THE ORLEANS

champs DJ Sloan and Matt Raagas

The event at Orleans in Las Vegas saw the scratch division being tested on yet another very tough Sport condition while the handicap division was given the regular house pattern.  In both divisions, it appeared that the winners had already been determined through eight games.  Steven Black stayed at or near the top the entire day to become tournament leader, and the only bowler to be plus all day in the scratch division.  Willie Dubovik IV took over after the fourth game and lapped the field to become tournament leader in the handicap division.  Both bowlers would eventually lose in their respective championship matches.  DJ Sloan took care of Black by three pins 186-183 and Matt Raagas upset Dubovik IV by four pins 176-172.

Starting his climb up the ladder, DJ Sloan left opens in the first two frames but would come from behind to defeat Brandon Allred 182-157.  Allred's fifth place finish was enough to move him into 3rd spot in the point standings.  Sloan, who never bowled more than 231 all day on the tough pattern, tossed the last six strikes to easily take out Cameron Foster 216-157.  In the semifinal match Sloan would meet Christian Jensen, making his third consecutive top 5 appearance.  Sloan would fall behind by more than 20 pins thru five frames.  The tide then turned and Sloan, showing no signs that this was his first finals of the season, rattled off 6 strikes in the last seven frames sending Jensen home 202-166. 

Sloan was now in the championship match against Steven Black, the veteran JBTSW and Arizona State University star with 30 titles to his name.  DJ's one other title was last seasons Doubles Classic when he won with Brian Trubiro.  Black would get into trouble early with a pair of splits that he couldn't convert.  Sloan would stay clean through the first eight frames.  Black's late triple was still not enough to overcome Sloan, and DJ scored his first singles title.

8 year-old handicap finalist Jason Majdanski

In the handicap portion Carl Winder would start by eeking out a win over Jason Majdanski 196-190.  Majdanski becomes the youngest finalist in the short history of the Mojave Conference at just 8 years old.  But don't let his age fool you.  This tiny powerhouse already sports a 145 tour average and even rolled a huge 198 in the last game of the semifinals to make the top 5.   In match number two Nick Seghetti would use his handicap to overcome a pair of triples thrown by Winder, Seghetti winning 226-209.  The semifinal match brought in Raagas, already in his third top 5 finals this season.  Raagas stayed clean in all but one frame to defeat Seghetti, who ran into spare problems late in his match, 193-172.