Tack & Jennings Strike Out to Win at Jay Lanes

The PJBT continued our 16th season with a singles event at Jay Lanes in Douglassville, PA.  It was the final event to be held before the Christmas Holiday.  We had 47 bowlers come out for our singles event.

In Scratch, Greg Tack of New Jersey, captured his 1st ever PJBT Title.  On this day, Tack took the long road to victory.  After 8 games of qualifying and match play, Tack snuck into the finals as the 5th and final seed.  Ahead of him was tournament leader Austin Kerper, 2nd seed Ethan Resh, 3rd seed Alex Glinksi, and 4th seed Zachary Dragovits.  Tack knew to win he would have to beat every seed about him….and that is exactly what he did.  In the 4 game stepladder, Tack walked the ladder.  In Match 1, Tack defeated Zachary Dragovits 194-193.  In Match 2, Tack defeated Glinski 243-181.  In the Semi-final match, Tack defeated Ethan Resh 245-208…advancing him to the final match vs Austin Kerper.  The title match was a nail-biter.  Kerper finished the match first and posted a 214 score.  Tack knew he would need to throw 3 strikes in the tenth to win by 1 pin.  And that is what he did!  Tack threw 3 strikes in the tenth and won the title match over Kerper 215-214 to take the title by just 1 pin.  Tack took home the $200 top scholarship prize.

In Handicap, Shania Jennings captured her 1st PJBT title in similar fashion.  She struck out in the title match to win.  However, Jennings’ road to victory was slightly different from Tack.  Jennings took an early lead in the tournament and never looked back.  After 8 games of qualifying and match play, Jennings was the Handicap Tournament leader at +307.  Chasing Shania in the finals was 2nd seed Patrick Laushell, 3rd seed Deron Gilbert, 4th seed Alexander Horton, and 5th seed Javion Norman.  In the title match, Shania Jennings took on 3rd seed Deron Gilbert.  Gilbert advanced to the title match by defeating 2nd seed Patrick Laushell 192-156 in the semi-final.  This title match between Jennings & Gilbert had a similar script.  Gilbert had finished the match first and posted a 227 on the scoreboard.  Jennings needed to strike out to win by 6 pins…..and she DID!  She struck out in the 10th frame to take the match and the title 233-227.  Jennings captured the $200 top scholarship prize.

Thanks to tournament assistant, Josh Sattazahn, for finishing out the event on a day when I had to leave the event early!