Stidd & Little Hood Capture Major Titles on Live Televised Finals

The PJBT continued its 17th Season with Event #21 of the Season….our first MAJOR Event of the 2016 Campaign.  It was our SINGLES MAJOR event at ABC East Lanes in Harrisburg.  Major Events give out extra scholarships and have some unique features to the event.  This day was no exception!  Thanks to our sponsor, Heartland Bowling Tournaments, they assisted us in TELEVISING our FINALS LIVE ONLINE.  Their channel, Heartland Bowling TV….televised the finals live.  If you didn’t get to see it….check it out on YouTube.  Simply search youtube for Heartland Bowling Tournaments….click their link and our event is the most recent on the page.  I eventually will be posting the video in our video section on the website (mainpage left).

The event was a 6 Game Qualifier with 40% of the field in each division bowling 3 more games of Match-Play.  After 9 Games, the top 7 bowlers in each division advanced to our live televised finals.  The format for the finals was 2 Shootout Rounds (3 Bowlers bowl, top score move on) and 2 Stepladders.  The scores were low on this day as 78 Bowlers Competed and took on the WTBA Beijing Short Pattern.

In Scratch, Kurtis Stidd of Elizabethtown, PA, captured his 2nd title (1st Major) of the season and his 6th career PJBT title.  On a day when scores were low, Stidd survived qualifying shooting 1107 for 6 games (-93).  He sat in 11th place out of 18 bowlers who advanced.  After 6 games, only 2 bowlers were on the plus side…leader being Lawrence Bianco Jr at +37.  Stidd made his move in Match Play.  He won 2 of 3 matches shooting scratch games of 195, 186, and 246.  His final game of 246 helped boost him into the finals as the #3 seed.  In the live finals, he entered in Shootout #2 and faced #4 Kasey Sullivan and #6 Anthony Neuer.  Neuer won the first shootout.  In this second shootout, Stidd survived a charge from Sullivan and won 216-211-196.  Stidd then advanced to the semi-final match vs #2 Alex Glinski.  This match came down to the final shot but Stidd defeated Glinski 189-186.  This advanced Stidd into the title match vs tournament leader Zachary Dragovits.  In a survival-of-the-fittest match, Stidd outlasted Dragovits 176-171 to take home the title and the $300 top scholarship prize.  He also won the glass bowling pin trophy for his major title.

In Handicap, Breanne Hood, just 10 years old, captured her 1st career PJBT title.  Hood was near the top of the leaderboard all day.  She shot a 6 game scratch total of 573.  With her 94 handicap a game, she was tied for the lead after 6 games.  She was tied with Shania Jennings.  In Match Play, she became the tournament leader.  She won all 3 of her match play matches with games of 120, 122, and 105.  She was the tournament leader heading into the finals.  In the title match, she took on #2 seed Emily Skurzynski.  The match was very close and Skurzynski finished first.  It looked as though Skurzynski had it locked up late until Hood filled the tenth frame and won by just 4 pins.  Hood defeated Skurzynski 187-183 to capture the title and the $300 top scholarship prize.

No honor scores were bowled on this day so our 300 Pot carries over to next week.

Big thanks again to Brandon & Dylan Bower, directors of Heartland Bowling TV….for their live finals telecast.  The PJBT hopes to use this idea going forward in the future.