CERBAT LANES

champs Ben Canfield & Jopfel Gafate with Women's Series winner Rachael Berg

        Ben Canfield and Jopfel Gafate emerged from an exciting matchplay round to capture JBT titles in dual Arizona and Mojave Conference action at Kingman's Cerbat Lanes.

        Canfield's ASU teammate Russ Oviatt fired 254 at Ben in the first of the two-game total pinfall scratch semifinal, but Ben bounced back with 253 in game two to win the match 469-447.  In the other semi, Cortez Schenck trailed Eric Hatchett 258-246 after a high scoring first game, but Schenck's 213-184 game two advantage gave him a 459-432 win to propel him to yet another title match.

        The title match was more of a grind than the semifinal matches, and Schenck could never get comfortable on teh final pair despite keeping the match close.  In the end, the veteran Canfield pulled out a 203-192 win, earning the 22nd title of his exceptional career, tying USBC President and JBT great Andrew Cain (who worked with Ben during the week) for 9th on the all-time list.

        Handicap division quarterfinal matches were won by #4 seed Kyle Rendon, #3 Gafate, newcomer #10 Michael Owens, and 16 seed Brendan Lindsey, making an impressive run from sneaking in the cut to oust top seed Brandon Duffy and 9 seed Jarred Starr Moncayo.   Rendon then stopped Lindsey's run in the one-game semifinal 230-199, while Gafate beat a tiring Owens 222-147 in the other semi to set up the title match between Vegas JBT regulars.

        Jopfel set a pace Kyle couldn't keep up with in the title match, and the 218-173 final result gave Gafate the second title of his JBT career.

        The Women's Series title match was a classic between Randi Speiler and Rachael Berg.  Speiler, needing a double to win, left a 7-pin on her first shot in the tenth, giving Berg the 202-199 win and her second girls' win of the season.

        Thanks as always to the great team at Cerbat for all their weekend-long hospitality at one of our favorite annual stops.  Want in on all the fun and excitement for all ages and averages?  Just check out our schedule and come on down!