LUCKY 66 LANES

champs Bill Grant and Christina Waldron

A day of intense competition with Invitational berths and byes on the line resulted in big wins for the NM-TX Conference's points leaders heading into the finale.

The scratch division opened with a hugely important match between Jeremy Medina and Jerod Florez.  If Jeremy could win this game, and then advance to the title match, he'd steal away the 5th spot in points and the coveted bye into the Invitational finals.  However, that wasn't in the cards, as Florez' spare in the tenth wrapped up a 201-192 decision, securing the Invite bye.

Florez' good fortune would come to an abrupt halt in the next match, however, as he appeared to have Justin DeDera beat before chopping a 6-10 in the tenth, allowing Justin the chance to strike out for a one-pin win.  DeDera, who is right in the thick of the Bowler of the Year race, confidently stepped up and did exactly that, good for a 217-216 thrilling win.  In the semifinals, William Haverland, who is 6-for-6 in making the top 5 this year, made it to his 4th title match with a 236-199 defeat of DeDera.

Top qualifier and points leader Bill Grant is in a three-way battle with DeDera and Andy Byer for Bowler of the Year, but gave himself a huge boost by grabbing the top seed, and then throwing a controlled game while Haverland fought the left lane in the finale.  Grant's strike in the tenth locked up a 200-176 win, good for the fourth title of his JBT SW career.

An exciting handicap finals began with a strange situation as Cody Mansfield qualified fifth but could not continue, which would normally allow the #9 finisher into the finals- except that position was tied between Ahkeen Williams and Jeff Tillman!  Thus a rolloff was necessary, which Tillman won to advance to the finals. Tillman then took advantage of the situation with a fine 222 game, but was upstaged by Steven Draper, who threw an even bigger 236 to advance over Tillman and Kelley Smith (175).

Draper remained hot in round two, rolling a big 257 to advance over Tanner Palmer (183) and Greg Milbank (181).  In the semifinal Draper rolled a respectable 189, but could only watch as JBT veterans Christina Waldron and Zachary Barnard went at each other strike for strike.  After Zach finished 9-spare-strike for 236, Christina had to match that to tie.  Waldron, who come oh-so-close to victory at her last event, controlled the nerves and did exactly that to tie Barnard at 236 and force another rolloff.  Waldron then struck on her first five rolloff balls to ignite the crowd, eliminate Barnard, and advance to her second consecutive title match.

Top qualifier Anthony Lovato had run away from the field in qualifying, with the second highest 8-game total in JBT SW history (+470).  However, anything can happen in a one-game title match, and just about everything did happen in this one.  Lovato's open in the first was the only miscue by either bowler, and Waldron slowly dug into Anthony's handicap edge.  A clutch spare in the tenth by Anthony gave him an excellent 256 final score, forcing Waldron into another huge pressure situation, needing double-8 to win.  Visibly nervous, Christina composed herself and flushed three perfect shots in the pocket, good for the 258-256 win and her first JBT SW title.

Thanks to everyone at Lucky 66 Lanes for a great job hosting a thrilling JBT SW event!

Lucky 66 Lanes- final results and optional scholarship winners  
4/30/2005        
New Mexico-Texas Conference      
       
Scratch Division      
rank name city, state score prize
1 Bill Grant Rio Rancho, NM p 248 $200
2 William Haverland Round Rock, TX p 132 $185
3 Justin DeDera Las Cruces, NM p 125 $70
4 Jerod Florez Bosque Farms, NM p 112 $145
5 Jeremy Medina Santa Fe, NM p 54 $40
6 Andy Byer Albuquerque, NM p 32  
7 Sam Cuevas Lubbock, TX m 13  
8 Brandy Silva Albuquerque, NM m 15 $15
9 Justin Medina Santa Fe, NM m 29  
10 Ashley Dale Las Cruces, NM m 105  
11 Jarrad Espinoza Albuquerque, NM m 163  
       
Handicap Division      
rank name city, state score prize
1 Christina Waldron Albuquerque, NM p 253 $260
2 Anthony Lovato Albuquerque, NM p 470  
3 Steven Draper Albuquerque, NM p 165  
4 Zachary Barnard Albuquerque, NM p 257 $130
5 Greg Milbank Albuquerque, NM p 214 $195
6 Tanner Palmer Amarillo, TX p 170 $100
7 Jeff Tillman Hobbs, NM p 135 $60
8 Kelley Smith Albuquerque, NM p 160  
8 Cody Mansfield Albuquerque, NM p 178 $50
10 Ahkeen Williams El Paso, TX p 135 $85
11 Josh Brown Albuquerque, NM p 130  
12 Michael Hinojosa Las Cruces, NM p 119 $30
13 Bailey McFarland El Paso, TX p 109 $20
14 Nathan Hughes Santa Fe, NM p 107 $30
15 Juan Romero Albuquerque, NM p 102 $15
16 Vincent Michel Albuquerque, NM p 98  
17 Sabrina Vargas Albuquerque, NM p 97 $15
18 Angelo Espinoza Albuquerque, NM p 78  
19 Emily Milbank Albuquerque, NM p 75 $25
20 Kat Swindell Amarillo, TX p 75 $30
21 Charlie Elliott Santa Fe, NM p 74  
22 Sara Vargas Albuquerque, NM p 70 $15
23 Andrew Esparza Albuquerque, NM p 66  
24 Aurora Popple El Paso, TX p 53  
25 Susan Kurzeka Albuquerque, NM p 45  
26 Donald Guariello Santa Fe, NM p 40 $10
27 Mark Mares Los Lunas, NM p 29  
28 Mike Romero Santa Fe, NM p 27  
29 Austin Mansfield Albuquerque, NM p 22 $15
30 Thomas Gutierrez Albuquerque, NM p 9 $30
31 Amanda Skidmore Albuquerque, NM m 24  
32 Josh Arceo Albuquerque, NM m 32 $30
33 Bobbi Reich Albuquerque, NM p 11  
34 Jamison Spam Rio Rancho, NM p 8  
35 travis Gudelj Albuquerque, NM p 7 $30
36 John Perea Santa Fe, NM p 6  
37 Rachel Thompson Albuquerque, NM p 1 $15
38 janeyl Carper Rio Rancho, NM even  
39 Elizabeth Romero Santa Fe, NM m 3  
40 Antonio Garcia Santa Fe, NM m 6  
41 Jordan Spam Rio Rancho, NM m 6  
42 Stephanie Sheffer Albuquerque, NM m 9 $15
43 Camille Martinez Santa Fe, NM m 10  
44 Kyle Pearce Espanola, NM m 12 $15
45 Tommie Hall MacDonald, NM m 13  
46 Blake Brown Albuquerque, NM m 19  
47 Dan Romero Santa Fe, NM m 24  
48 Kimberly Alonzo Albuquerque, NM m 26  
49 Jared Jaramillo Albuquerque, NM m 28 $15
50 Sophie Diaz Santa Fe, NM m 39  
51 Ashley Belden Tijeras, NM m 47  
52 Michael Valdez Santa Fe, NM m 47  
53 Brenda Salgado Albuquerque, NM m 51  
54 Kaycie Wertz Amarillo, TX m 53  
55 Wendy Shelton Albuquerque, NM m 55  
56 Brady Wertz Amarillo, TX m 56  
57 Eric Kear Albuquerque, NM m 60  
58 Jeremy Baca Albuquerque, NM m 63  
59 Antonio Kahn Albuquerque, NM m 70  
60 Jamie Tillman Hobbs, NM m 83  
61 Jessica Palma Albuquerque, NM m 97  
62 Justin Salazar Espanola, NM m 106  
63 Paul Carper Rio Rancho, NM m 113  
64 Amanda Johnson Rio Rancho, NM m 125  
65 Heaven Pajala Albuquerque, NM dnf $15
       
       
High Female: Silva 985      
Cuts: scratch -7, handicap +16      
Storm Ball Winner: Dean Wizenhunt    
High Games: scratch: Florez 267, Medina 247, DeDera 239; handicap: Barnard 280, Milbank 280, Guariello 266
       
TOTAL AWARDED THIS EVENT: $1,905