Gaines & Barna Capture Coveted Bracket Tournament Titles

The PJBT began its 16th year Postseason with an event that everyone looks forward to every year.  It is our 15th Annual Bracket Rolloff Survivor Tournament.  For many who do not know….this is a unique event because the entry fee is NOTHING.  THIS IS A FREE TOURNAMENT for all bowlers who won a bracket during the bowling season.  For any bowlers who earned bracket wins during the season….they get to compete for all the scholarship money in the bracket fund account with this event.  This year, we gave away close to $10,000 in scholarships in the tournament.

The format is unique.  It begins with all bowlers who won 1 bracket during the year drawing for a lane.  On their assigned pair, they bowl 2 games.  The top half of the bowlers (eliminator style) in the division advance to Round 2.  Bowlers out in Round 1 of the event get a $15 scholarship.  Bowlers who advance from Round 1 join Round 2 Bowlers….bowlers who won 2 brackets during the year.  The same format continues for Rounds 2, 3, 4, and 5.  Bowlers who are knocked out the tournament in Round 2 earn $25, Round 3 $35, Round 4 $50, and Round 5 $75.  In Round 6, all the bowlers who remain bowl 2 games and the top 16 advance to our single elimination bracket final.  Bowlers are seeded based on their 2 game score in Round 6.  Non-advancers in Round 6 receive $100.  Round 7 is essentially the round of 16 for the bracket.  Bowlers compete head-to-head 1 vs 16, 2 vs 15, and so forth.  Each round is 2 games total pins.  Winners advance, non-winners are out.  Bowlers knocked in Round 7 get $125 scholarship and Round 8 $150.  The bracket goes from 16 to 8 to 4.  When at 4 bowlers, we go to single head-to-head matches.  We have a semi-final round to crowd our 3rd and 4th place finishers….who each receive $200 scholarship.  Then comes the title match to determine our champion.  Runner-up receives a $300 scholarship and the champion takes home a $500 scholarship!

In Scratch, Brian Gaines took home the title.  Gaines was a bowler already in the event at the max round of Round 6.  In his 2 game qualifying round, he shot 425 and was seeded 6th in the 16 bowler bracket.  In the Round of 16, Gaines took on #11 seed Kurtis Stidd.  Gaines shot 447 and defeated Stidd 447-400.  This advanced Gaines into the Round of 8 to face #3 seed Jack Celmer.  In a classic Round of 8 match, Gaines defeated Celmer 401-400.  This advanced Gaines into the semifinal match vs #10 Tristan Leyen.  At this point, matches were 1 game matches.  Gaines defeated Leyen 222-203.  This moved Gaines into the title match vs #1 seed Michael Martell.  In the title match, Gaines maintained a lead and never looked back.  Gaines defeated Martell 236-209 to take home the $500 top scholarship prize and the famous Bracket Rolloff Trophy.

In Handicap, Brianna Barna captured the coveted title.  Brianna had a similar road to victory.  She started the event in Round 6.  She shot 400 for 2 games of qualifying and was seeded 8th out of 16 entering the bracket final.  Barna’s first match saw her bowling #9 seed James Carnal.  Barna defeated Carnal 387-367.  This advanced her to the Round of 8, where she took on tournament leader and #1 seed Brianna Strickland.  This was a close match but Barna prevailed 408-382.  Barna then took on #12 seed Caden Duff in the semi-final.  This was an exciting match.  It came down to the last ball in the 10th frame.  Barna inched out Duff 199-196 to advance to the title match vs #7 seed Darren Zombro Jr.  Barna defeated Zombro in the title match 189-171 to take home the title and the $500 top scholarship prize.

Congrats to all our scholarship winners and bowlers who won on this day!