Kennedy & Jaquith Capture Super Bowl Sunday Major Titles

The PJBT continued its 18th Season with a return trip to 222 Dutch Lanes in Ephrata, PA.  Traditionally, we kickoff our new season with a Major Event at Dutch and then return on Super Bowl Sunday….for our Sunday Super Bowl Major Event!  This year’s Super Bowl Major Event saw 68 bowlers take to the lanes.  We had 44 bowlers in Scratch and 24 in Handicap.  All bowlers were competing on the Kegel Tower of Pisa Pattern.  Format for major was 6 games….top 40% advance to match play for 3 games.  After 9 games, top 6 advance to nfl playoff bracket final.

In Scratch, Brian Kennedy of Philadelphia, PA, captured his 6th career PJBT title and his 1st of the 2016-2017 Season.  Kennedy last won almost 18 months ago at our Major Event at Leisure Lanes in Sept 2015.  Kennedy took advantage of a pattern that started tough but opened up as the day went on.  He shot games during qualifying of 205, 226, 236, 205, 258, and 267.  Kennedy stood at +197 or 1397 for 6 games.  He was seeded 4th out of 18 bowlers but trailed qualifying leader Jack Celmer by 124 pins.  First cut for 18th place was +27 for 6.  Kennedy turned it on in Match Play.  He went 3-0 in Match Play with games of 217, 211, and 275.  These games propelled Kennedy into 2nd place position entering the bracket final.  He now trailed tournament leader Jack Celmer by just 4 pins.  As the #2 seed in the finals, Kennedy took on DJ Brown in his first finals match.  Kennedy defeated DJ Brown 224-202 to advance to the title match vs #1 seed Jack Celmer.  The title match was a good one….but in the end, Kennedy outlasted Celmer 228-214 to take home the major title.  Kennedy won a top prize of $300 in scholarship and a glass bowling pin for his Major Title Win!

In Handicap, Bethany Jaquith captured her 3rd career PJBT title and 2nd title this year.  Ironically, she has 3 career wins and all in MAJORS.  Prior to today, she won the Leisure Lanes Major Earlier in this year (Sept 2016) and the Berks Lanes Major (April 2014).  Jaquith entered the event with a 102 entering average and 88 pins per game.  In qualifying, Bethany shot scratch games of 122, 123,105, 113, 140, and 142.  This put her at 1273 or +73 after 6 games.  She was seeded 3rd entering match play.  The top 10 handicap bowlers made the cut and it was -24 for 6 games.  In Match Play Jaquith only went 1-2 but had games of 124, 142, and 109.  After 9 games, Jaquith stood at +142 and was seeded 4th entering the finals.  She trailed tournament leader Robert Patrula by almost 100 pins.  Jaquith had a longer road to victory….as she did not receive a bye in Round 1 of the finals.  Despite that, she went to the top.  In her first match, Jaquith defeated Breanne Hood 138-120.  In her semi-final match, she took on top seed Robert Patrula.  Patrula struggled and Jaquith upset Patrula 198-167.  This moved her into the title match vs #2 seed Logan Chappell.  This was a close title match, but in the end, Jaquith outlasted Chappell 162-137.  Jaquith won the $300 top scholarship prize and glass bowling pin trophy for her major title win.

On this day, both divisions got to bowl off the finals on GOLD PINS!  The PJBT was able to purchase additional gold pins from a supplier in Michigan and now have enough pins to roll off our title matches in all majors for BOTH divisions with GOLD PINS.

No honor scores were bowled on this day BUT we did give out bonus scholarships to our top finishing scratch girls – Chloe Skurzynski ($50) and Paige Boyd ($30).

Next Week:  PJBT rolls back into Mountainville Bowling Center for an old-school Singles Rolloff!  Regular Season Singles Event on wood lanes is Sunday, February 12th at 10:30am.