AZ INVITATIONAL

champs Justin White (handicap) and Evan Olson (scratch) (see the' photos 6'  page of the website for additional Invitational photos)

   Evan Olson rolled past the Southwest's best junior scratch bowlers, while Justin White turned $10 into a $1000 scholarship, in breathtaking action at the JBT SW's Arizona Invitational Championship at AMF Christown.

   After ten games of qualifying and five grueling matches, the scratch division triple-elimination finals was whittled down to nine bowlers, including #2 seed Kevin Saunders, who enjoyed a sixth-round bye.  In round 6 matches, #12 seed Bill Grant suffered his first loss at the hands of the sixth-seeded Olson, while in elimination games, #13 Nathan Panaligan took care of #9 Jason Arnold, top-seed BJ Baker stayed alive by ousting last-chance squad winner Philip Schwartz, and #4 David Sevier dispatched #7 seed and JBT So Cal Bowler of the Year Josh Blanchard.

   In round seven, Grant recovered to eliminate Panaligan, Saunders handed Olson his second loss, and Baker eliminated Sevier.  Now with four bowlers left alive, and with a huge and vocal crowd sticking around, Saunders stayed alive by beating Grant 246-224, giving Bill loss number two.  Meanwhile, Olson caught fire and eliminated Baker 277-203, earning a bye in the next round which moved him on to the title match.  The match to determine Evan's opponent saw Grant confidently defeat Saunders 232-192 in the rematch, to set up, of all things, a Washington vs. New Mexico title match for Arizona's biggest junior event.

   Olson, from Burien WA, qualified for this event via a win in Kingman, and began the title match against Grant with the first seven strikes.  Bill stayed within range, however, with a double and four-bagger of his own, before an eighth frame spare, followed by Olson's eighth strike sealed his fate.  Two spares for Evan in the last two frames produced a final tally of 268-254 in the thrilling finale.  The win was the second of Olson's JBT SW career, and came with a whopping $1,135 in scholarships.  Grant earned a not too shabby $795 as the runner-up.

    A fiercely competitive handicap division endured a brutal qualifying round where only 10 of the 62 entrants would join the top-5 exempt bowlers in the triple elimination finals.  Justin White missed that cut, so he had to try and make the finals via the last chance squad, a 2-game sweeper where he and 41 other handicap division bowlers tried to beat long odds. Justin's 503 for two was just enough to turn the trick, so he advanced as the #16 seed for the finals.  All he did then was proceed to tear through the finals field, going undefeated through the first five rounds.

  In round six, White remained untouchable with a win over top-seed Kylee Bonneville, his second win over Kylee in the finals.  In other matches, #3 seed Brian Weyrauch eliminated #6 seed and all-conference point leader Shane Peck; #2 seed Philip Stephens ended #11 seed Jeff Millmier's day, and #10 Taylor Brennan stopped #8 Bryanna Dawson's fine run.  

 With five bowlers left in round seven, it was Stephens' turn to enjoy a bye, and he looked on as White rolled on, giving Weyrauch his second loss in a tight 233-229 battle.  In the other match, Bonneville stayed alive by eliminating Brennan 249-188.  With four bowlers left in round eight, Philip Stephens finally handed Justin his first loss, beating White 228-187, while Bonneville eliminated Weyrauch in the other match with a big 264-158 win. 

 Down to three bowlers, Kylee and Philip had to play each other for the right to have to beat Justin twice for the title.  That match turned out to be a thriller, with Bonneville getting a big strike in the tenth for a 225-213 win, eliminating Stephens.  However, in the title match against White he couldn't quite maintain the momentum, as Justin's solid bowling left no room for error.  White dominated the title match, and his 224-191 win gave him his second consecutive JBT SW title, and the third of his career.  He became only the second bowler to win an Invitational from the last chance squad, but having to best 41 others just to win that squad, let alone the other 15 finalists, makes this one of the most impressive JBT SW wins ever.  White picks up a cool $1000 for his win, while Bonneville pocketed $900 for second.

Congrats to Eric Warren and Saunders for rolling 300 games in the event, bringing the final total to 16 300 games rolled in JBT SW competition this season.  An unprecedented $11,225 in scholarships was awarded in the Arizona Conference's season-ending event. Thanks to Pat Cook and the fantastic staff at Christown for another great hosting job, and being one of JBT SW's biggest supporters since our inception.

TOTAL AWARDED THIS SEASON: $183,818

TOTAL AWARDED BY JBT SW: $599,304