Glinski & Mattlingly Survive Atlanta Pattern for Major Titles at ABC North

The PJBT continued its 17th season with our 3rd Major Event of the Season.  It was a Major Singles Event at ABC North Lanes in Harrisburg, PA.  The event saw 86 bowlers come out and compete….with 41 in Scratch and 45 in Handicap.  Format for this major event was as follows….6 games qualifying / Top 40% of each division advanced to 3 Games of Match Play / Top 6 Advanced to Finals.  Finals format was 3-6 and 4-5 matches / winners bowled in each other / winner bowled 2nd seed in 1st of 2 stepladders.  The tournament was conducted on the challenging WTBA Atlanta Pattern….which caused the scoring pace to be lower than normal.  It made some of our final matches very interesting!  Read on to learn….

In Scratch, Alex Glinski became the first multiple winner of the 2015-2016 PJBT Season with his 2nd title of the season.  His road to victory was an interesting one though….as was for many competing on this day.  During qualifying, Glinski struggled through to make the first cut.  He shot 150 his last game of qualifying and sat at -118 for 6 games.  Glinski was seeded 14th out of 16 bowlers advancing….cut was -131.  Glinski then made his run in Match Play.  With some victories and good games….Glinski recovered to +31 and was the 2nd seed entering the finals.  In the semi-final match, Glinski took on #3 seed Tristan Leyen.  This match went shot for shot.  Glinski was ahead heading into the 10th frame but left a split and had an open frame in the 10th to shoot 210.  This gave Leyen a chance to win if he struck out in the 10th frame.  His first shot did not strike and Glinski survived.  He defeated Leyen 210-202.  Then, the epic title match.  Glinski took on Zachary Dragovits.  Dragovits had dominated the event all day leading from Game 1 to Game 9.  In the title match, bowl bowlers struggled.  Glinski had the lead but had open frames in the 8th, 9th, and 10th frame to give Dragovits a shot.  Dragovits continued to struggle with open frames.  Each bowler traded shots until the 10th when Dragovits needed a mark to win.  He left a split and did not convert.  Glinski survived an epic title match to defeat Dragovits 159-153.  Glinski won the $300 top scholarship prize and glass bowling pin award for a major title win.

In Handicap, Caitlin Mattingly captured her 1st first PJBT title….making it 9 different winners in 9 events in Handicap this year.  Mattingly was near the top of the leaderboard all day.  She was seeded in 3rd place after 6 games of qualifying with a score of 1249 or +49.  18th place cut was -98.  In match play, she maintained her position in 3rd place entering the finals.  She trailed tournament leader Emily Skurzynski and #2 seed Noah Pearce.  Her finals road to victory was not as easy.  In Match 1, she took on #6 seed Shania Jennings.  Mattingly defeated Jennings 178-141.  In Match 2, Mattingly took on Nate Davy.  Mattingly led for most of the match and defeated Davy 167-125.  This advanced her into the semi-final was Noah Pearce.  Mattingly again started strong and never looked back.  She defeated Pearce 192-127 and advanced to the title match vs Emily Skurzynski.  Skurzynski, similar to Dragovits, had dominated all day and led the event for most of the day.  In the title match, Mattingly filled frames and held on to defeat Skurzynski 166-135 to capture the title.  Caitlin won the $300 top scholarship prize and glass bowling pin award.