MOUNTAIN INVITATIONAL

champs & finalists

        Dane Clark and Jayden McSmith each earned $1,000 scholarships as champions of the 2026 JBT Mountain Conference Invitational tournament, hosted by Albuquerque’s Silva Lanes.

          After qualifying, sixteen advancers competed in thrilling triple-elimination matchplay, four hours of do-or-die excitement.  In the scratch division, Grant Fetty raced to the top seed, and did well in matchplay to, lasting through to round eight before being eliminated by #9 Dane Clark.  At the same time, #3 Dmitri Richardson won his way into a bye by staying alive against defending champion #6 Diego Lujan.  In the next round Clark eliminated Lujan, setting a winner take all title game.  In an extremely well bowled match, Dane outscored Dmitri 243-228 to earn the second title and first major of his JBT career.  Lucero’s third place finish was plenty to outdistance Land Matthies and Aiden Ruiz-Jimenez for Bowler of the Year, his second straight award.

          The West family owned handicap qualifying, as Alex earned the top seed, with brother Zach right behind in the #2 spot.  Matchplay proved to be a struggle though, with Alex eliminating Zach in round four, and Alex falling in round six to McSmith.  Meanwhile, ten yar-old Brantley Forgue was tearing it up, undefeated through five rounds.  He finally fell in round eight to Naomi Kannady, who in turn was eliminated in third by #3 Josh Robideau.  Meanwhile McSmith cruised through with a bye and only one loss, meaning Robideau now had to win twice to take the title.

          McSmith left no doubt, winning game one for his first JBT title and $1K payday.  Robideau began the weekend on the TPC bubble, but climbed all the way to seventh with the runner-up result.

          Simultaneous subdivision Invitationals had Kannady earning Girls Scratch Invite champs as well as Bowler of the Year with a win over Mia Medina.  Trip Campbell and Braden Wearly engaged in a U17 title match that would decide Bowler of the Year, with Trip coming away with the win and the honor.

          Giant thanks to the team at Silva for hosting our most prestigious Mountain Conference event in fine fashion.  Top season long performers now advance to the 2026 Touring Players Championship, bringing the entire Tour’s best together for our biggest title! 

JBT 2026 INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENTS

$25,000 in scholarships

MINIMUM GUARANTEED!

Mojave: May 31, 9 AM, at Strike Zone

Pac NW: June 7, 9 AM, at Triangle Bowl

So Cal: June 14, 9 AM, at Winnetka Bowl

Mountain: June 21, 9 AM, Silva Lanes

Arizona: June 28, 9 AM, at Let It Roll  

ENTRY FEE: $60

Includes all scholarships except $2 scholarship brackets in both divisions

Eligibility:

Each event is open to anyone making TWO top-5 finishes in that Conference this season,

OR the top 40 in season-long points in that Conference after the last regular season event in that Conference

Format:

-QUALIFYING: Bowl 5 games across 10 lanes.   The top eleven 5-game totals, plus the top 5 season-long point scorers, advance to the triple-elimination finals!  (If a top-5 player does not bowl or chooses to bowl in the opposite division, additional bowlers will be taken to complete a 16-player field)

-FINALS: Bowlers will play TRIPLE elimination match play (keep bowling until you lose 3 times), until a winner is determined

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GUARANTEED PRIZE FUNDS, each event:

1^st-$1,000

2^nd- $500

3^rd- $250

4^th- $125

5^th- $100

Additional spots earn scholarships on a 1:6 ratio

PLUS The top 5 point scorers going into each Invite will have Invite winnings augmented to $50 minimum

ALL OTHER JBT RULES APPLY. SEE YOU THERE, DON’T MISS IT!!!