ANTELOPE LANES

champs Steven Black & Bryce Techmer

Steven Black maintained his recent momentum, while Bryce Techmer tasted victory for the first time, in exciting JBT action at Antelope Lanes.

Jeff Spiesman, a talented lefty from Ventura CA, made his long trip worth it by opening round one of the scratch division finals with a 223 game, defeating new Mexican Bill Grant (194), and Arizonan Elias Ewert (196).

Spiesman then fired a 237 in round two, beating Chris Weyrauch's 201 game, but had to sit and watch Theo Douthit bowl his tenth frame with a chance to win.  Theo got the strike he needed in the tenth, but then followed with a surprising 8-count, giving him a 236 finish and a 1-pin loss.

Jeff was unable to take much advantage of the huge break though, struggling to 197 in the semifinal match.  He and fellow Californian Danielle Schilling (155) fell to Steven Black's 235, advancing Steven to the title match.

Black is getting hot at just the right time of year, having won in Fort Mohave the week before.  However, so is top qualifier Christian Jensen, a winner this month in El Paso.  The two bowled a classic title match, neither bowler missing the pocket at all.  Jensen and Black both struck on their first ball in the tenth, which forced Christian to strike on the next ball to stay alive.  Unfortunately for Jensen, a stubborn 10-pin stood on that shot, giving a relieved Steven a 239-229 win, and his 40th career JBT SW title.

The handicap division finals opened with two of the Arizona Conference's top-5 point leaders squaring off, with Chelsea Zemelka getting the better off Kylee Bonneville, 204-152.  Local favorite Alex Martinez then got by Zemelka 227-209, but fell to Techmer in the semifinals, 238-197, giving Bryce his first trip to a JBT title match.

Top qualifier Rebecca Bodinet broke a long top-5-less streak by securing the top seed for the stepladder finals, and came out striking in the title match with the front four.  However, a missed 6-10 spare late turned the tide very suddenly.  Techmer, who had stayed close despite Rebecca's hot start, struck out from there, good for a 254-240 victory and his first career JBT title.

Everyone who finished in the top 5 qualifies for the 2006 JBT SW Arizona Invitational Tournament, the regular season's year end event, featuring a guaranteed minimum $1,000 first place scholarship in each division.  Top season-long point scorers also qualify for the 2006 JBT SW Touring Players' Championship, featuring a guaranteed minimum $2,000 first place scholarship per division! 

Thanks to everyone at Antelope for a great day in our annual visit to Prescott Valley.  The center has added 8 lanes and looks terrific- check it out!  Over $2,300 in scholarships were awarded to the huge field.   Please continue to help spread the word about the terrific benefits of bowling JBT SW events!