ARIZONA INVITATIONAL

champs Cameron Smith & KJ Martinez (center), with runners-up Dallas Leong & Marina Stever

        Cameron Smith and KJ Martinez earned $1,000 scholarships each as champions of the 2011 JBT Arizona Invitational Tournament, hosted by Let It Roll Bowl in Phoenix.

        A very challenging pattern tested the 76 qualifiers, with an under 190 average enough to make the 16 bowler, triple-elimination scratch matchplay finals.  Chris Brown had an excellent qualifying round to grab the top seed, but unfortunately lost the look in matchplay, bowing out in three games.  This helped #2 Mark Myers, who thus got the first bye in round five.  Myers fell in round seven, and after round eight only three bowlers- Smith (who was undefeated), Dallas Leong, and Aaron Foshie (each with two losses)  remained standing.  Smith had the bye that round, and watched as Dallas eliminated Aaron 223-208 in an exciting game.

        Leong's reward for that win was the unenviable task of beating Smith three times to swipe away the title.  Dallas has been red-hot this spring, but that would be a tough task for anyone- but game one went to Leong, as a brutal solid-8 from Smith swayed the match in Dallas' direction.  Game two went down to the tenth frame, and on a lane Cameron hadn't struck on all game, Smith threw an absolutely perfect double to grab the win and the title.  This was the 23rd win of his stellar JBT career, passing Andrew Cain for 5th place all-time.

        Martinez, fresh off a win at the previous day's Tournament of Champions, rode a wave of confidence to a dominant Invitational performance.  He qualified first after the 5-game qualifying round, and cruised through the first seven rounds with only one loss.  When KJ eliminated his sister Brooke, and Marina Stever eliminated Zachary Rapp in round eight, that left only Martinez and Marina standing, with Marina needing to win twice to win the title.

        The two Arizona locals, veterans, and friends put on a good show in game one, with Marina getting the tenth frame spare she needed for the win, forcing a deciding game for all the marbles.  The 'tournament within the tournament' that this match would help decide was not lost on the bowlers or spectators either, as Marina, KJ, and Alex Pellegrino (who also had a good Invite, placing 8th) were battling it out for Bowler of the Year.  So, with double the pressure riding on this game, both bowlers understandably felt it a little, but in the end it was KJ who came through with a 214-191 win, earning the top prize, back to back major titles in 24 hours, and the 5th title of his JBT career.  Stever earned $500 for second, Brooke earned $300 for third, Rapp got $200 for fourth, and Britni Glasspool wrapped up the top 5 for $150. 

        Be sure to check out the "Year End Awards" section of our website to see how this result affects those awards, as well as all the other season-end awards and records Tour-wide.  Thanks to the crew at Let It Roll for a great job hosting this important, fun, and exciting event.  Want to see your name here next year?  Check out our 2011-12 schedule, and come on down to all the JBT events you can!