run 232 events in our 8-year history, with 63 of them this year- that's 27%. And, over 33% of all the money we've ever awarded has been awarded this season!!!

Individually, Steven Black further etched his name into our all-time record books. He won his fourth straight AZ Bowler of the Year award, earned over $7,300 in scholarships (plus another $5,000 at the B.E.S.T. event), won nine titles, rolled 3 of the 12 300 games rolled in JBT SW this season, two of them back to back, preceded by a 297 game, for an 897 3-consecutive-game performance. Emily Ornelas put on a show in AZ handicap, capturing her second straight AZ Invitational (while JD Nance was doing the exact same thing in scratch), and this year that win was enough to give her the Bowler of the Year crown. Kris George was the handicap money leader with over $2,500. In NM-TX, JD Nance ran away with Bowler of the Year, earning more than $5,000 in scholarships, and put on the only season-long performance to rival those of Black and Cain, earning a record 10 titles Tour-wide. Jarrad Espinoza captured handicap Bowler of the Year, while Stephen Gaucin and Carlos Abeyta were the Invitational winners. In our inaugural So Cal season, Evan Tolson and Jason Larcome were scratch and handicap Bowlers of the Year, while Steven Black and Melissa Long captured the Invitational titles. In Mojave's debut season, Philip Schwartz made long drives worth it by winning the scratch Invitational and Bowler of the Year, while Brandon Allred won handicap BOY, and Kris George won the handicap Invitational, on the way to All-Conference Handicap Bowler of the Year honors. The first Touring Players' Championship was won by Eric Warren (handicap) and - who else- Steven Black, who consolidated All-Conference scratch BOY honors with the clutch victory.

2004-05

This season built on the meteoric growth from the previous season with even bigger and better numbers. This time, 70 events were conducted, and a new record for scholarships were awarded, just shy of $200,000 at $197,144. 18 events attracted over 100 entrants, with 127 at Kyrene the high water mark for a singles event. 55 scratch entries at Shake, Rattle, and Bowl was a new record. The Las Vegas Main Event was introduced over the December holidays when the previous tournament left town quickly, and despite their disappearance, a great new event was born.

The Arizona Conference saw a changing of the guard, as BJ Baker captured scratch Bowler of the Year honors, edging 4-time winner Steven Black, who had to split his time with college bowling. Steven still found time to pile up $9,407 in winnings, a new record. Phillip Stephens captured handicap Bowler of the Year, despite not winning the points title, which went to Kylee Bonneville.

Andy Byer filled the power vacuum left by JD Nance to begin his dominant run in NM-TX, capturing scratch Bowler of the Year, while Christina Waldron became the second female to win handicap Bowler of the Year in NM-TX.

In So Cal, JBT was introduced to Josh Blanchard, and his So Cal Invitational win vaulted him to scratch Bowler of the Year. In a close handicap race, Kaitlin Mayall struck to win the Invitational, and needed it to lock up her Bowler of the Year win. For both bowlers, it was just the start of impressive JBT careers.

Mojave continued to be the "melting pot" conference, with bowlers traveling from all conferences to try their luck there. When the dust settled, Steven Black's four Mojave titles were enough to squeeze out the honor over Invite champ Brandon Allred (who beat Black) and Nathan Panaligan (who won the first two events for the second straight year). Nick Lamek defended the home turf, capturing handicap Bowler of the Year.

18 300 games were rolled during the season, punctuated by 3 from Jeremy Medina. PJ Haggerty, Erika Mox, and Alyse McGinnes captured the inaugural Main Event titles. Philip Stephens, Mathew Jones, and Kevin Saunders won at the T of C, and Andy Byer and Taylor Brennan captured the Touring Players' Championship (another event growing into major prominence).

2005-06

The Tour saw another very healthy season, as each Conference, and the Tour overall, saw growth in entries and scholarships awarded. In total, a new record 79 events were conducted, and JBT became the first junior tournament organization in the world to award over $200,000 in a season, distributing $248,537. The Main Event grew massively in its second season, and the TPC became more of a focus as well. The concept of 'doubleheader' events was developed this season, and really took off in New Mexico-Texas, which benefited by going from 15 to 23 tournaments held. 136 entrants at Kyrene was the singles-event season high, which included a new record 70 scratch bowlers, indicative of the continuing trend towards more scratch division bowlers as the first generation to 'grow up' with JBT got "older" (yeah, right).

Theo Douthit won 6 titles en route to Arizona Bowler of the Year honors, while Michael Curry's late season second win was enough to give him the handicap BOY crown. Still splitting time with his college duties, Steven Black still found time to amass over $7,500 in scholarship earnings. Although he'd bowl a few more events in 06-07, this season wrapped up the best statistical career in JBT history, with 42 titles and over $37,000 in career earnings.

Andy Byer solidified his dominance in NM-TX, despite some tough competition. His 6 wins gave him scracth Bowler of the Year, while Ashley Belden's Invitational win gave her the Bowler of the Year crown in a tough three-way season long race.

Brian Carmichael was the star of the season in the So Cal Conference, winning the season opener at Kearny Mesa (the first time a So Cal event kicked off the season), and hanging on for the scratch Bowler of the Year title. Shane Lien had a consistent season, including a Doubles win with Lana Lycan, to emerge as the handicap Bowler of the Year.

In Mojave, Nathan Panaligan AGAIN won the first two events of the year, but this year he was able to parlay it into his first Bowler of the Year crown, while Alesha Pannier's Invitational win secured her handicap Bowler of the Year title. Nathan wasn't done with accolades yet, though, as he defeated Andrew Koff for the Main Event title and a $3,500 scholarship. Danielle Schilling and Hawaiian Micah Kamiyama were the girls scratch and handicap Main Event winners.

27 perfect games were bowled this year. Brandon Allred and Alesha Pannier captured the prestigious TPC titles, while Tournaments of Champions were held in NM and AZ, with winners highlighted by Steven Black, winning what would be his last JBT title as a junior.

2006-07

So much happened this landmark season that my head is still spinning from it. In terms of both numbers and excitement, it was, yet again, the biggest and best season by far. For example:

- A new record $288,847 was awarded on the season, obliterating all previous marks.

- The Pacific Northwest Conference got underway, greatly expanding the geography of JBT

- 88 events were conducted, filling virtually every available slot on the calendar

- The Main Event truly became just that, awarding over $50,000 alone!

- The most intense level of competition ever seen in junior bowling!

2007-08...

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