Narrows Plaza Bowl

champs Tyler Boe & Jacob Grimes

        Tyler Boe helped make some JBT history, while Jacob Grimes made some personal history with his first win, in exciting JBT Pacific Northwest Conference action at Tacoma's Narrows Plaza Bowl.   

        The scratch division finals began with points leader Tristan Curtis defeating Anthony Douglas, who became one of the very few bowlers with three JBT top-5 finishes in one weekend (thanks to the Overnighter), 222-170.   Eddy Smith, making two finals himself, then beat Tristan 206-180.  Boe then stopped Smith in a match indicative of the day's very low scoring pace 165-160, advancing to his second scratch title game in four JBT events.

        12 year-old phenom Cortez Schenck led the entire event  (against bowlers as old as 22) wire to wire, proving once again that it's skill, not age, that is the determining factor in bowling success.  Weirdly enough, that meant that Tyler was the 'old man' in the match at just 14.  We have no official record, but the combined age of the two scratch finalists (26) is believed to be by far the youngest in JBT history.    Talk about a changing of the guard in the PacNW- wow!   Unfortunately for Cortez, the title match was all Tyler, who struggled in scratch last year but is putting it all together this year so far, winning his first scratch title and second career win with an emphatic 241-183 performance.       

        Connor Gracia and Casey Blake resolved nothing in the handicap division finals' opening game, tying at 174.  Casey survived the two-frame rolloff 37-26 to advance, and for that was rewarded with a match against his brother Alex, who beat him 201-180 in the sibling rivalry.  The semifinal was another low-scoring thriller, with Alex escaping by Samantha Smart 178-177, to advance to the title game.

        Top seed Jacob Grimes had the best day of his JBT career en route to the top seed.  He defended the seed very well, too, firing a big game to win the match 230-197 and earn the first title of his JBT career. 

        Smart avenged her semifinal loss with a 184-152 over top seed Breanne Mattson in the day's Women's Series event.  She needs two more wins to qualify for the 2012 Girls TPC this summer.  Thanks again to the crew at Narrows for another great job hosting our Tour, which awarded over $2,900 in scholarships over the weekend.  Want in on all the fun?  Check out our schedule and come on down to the next event, it's that simple!