Town & Country

champs Mason Edmondson & Brendan Coombes

        Mason Edmondson left no question as to who would survive in scratch, while Brendan Coombes took the 'lucky loser' route to handicap victory, in exciting JBT NM-TX Conference action at Roswell's Town & Country Entertainment.

        In our survivor format, bowlers compete in 'low man out' games after the first cut until a winner is determined.  15 scratch semifinalists were whittled down to six, and in three very high scoring matches in that round Edmondson roared past Billy Read 267-243, Nick Lee edged Chris Brown 246-245, and in another one of our famous sibling battles, younger brother Josh Helmick beat big brother Matt 225-219.  In the three-way semifinal match, Lee survived with 222, but Helmick bowed out with 188 when Edmondson came up with an eleven strike 279 performance. 

        Nick was looking to win both JBT events in a weekend for the first time in his excellent career, but nothing was stopping Mason.  In fact, the only thing that stopped him from title game perfection was a sixth frame pocket 7-10, as the other eleven shots all struck again, for a 266-208 win over Lee for the title.  What a way to win your first JBT title, with 812 for the last three games- wow!

        Twenty-five handicap semifinalists where also eventually carved down to six, and in those matches, Brandon Navarette beat Jerimiah Cruz 239-220, Zachary Wojociechowski stopped travel buddy Nick Llyod 253-202, and Brendan Coombes, who advanced to this round as the highest losing score from the last round, took advantage of that good break with a 243-194 win over Brad Harvey.  In the ensuing three-bowler semifinal, Navaratte fired 257 and Coombes 213 to advance, while Zach bowled out with 204.

        The title match was close throughout, with both first-time finalists making spares to get way over average.  Ten frames turned out to be not enough as they ended the match tied at 187 the first title match tie in quite a while.  In the two-frame rolloff, Brendan's tenth frame spare proved the difference in a 52-40 win, earning him a thrilling first time of his JBT career.

        Amber Robinson defeated Krista Casaus 213-187 to win the days Impact Bowling Women's Series event, the second of three wins she needs to qualify for the 2012 Girls' TPC this summer in Las Vegas.

        Thanks as always to Brian Casaus and the crew in Roswell for again making this one of our favorite stops of the season.  Over $1,500 in scholarships were earned by bowlers of all ages and averages- want in on the fun?  Come on out to the next JBT event, it's that simple!