CLIFF CASTLE

champ Curtis Lindeman

        Curtis Lindeman outlasted brutal lane conditions and tough opponents to earn a JBT title as champion of the 'battle bag' format, to wrap up terrific Labor Day weekend action at Cliff Castle Casino.

        All bowlers rolled five games on the US Open lane pattern, using a maximum of three balls.  The top eight then competed in best 3-of-5 matches, where the winning bowler each game removed one of his opponents' bowling balls, meaning if the match went to five games each bowler would be down to just one ball (and likely not the one they'd prefer).   Ben Canfield led the qualifying round with a 196 average, but fell 3-1 to Keith Fung in the first battle bag round.  Meanwhile, #5 Harley Sweigart swept #4 Derek Acuff, #2 Lindeman beat Alexis Atkin 3-1, and #6 Oscar Chan pulled out a 3-2 win over Riley Dempsey.

        Both Riley and Oscar had given up on 'normal' bowling towards the end of their match, hoping to grind out spares and that that would be enough.  Lindeman made the switch o a straight ball in the middle of his semifinal match with Chan, and pulled out a 2-1 win, including a surprisingly high-scoring 203-191 final game.  Harley Sweigart, the last bowler still bowling 'normally', beat Fung in the other semifinal 2-1, to advance to the one-game, one-ball title match.

        Curtis' title match start was inauspicious at best, while Sweigart appeared to have a good look.  The second half of the game was the opposite, as the demanding US Open pattern bit Sweigart for 4 opens in his last 5 frames, while Lindeman managed to put a few strikes together, good enough for a 181-128 win, and the sixth title of his JBT career.

        Only two girls participated, so they also competed in our Women's Series title match, with Alexis Atkin escaping 158-156 over Kristen Lee.

        Thanks as always to the crew at Cliff Castle for another terrific job hosting us.  Want in on the unique fun only JBT offers?  CHeck out our schedule and come on down, that's all there is to it!