AZ DOUBLES

champs Ryan Klumpers & Michael Haugen Jr & Alex and Robert Pellegrino

        Ryan Klumpers teamed with one of bowling's best to win his first title, while Alex Pellegrino completed a dream weekend with a father-son win, in exciting action at the Arizona Doubles Classic, hosted by AMF Christown.

        Michael 'Sven' Majeske and his father David took the long route into the scratch division stepladder finals, winning a tiebreaker with Cameron Smith and Matt Jones (the California version) to get in, then showed icewater in their veins by throwing the last four strikes on a brutal lane condition for a 214-213 win over Kyle King and Matt Jones (the Arizona version) to win round one.  In another close match, they escaped round two with a 181-172 win over DeeRonn Booker and Joshua Tajiri, who were 2/5 of the winning So Cal Baker team last week.  Scores went down in the semifinal, but they continued to have the magic touch in tight games, defeating Curtis Lindeman and Riley Dempsey 154-145 to advance to the title match.

        ASU bowler Ryan Klumpers and PBA star Michael Haugen combined to form the dominant duo of the day, recovering from a slow start to lead by over 100 pins after two grueling rounds.  The title match was yet another close one, and after Haugen struck on his fill ball, David needed a double to climb the ladder and win it all.  Majeske's shot was good, but a stubborn 7-pin stood, giving Klumpers and Haugen the 197-187 win.  It was Ryan's first JBT title, while Haugen last earned a JBT win as the pro in a PBA-JBT Pro-AM back in 2004.

        The handicap division stepladder opened with a match filled with storylines, as Alex and Robert Pellegrino, still celebrating Alex's win in the 1,000th tournament yesterday, faced Christown bowler Marcos Ulloa and Shawn Wood, the winner of the very first JBT event 17 seasons ago.  This match went down to the fill ball, and Robert's strike  sealed the 178-176 win.  Alex and Robert then defeated another Christown duo (they fielded 17 teams and did very well overall), Chasanah Irmawati and Syarif Nuhidayat, by a 175-162 score.  In the semifinals, the Nevada duo of TJ Rock and Leah Glazer lost the great look they had enjoyed all day, and the Pellegrinos took advantage for a 144-121 win that sent them to the title match.

        Shelby Demspey teamed up with Alexis Atkin, the recent Best In The West winner having an incredible fall, to grab the top seed after seven games.  However, Alex has been Alexis' kryptonite, including a loss to him in the title game the day before.  The match was close the whole way on the grindout conditions, and Dempsey's tenth frame spare meant Alex had to do the same for the win.  Pellegrino was up to the task, sparing a 5-pin for a 187-179 win and the title.  It can't get much better than that for Alex, who cleared just shy of $1,500 with the weekend sweep of two very large fields!

        Thanks to all the adults and alumni who took the time to come out and bowl with today's JBT stars, as well as to Pat Cook and her terrific stop for hosting yet another huge JBT weekend.  Over $7,000 in scholarships and prizes were earned by all ages and all averages- want in on the fun?  Check out our schedule and come on out to the next JBT event, it's that simple!