Walter Tomlin & Nick Rynes Win at Strike Zone on New Years Eve Day

The PJBT continued its 17th season with a New Years Eve Day Tradition!   Every year, the PJBT has an event on New Years Eve Day close to Tournament Director Matt Himmelreich’s home.  The PJBT event is held at Strike Zone Alleys in Pottsville, PA….just 10 minutes from his home.  This year’s event saw 73 Bowlers Take on the Lanes for Scholarship Prizes.  We had 39 in Scratch and 34 in Handicap.

In Scratch, Walter Tomlin, of West Virginia, captured his first Scratch Singles Title.  Tomlin, who flirted with victory over the holiday PJBT tournaments….finally reached the top of the mountain on this day.  Tomlin came into the event finishing 4th twice at our xmas tournament events and had won the Pittsburgh Shootout run by Travis days earlier.  Tomlin sat in 7th place after 5 games of qualifying, with a 5 game scratch total of 1127 or +127.  The top 16 advanced to Round 2 (Match Play).  The qualifying cut was +78.  In Match Play, Tomlin made his run to the top of the leaderboard.  He won all 3 of his match play matches….shooting games of 238, 245, and 234.  After 8 Games, Tomlin was the tournament leader entering the stepladder final.  In the title match, Tomlin took on 3rd seed Brandon Runk.  Runk, a former champion of this event, was looking to repeat.  Tomlin started the match with some strikes and never looked back.  Tomlin took the title, defeating Runk in the title match 227-193.  Tomlin won a top prize of a $200 scholarship and award from Crown Trophy.

In Handicap, Nick Rynes captured his first PJBT title.  Rynes was seeded in 3rd place after qualifying out of 14 bowlers advancing.  Rynes shot 1136 or +136 for 5 games.  The qualifying cut was +17.  In Match Play, Rynes won 2 of 3 matches and shot a scratch 269 in his final game of match play to boost himself into the lead of the event entering the stepladder finals.  In the title match, Rynes took on #5 seed Brianna Honish.  Honish was hot entering the final match.  She walked the stepladder for 3 matches prior to the title match.  Honish defeated #4 seed Lexi Kile 179-138, #3 seed Andrew Buchinski 182-151, and #2 seed Brandon Hillman 184-171.  In the title match, Honish and Rynes went down to the final frame.  Rynes outlasted Honish and took the title 217-200.  Rynes won the $200 top scholarship prize and award from Crown Trophy.

Congratulations also went out on this day to Sam Bortnick, who shot an 11 in a row 290 during qualifying.  Also, Raychon Brown shot a perfect 300 Game during the final game of qualifying.   However, Raychon was not in the 300 Pot and the money carried over.  Brandon Runk also shot an 11 in a row 290 Game During Match 2 of the finals.  Lots of honor scores on this day!