2024 JBT Las Vegas Main Event- Newspaper

champs & finalists

          Two Hawaiians and a Californian took home prestigious singles titles at the 21st annual JBT Las Vegas Main Event, with a record-smashing $75,000+ in total scholarships awarded, hosted at and sponsored by South Point, as well as JBT title sponsors the Brands of Brunswick and IAM Bowling.

         15 year-old Ezra Bentkowski, from Aiea HI, became one of the youngest scratch singles winners in Main Event history, with a title match win over Kevin Magnuson of Morgan Hill, CA.  In handicap, Hawaiian Preston Nasu just barely snuck into the #8 seed, then climbed the finals stepladder with four wins for the title, finishing it off with a victory over #2 Ryden Hong.  Six JBT vets competed in the girls scratch finals, with Lindsay Greim of San Diego beating Kendall Bollea of Phoenix for the championship.  Lindsay earned $2,000, Ezra $5,500, and Preston a record $6,000 for their victories.

        Jason Gootzeit of Phoenix teamed with San Diego's Brandon Rother to win scratch doubles with a 1423 six-game total.  Hong also teamed with Elijah Lara for the handicap doubles win with 1451.  Champions were also crowned in 5-bowler team and warmup sweeper events, and eleven bowlers earned spots to Junior Gold finals in Wisconsin in July.   Only three 300 games were rolled on the four demanding patterns bowlers faced, by Leoj Chin in doubles, Kyler Orosco in singles, and adult Main Event alumni Nikki Hiraoka in team.

         Check out the JBT website, www.bowljbt.com, for lots more detail, as well as the "Junior Bowlers Tour Southwest" facebook page for great bonus content.  Big thanks to all for attending, and all our amazing sponsors, volunteers, and vendors for making an event of this scope possible.  We look forward to even bigger and better things at the 2025 Main Event, December 26-30 back at the South Point Plaza, with entry available in July 2025!        

2024 JBT Las Vegas Main Event- scratch singles finalists

1. Ezra Bentkowski, HI, $5,500

2. Kevin Magnuson, CA, $3,500

3.Lucas Finley, CO, $2,000

4. Leoj Chin, CA, $1,500

5. Kyler Orosco, CA, $1,250

6. Daryus Alo, NV, $1,000

7. Brandon Rother, CA, $800

8. Ernesto Reynoso, CA, $700

9. Elias O'Hollaren, CA, $600

10. Daniel Hong, CA, $550

11. Liam Hardman, WA, $500

12. Dmitri Richardson, CO, $450

13. Kalin Ogata, HI, $400

14. Gael Egana, CA, $350

15. Ardani Rodas, CA, $300

16. Shin Sangalang, CA, $250

17. Jos Weems, IL, $200

18. Gyrus Alo, NV, $150

19. Zach Greim, CA, $150

2024 JBT Las Vegas Main Event- girls scratch singles finalists

1. Lindsay Greim, CA, $2,000

2. Kendall Bollea, AZ, $1,300

3. Katelyn Abigania, CA, $900

4. Stephanie Hong, CA, $700

5. Ava McLaughlin, NV, $600

6. Kloey Kielich, TX, $500

7. Lilly Houle, NV, $400

8. Jadeyn Mabry, AZ, $300

2024 JBT Las Vegas Main Event- handicap singles finalists

1. Preston Nasu, HI, $6,000

2. Ryden Hong, HI, $4,000

3. Alyssa Randisi, NY, $2,500

4. Percila Garcia, CA, $2,000

5. Caytlen Oishi-Gascon, HI, $1,500

6. Spencer Leong, HI, $1,250

7. Andrew Lynnes, AZ, $1,000

8. Caden Sham, CA, $800

9. Makaio Yu, CA, $750

10. Vincenzo Cruzate, NV, $700

11. Annabelle Bowman, WA, $650

12. Taiga Minagawa, Japan, $600

13. Kal Cooper, NV, $550

14. Haoxuan Yang, NV, $500

15. Jaida-Marie De La Cruz, AZ, $450

16. Peyton Fujiwara, HI, $400

17. Thomas Donaldson, NV, $350

18. Chase Kawada, HI, $300

19. Payton Nasu, HI, $300

20. Cameron Coleman, AZ, $300

21. Carlos Garcia, Mexico, $300