Reichenbach/Leon/Neuer & Brown/Homrighausen/Cleaver Win 3-Person Team Event of 2016

The PJBT continued its 17th Season with its only 3-Person Team Event of the Year.  This event is a popular event every year because of the special format in teams.   We had teams from New Jersey, Virginia, and many other states….join our PA regulars for a great event.  This year’s team event had 37 teams of 3 or 111 bowlers.  The format was 5 games for each team.  The top 40% of teams (8 in each division) advanced to an additional 3 games of qualifying.  After 8 Games, the top 4 teams advanced to our bracket final.  Bracket final was 1 game head-to-head match for seeds 1 and 4, 2 and 3.  Winners then bowled each other 1 game for the title.  We had 19 scratch teams competing and 18 Handicap Teams.

In Scratch, we saw a similar team take home the title.  Colby Reichenbach, Austin Leon, and Alexis Neuer, were all part of the 5-Person Team that won our Bowling Center Championship earlier this year.  They all collectively captured their 2nd season and career titles with another team victory.  In qualifying, Reichenbach/Leon/Neuer shot 699, 624, 628, 699, and 742.  They sat in 2nd place after qualifying at 3392 or +392.  They only trailed the team of Andrew Lazarchick/Matthew Stephens/Steve Pavlinko Jr, who was tournament leaders.  Lazarchick/Stephens/Pavlinko had dominated qualifying….shooting 3531 (+531).  Despite trailing by 160 pins, Reichenbach/Leon/Neuer shot games in Round 2 of qualifying of 630, 726, and 590.  They narrowed the gap but still sat 2nd after 8 games entering the finals.

In the scratch finals, #1 Lazarchick/Stephens/Pavlinko took on #4 seed team Kurtis Stidd/Olivia Farwell/Austin Farwell.  The other match was #2 Reichenbach/Leon/Neuer vs #3 seed Tristan Leyen/Joey Ciufo/Brian Kennedy.  Semifinal matches were exciting and came down to the last frame.  In the end, #1 Lazarchick/Stephens/Pavlinko defeated #4 Stidd/Farwell/Farwell 632-608.  In the other match, Reichenbach/Leon/Neuer defeated Leyen/Ciufo/Kennedy by just one pin 602-601.  This setup the title match.  #1 vs #2.  Reichenbach/Leon/Neuer got off to a hot start in the title match and never looked back.  They shot 662 and defeated #1 Lazarchick/Stephens/Pavlinko 662-575.  Reichenbach/Leon/Neuer team won a $540 scholarship for their victory ($180 per bowler) and each received a plaque for their win.

In Handicap, a new team from Central Dauphin High School, captured their first ever PJBT titles.  The team was Desmond Brown/Colby Homrighausen/Nathan Cleaver.   This team shot games during qualifying of 573, 556, 408, 481, and 512.   Combine these scratch scores with their 126 pins handicap per game and they stood at 3160 or +160 after 5 games.  They were near the top of the leaderboard as we entered Round 2 of qualifying.  In this round, they shot games of 531, 426, and 467.  This propelled them to +162 and the 3rd seed of 4 entering the finals.  The finals were #1 seed Paige Boyd/Riley Celmer/Kolby Bennett.  This team of Boyd/Celmer/Bennett had also a great day.  They led the leaderboard for most of the day bowling some exceptional games.  They were at +355 entering the finals.  The #2 seed team was Michael Blackburn/David Triggs/Jennifer Williams.  Our #4 seed team was Justin Bohn/Lucas Francis/Brandon Bohn.

In the Handicap Finals, it was #1 Boyd/Celmer/Bennett vs #4 Bohn/Francis/Bohn.  This was another close match down to the last frame but in the end…Boyd/Celmer/Bennett defeated Bohn/Francis/Bohn 634-605.  In the other semi-final, #3 Brown/Homrighausen/Cleaver defeated #2 Blackburn/Triggs/Williams 550-537.  In the title match, Brown/Homrighausen/Cleaver struck early and often.  They built up a lead that was tough to overcome.  In the title match, Brown/Homrighausen/Cleaver defeated Boyd/Celmer/Bennett 623-563.  Our championship team won $540 scholarship ($180 per team) and each received a glass plaque for their victory.

Congrats also to Bryan Bilanin who rolled a 299 Game During Round 2 of Qualifying.  Our 300 Pot sits at $66 and carries over to next week.