A Record 240 Bowlers Compete in 2016 Danny Wiseman Tournament – $25,591 in Scholarships Paid Out!!

** Danny Wiseman Scholarship Tournament Gives Away $25,591 for 2016 Event!! **

** Full Field Scholarship Payouts Listed Below Story **

The PJBT took a week off on Columbus Day Weekend to Assist in Running one of the Biggest Junior Bowling Events of the Year.  It is the 5th Annual Danny Wiseman Scholarship Tournament.  After over 6 months of preparation for the event, we saw a record 240 athletes take to the lanes in 3 SOLD OUT squads of qualifying.  This event saw us give away over $25,000 in scholarship as Danny fundraised for this event for months.  He did an excellent job doubling the prize fund with sponsors and silent auction items.  Thanks to all sponsors who donated cash or prizes to the event.

The format for this year’s Danny Wiseman Tournament was the following:  In the scratch division, the top 10 bowlers from each squad qualified Saturday into Sunday’s top 32 bracket final.  The top 30 were determined by the 3 squads and seeds 31 and 32 were top females (if not already in the cut) or the next 2 highest bowlers overall.  It just happened that we had 2+ females qualify in Round 1 of qualifying at 9am.  So the highest final scores overall got seeds 31 &32.  For Handicap, the top 10 bowlers from squad 1 and the top 11 bowlers from squads 2 & 3 qualified for the bracket final on Sunday.

Qualifying squads were conducted at 9am, 1:30pm and 6pm Saturday.  Sunday’s finals were top 32 double elimination bracket for 9 rounds.  Each match was 2 games total pins vs your opponent. Once we got down to 4 bowlers…we had a regular 3 game stepladder to determine our champion.  This event was conducted on a unique special kegel-created pattern by Danny just for this event.

Ironically, this year’s winners did not come from Maryland, where the event was hosted.  In addition, the scratch division champion, Ryan Graham, is a regular PJBT bowler in PA.  The PJBT has held 7 scratch events already this year and we still are to have a scratch champion…..BUT….we got our first scratch champion in this specialty event.

Ryan Graham of Lancaster, PA, brought home the $2000 top prize in this year’s Wiseman Tournament.  Graham bowled qualifying in our afternoon qualifier squad.  Graham qualified for the finals Sunday by finishing 4th on the 1:30pm qualifying squad.  He shot games of 183, 171, 215, 179, and 253 for 1001 (+1) for 5 games.  This landed Ryan the #12 seed of 32 entering the double-elimination bracket final on Sunday.

Graham started the day with a Round of 32 match vs #21 Cayla Hicks.  Graham defeated Hicks 384-344 to advance to the Round of 16 in the Winners Bracket.  Graham next took on former PJBT Bowler Dylan Zimmerman.  In a close match, Graham defeated Zimmerman 386-369.  Graham then advanced to the Round of 8.  Graham won this match big over Jarrett Defalco 491-336.  This landed Graham in a Winners Bracket Semi-Final Match vs Tom Hankey.  This match was a classic!  Hankey, the 2016 BEST Winner, went toe-to-toe with Graham.  They each shot 500 for 2 games and ended their match in a tie.  They went to a 2-frame rolloff….in which THEY TIED AGAIN!  at 37.  They went to a 2nd 2 frame rolloff….in which Graham defeated Hankey 39-24 to take the match.  Graham advanced to the Winners Bracket Final vs Daniel Lenk.  Lenk defeated Graham to capture the #1 seed in the stepladder final….while Graham was now the #2 seed being he finished the winners bracket runner-up.  The #3 seed became Jarrett Defalco as he defeated Mac Leightner in a final losers bracket match.  The #4 seed became Tom Hankey as he followed up his loss to Graham with a win in the losers bracket over Dylan Zimmerman.  Finals were set:  Lenk, Graham, Defalco, and Hankey.  Match 1 of the stepladder saw Defalco defeat Hankey 188-182.  Match 2 saw Ryan Graham defeat Defalco 193-168.  Title match was a re-match between Graham and Lenk.  This time, when it counted most, Graham defeated Lenk 211-184 to bring home the title.

Graham’s title won him $2000 scholarship and the first place bowling pin trophy!

In Handicap, Andrew Thorne Jr of Washington, DC, captured the top prize.  Thorne Jr set the pace during qualifying.  He bowled the 1:30pm qualifying squad and set the pace.  He shot 224, 215, 203, 180, and 164 during qualifying.  When you combine his scores with 18 pins handicap a game….he stood at +76 and was the squad leader for 1:30pm.  It ended out to be the best qualifying score bowled by all handicap bowlers on Saturday.  This gave Thorne Jr the #1 seed of 32 entering the bracket final Sunday.

Thorne’s route to victory was the hard way on Sunday!  In the first round of the final bracket, Thorne Jr took on #32 seed MariBeth Baker.  Thorne Jr defeated Baker 393-304.  This advanced Thorne Jr into the Round of 16 vs Emma Parenteau.  Thorne Jr also won this match 408-375.  Thorne Jr moved on to the Round of 8 in the winners bracket vs Mauriq Price.  This was where Thorne’s winning stopped.  Price defeated Thorne Jr 454-395.  Thorne then moved to the losers bracket and needed to win some matches.  He first defeated Siyah Sweeney 481-398.  Next, he squeezed out a win over Dean Courtney II 389-385.  Finally, Thorne Jr faced Christopher Lee for a spot in the stepladder final.  435-378.  This win earned Thorne Jr the #3 seed in the finals.  #1 seed was Ja’Sean Billings while the #2 seed was Mauriq Price.  The #4 seed was Chloe Franicevich.

In the stepladder final, Andrew Thorne Jr walked the ladder to capture the title.  First, Thorne Jr defeated Franicevich 173-165.  Next, Thorne Jr took on Mauriq Price in a rematch of an earlier match in the day.  Thorne Jr won the most important one 182-152.  This advanced Thorne Jr into the title match vs Ja’Sean Billings.  Thorne Jr outlasted Billings 192-182 to win the title.

Andrew Thorne Jr won $1500 top prize and bowling pin plaque for his title.

All in all, Event and Sidepots/Sweepers — we gave away $25,591 in scholarships!!!  Thanks to all 240 athletes who competed this year and we hope to see even more entries next year in the 2017 Edition.