Runk Wins Historic 10th and Kerr 1st at Red Crown Bowling Center

The PJBT continued its 18th Season with a Thanksgiving Weekend Singles Tournament at Red Crown Bowling Center in Harrisburg, PA.  This event was originally scheduled as a 2-day event but converted later back to a regular season 1-day event.  The event saw 52 bowlers take to the lanes….broken down with 30 in Scratch and 22 in Handicap.  Format for the event was our regular singles format of 5 games, top 40% bowl 3 match play games and a top 5 stepladder.  The event was conducted on the challenging PBA Cheetah Pattern.  This pattern is the highest scoring pattern for professionals but can challenge our youth.

In Scratch, Brandon Runk reached a historic milestone in his PJBT career.  He captured his 1st PJBT title of this year….but his 10th career PJBT title.  With 10 titles, Brandon is now in strong consideration for the PJBT All-Century Team in 2019.  Runk is now in a tie for 13th with multiple other 10 title winners in PJBT history.  Runk dominated the event from start to finish.  He rolled qualifying games of 23, 247, 206, 214, and 224 for 1114 (+114).  He maintained his lead in match play going 2-1.  He was the tournament leader entering the stepladder final.  In the title match, Runk took on Alex Glinski.  Glinski was the #3 seed entering the finals and he won his 1st 2 matches to advance to the title match.  Glinski defeated Tristan Leyen 192-169 and Ryan Graham 186-183.  The title match was up and down.  The finals pair was tough….and no one bowled a 200 game during our stepladder finals.   In the end, Runk outlasted Glinski 194-161 to take home the title and the $200 top scholarship prize.

In Handicap, Tevon Kerr of Harrisburg, captured his 1st ever career PJBT title.  Kerr entered the tournament with a 165 average and 31 pins handicap.  He started slow with a 154 scratch game but turned it on after that.  He shot 245, 150, 176,  and 186.  With his handicap, he stood at 1066 (+66) and was the tournament leader.  In match play, he slipped back to the #2 seed position.  He went 1-2 in match play and only trailed new tournament leader Severo Gordon.  Kerr entered the finals in the semi-final match versus #3 seed Sarah Fenicle.  Kerr defeated Fenicle 171-155 and advanced to the title match vs Gordon.  This match was classic.  It came down to the final shot for Kerr in the 10th frame.  Kerr needed 9 pins to win, 8 would force a tie.  He got 9 pins and won the match by just 1 pin!  Kerr defeated Gordon 168-167 to take home the $200 top scholarship prize and awards from Crown Trophy.

No honor scores were bowled today.  Next event on the PJBT Schedule is on Sunday, December 11th, at Jordan Lanes in Whitehall (Allentown), PA….10:30am Start Time.