2006 Main Event Open Scratch Division

champ Brent Bowers and runner-up Craig Hanson

Brent Bowers put on a clinic all week long, capped off with a tremendous clutch performance in the title match, to capture the Scratch division title of the 2006 Las Vegas Main Event, presented by Ebonite International and the Junior Bowlers Tour. 

After three days of qualifying, the field was carved down to the top 78 for six tough matchplay games, after which the top 16 bowled in a unique bracket-style finals.  In round one, two simultaneous four-player matches were held, with only the highest game advancing.  In the top match, #13 seed Kevin Saunders' 247 was good enough to beat Jeremy Medina, Shawn Redd, and Matthew Tuckfield, while #10 Craig Hanson escaped from the bottom match with a big 259, beating Brad Miller, Jim Bosse, and Robyn Ashley.  

In round two's three-way matches, Saunders won the top bracket match again, firing a 244 to eliminate #5 Michael Pixley and #6 Scott Christensen (who rolled a 299 earlier in the event). Hanson made it through his second match as well, and in thrilling fashion, as he doubled in the tenth for a 276 game that edged a terrific 269 from BJ Baker, also eliminating a solid 232 effort from Jeff Spiesman.  

It wasn't the toughest shot in the world, but it sure wasn't a house shot, but these highly skilled bowlers just kept striking in the semis, with Hanson getting by #3 seed Andrew Koff, the '05 Main Event runner-up and fellow Floridian, by a 258-244 margin, while Saunders kept rolling as well, defeating 21-time east coast JBT champ Anthony Pepe 258-199.  

In round four, the semifinals, Bowers finally stopped Saunders' excellent run, 205-185, while Hanson remained unstoppable, getting by #2 Josh Blanchard, who was looking for his 5th straight win in JBT play, 209-193, to set up a great title match.

Craig had already beat seven outstanding bowlers to reach this point, and figured to have his toughest test against Bowers, who had set all kinds of Main Event scoring records, including an astronomical 827 set in qualifying, en route to securing the top seed.  However, it was the confident Hanson who rolled out to an early lead in the final, with Brent unable to find the range on the left hand lane.  When Bowers chopped a bucket on that lane in the 5th, however, it would be the last time he missed.  Making a set of great moves, he struck out from there, and he would need every one as Hanson hung tough as well.  Needing a double and count to shut out, Brent threw two more flush hits for the win, and an enormous $5,450 payday.  Hanson's great run through the finals ended with a terrific $3,270 consolation prize.  

Thanks again to Ebonite, as well as to Texas Station for a first-class hosting job.  In all, a tremendous $53,589 in scholarships was awarded to a 1,000+ entrant field.  Find all the Main Event results and learn more about the Junior Bowlers Tour at www.bowljbt.com, and we'll see you at Texas Station in 2007 for the next Main Event! 

For more info, feel free to write us at jbtsouthwest@aol.com.