CURRENT EVENTS

JODY CRAVOTTA TOPS POWERFUL BEST FIELD FOR $5,000 SCHOLARSHIP PRIZE

Jody Cravotta of Rochester, NY defeated Michael Opperman of Williamsburg, VA, 233-178, in the championship game to win the 5th Annual Bowlers of Eastern Scholarship Tours tournament, held at Laurel Lanes in Maple Shade, NJ. Cravotta had qualified third after 24 games in two days and had to survive two nail-biting matches to reach the final game against qualifying leader Opperman,

Todd Sigeti of Lititz, PA led the field after the first block of qualifying with a 1556 6-game total (a 259+ average). Kyle Keegan of Rochester, NY was second, 18 pins back, and Ryan Wyandt of West Lawn, PA was third with 1477. A much more challenging lane condition was presented to the bowlers in the second block. Adam Chase of Seaford, NY had the high series of the second block of 1449 which vaulted him into third place with a 2757 total. Keegan's 1295 moved him onto the lead with a 2833 total, and Sigeti rolled 1254 to qualify second with 2810. The field was then cut to the top 88 bowlers, who advanced to the second day of competition.

Keegan held the lead after the first round of match-play, rolling 1288 for six games and winning four of six matches. Cravotta rolled 1439 and won all of his matches to move from 14th to second place. Opperman had the high series of the round with 1522 and also went undefeated to jump from 33rd place to 3rd. Sigeti (1263, 3-3) and Chase (1224, 5-1) rounded out the top five. The field was then cut to the top 44 bowlers.

Opperman rolled 1309 in the final six-game block and won 5 of 6 matches to earn the top spot in the ten-person finals. Anthony Pepe of Jackson Heights, NY made the biggest move during the block, climbing from 14th place to 2nd with 1457 and a 6-0 match play record. Pepe was followed in the very close standings by Cravotta, Sigeti and Tyler Herrman of Harrisburg, PA.

The 10-person step-ladder finals began with Richard Farrington of Rochester rolling a 201 to eliminate Dan Vick of Pittsford, NY and Chase, who each had a 178 game. Keegan then defeated Farrington and Dave Gerhart of Lititz, PA, 267-216-168. In the final three-person match, Herrman (220) survived an exciting match with Keegan (218) and Sigeti (212).

Cravotta then outscored Herrman in a match that came down to the final frame, winning 198-192. Cravotta moved on to face Pepe and got the double he needed in the tenth frame to advance to the championship game, 196-194.

Cravotta earned a $5,000 scholarship to go with the very prestigious title. Opperman earned $2,500 for his runner-up finish and Pepe $1,500.

Justin Hammerstone of Lititz, PA won the $1,000 top scholarship in a special handicap prize list with a 2559 12-game handicap score. Andrew Phillips of Norristown, PA was second (2482, $500), followed by Isiah Tolbert of Paterson, NJ (2466, $250), Carly Thomas of Frederick, MD (2463, $150) and Austin Kissinger of Lititz (2452, $150)

A total of $24,270 in scholarships were awarded, with 95 bowlers sharing in the prize fund. The top forty-four finishers are listed on the 2008 BEST Tournament results page.

MAJOR TOURNAMENTS HIGHLIGHT A BUSY SUMMER SCHEDULE...

The next three months will feature a bunch of exciting high-scholarship events that will complete the JBT season. A few New Jersey Conference regular singles events remain which will carry great importance in determining the Bowler-of-the-Year, All-Conference Team, and who will be the pre-qualified bowlers for the JBT Challenge Tournament. Some bowlers still need to reach the five events that are required to participate in the conference Invitational Tournaments and the Challenge. There will also be a Bonus Prize List at the Challenge Tournament that will be available to bowlers who have competed in a minimum of 12 JBT events during the season.

Check our schedule page for all the remaining events, but here's what's next:

June 21.....THE NERVE-WRACKER, PENNDEL BOWLING CENTER, Penndel, PA -- All entrants qualify for head-to-head elimination matches, which are often determined by a one-ball roll-off. If you're not prepared to perform under pressure, this is not a tournament for you!

June 22.....SCRATCH ADULT-JUNIOR TOURNAMENT, T-BOWL LANES, Wayne, NJ -- Five games of qualifying followed by the single-game elimination finals. Anything can (and often does) happen in a one-game match!

June 28.....OCEAN LANES, Lakewood, NJ -- one of the few remaining regular-season New Jersey Conference events, and a chance for those bowlers who haven't reached 5 JBT events yet. This tournament is open to everyone.

June 29.....TOURING PLAYERS POWER RANKING CHAMPIONSHIP, VAN HOUTEN LANES, Clifton, NJ -- Always one of the most popular tournaments of the season with the scratch bowlers. A 5-game qualifying round, 16 games of match play and a step-ladder finals. Eligible bowlers (based on the JBT Power Rankings) will receive entry blanks.

Qualifying for INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENTS: In order to be eligible to compete in any Invitational tournament, a bowler MUST: 1) make the finals at least once in the conference, OR 2) be among the top 15 bowlers in the point standings after the final regular singles event of the conference, OR 3) bowl at least one-half of the singles events offered in the conference. ALSO: a bowler MUST compete in a minimum of five JBT tournaments (any conference) to be eligible for ANY Invitational.

WHAT'S THE ALL CONFERENCE TEAM???

Beginning two years ago, the JBT ran an Inter-Conference Team Championship at the Challenge Tournament. This has proven to be a popular and fun event with the bowlers as the friendly rivals do battle on the lanes. The scores bowled in the five-game qualifying round on Sunday in the Challenge Tournament by each team member are used to determine the Team Champion. There is no charge to the team members and each member of the winning team (scratch and handicap) will receive a $100 scholarship.

The team members are made up of the top two finishers in the conference Invitational Tournament and the top eight bowlers in the final point standings. Each conference will have two teams (scratch & handicap) of ten members each. Since some bowlers compete in more than one conference, it is possible to be on more than one team.

During each of the qualifying games, the BEST FIVE games bowled by the team members will be used as the team's score for that game. This means it will not always be the same bowlers' scores that are used...it will be the best scores from among the team members in each game. At the end of five games, the scores are added up and the winners are determined.

WHAT'S A PRE-QUALIFIED BOWLER???

The JBT Challenge Tournament is a two-day event. Bowlers compete on Saturday to determine who will advance to Sunday. Bowlers who are pre-qualified are NOT REQUIRED to bowl on Saturday (although they can if they wish), they AUTOMATICALLY ADVANCE to Sunday.

Pre-qualified bowlers are:

1) The top five finishers in the point standings in each conference (scratch & handicap)

2) The top three finishers in each conference Invitational Tournament ( scratch & handicap)

3) The top three finishers in the JBT Masters Tournament (scratch & handicap)

4) The top three finishers in the Power Rankings (scratch) and Partici-Formance Rankings (handicap), who did not earn pre-qualified status through any of the above methods.

IS BEING PRE-QUALIFIED A GOOD THING??? You bet it is! What could be better than KNOWING you will advance to the second day of a two-day tournament? And if you desire, you can even skip the first day and only come on the second day (no scores from Saturday are carried to Sunday).

ALEX WEGLARZ, CHRISTIAN GARRISON WIN JBT MASTERS TITLES

Alex Weglarz (scratch) and Christian Garrison (handicap) were the winners of the JBT Masters Tournament held at Baker Lanes. Each bowler earned a $1,000 scholarship for his victory in the grueling event, which included 8 qualifying games followed by a tension-filled triple-elimination finals.

Darren Andretta led the scratch bowlers in the qualifying round (averaging 238+), followed by Dillon McKeon and Kyle Handoga. Weglarz started the day slowly and after 4 games found himself almost 100 pins out of the cut for the top 16 bowlers. He then rolled 999 for his final four games to qualify in 13th place.

Weglarz continued his torrid pace in the finals, where he averaged 250.6 for ten games, including a 300 game. The last bowler standing besides Weglarz was Handoga, who needed two consecutive wins for the title. Although Handoga's 259 in the first game required one final game to determine the champion, Weglarz rebounded with a 277 to earn his 22nd JBT title.

Anthony Pepe finished third, McKeon was fourth and Jeff Szabo was fifth. Andrew Stewart also had a 300 game and Ryan Appel rolled a 299.

In the handicap division, Andrew Suscreba led the qualifying round, followed by Collin Brackin and Garrison. After losing two of his first three matches, Garrison avoided elimination for five more games and reached the title match against Emily Phillips. Garrison defeated Phillips 247-220, for his second career JBT title.

Gary Patten finished third, John King was fourth and Loree Krupski finished fifth.

A total of $6,548 in scholarships were awarded in the event.

DON'T MISS OUT ON THE VALUE OF JBT MEMBERSHIP

Although participants are not required to become a JBT member in order to enter an event, it's probably a good idea even for the occasional bowler. Members receive a discount at almost all events of $1 (and $4 for prepaid entries). Members also receive a coupon book with over $100 worth of discounts or freebies that can be used throughout the season.

The annual membership fee (September through August) is $25. With proper use of coupons and all available discounts, a bowler can save more than $25 in his/her first two events! This means that all future discounts during the season will be a bonus beyond the cost of membership. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SAVINGS AVAILABLE TO YOU!!!

HIGH STAKES SCRATCH SHOOTOUT RULES

Since many bowlers have expressed an interest in competing for larger scholarship prizes in a one-day event, the JBT is proud to announce the creation of the High Stakes Scratch Shootout Tournaments. As indicated by the name, these are SCRATCH ONLY tournaments. These events will begin on a trial basis in Pennsylvania, where the scratch turnout has remained strong but the handicap turnout has dropped off. Bowlers from all conferences are welcome to compete, of course, and if the response is good the tournaments will be added as part of the regular schedule elsewhere. A handicap division may also be added in the future.

The new format will reward the bowlers who do well in the qualifying round yet still allow more bowlers to advance to the point where they have a chance to win the tournament. The first place scholarship prize is GUARANTEED at $500 for these four events in the fall (it may grow in the future) and the entry fee is $50.

Everyone will bowl a 5-game qualifying round and 22 bowlers will advance to the elimination round. The bowlers with the two highest scores from each of the qualifying games will be ten of the qualifiers, and the remaining 12 qualifiers will be those bowlers with the highest 5-game totals. Usually, those who have high games in the qualifying round are among the leaders anyway, but this format keeps everyone in contention until the final game of qualifying.

Qualifiers will then be seeded based on their 5-game totals and the matches will begin with the 7th through 22nd seeded bowlers being paired up highest-to-lowest seed. The eight winners will then be joined by the bowlers who were seeded 3rd through 6th, paired up in the same manner, and six winners will advance. These six bowlers will then be joined by the 1st and 2nd seeded bowlers and paired up to cut the field to four. The four winners will then be reduced to two winners in the next match, and those two bowlers will face each other for the title.

IN ALL ROUNDS OF ELIMINATION PLAY, the higher seeded bowler must win one game to win the match while the lower seeded bowler must win two games to win the match. Obviously, seeding position is very important, but a bowler can possibly come from as low as 22nd place to win the tournament. At least eight scholarship prizes are guaranteed in each event ($500-250-125-125-50-50-50-50) with additional prizes being added as entries exceed 48.

This format should prove to be an exciting one, and the larger scholarship prizes will add to that excitement. Scratch bowlers are urged to give these tournaments a try....and then feel free to offer any suggestions they think will add to the quality of the events.

CHRIS BARDOL WINS BUDDIES PRO SHOP OPEN

Chris Bardol defeated Kyle Rasmussen in the championship match to win the 8th Annual Buddies Pro Shop Open, held at Nutmeg Bowl in Fairfield, CT. Bardol averaged 198 for 28 games on a difficult condition and survived the double-elimination format of the finals to win his first career JBT title.

Adam Chase led the 12-game qualifying round with a 2337 total (a 194.8 average), followed by Alex Weglarz with 2297 and Jeff Wallace with 2289. Bardol was 6th with 2241, while Rasmussen was 14th with 2154. It took a 2049 total (170.8 average) to advance to the 32-person finals. The finals were a series of two-game matches with the highest total winning. When a bowler lost for the second time in the finals, he/she was eliminated.

Bardol finished with a 7-1 record in his matches to earn the top scholarship prize of $2,000. Rasmussen was 6-2 enroute to his runner-up finish and a $1,200 scholarship. Mandy Pezzano and Jeff Szabo were 3rd and 4th, each winning $500. Matt Gasn and Casey Irvin were 5th and 6th for $250. All 32 bowlers reaching the elimination finals earned a scholarship prize.

The JBT once again thanks Buddies Pro Shop for sponsoring the event, as well as for their sponsorship of the Buddies Pro Shop Bowler-of-the-Year awards.

GIANCARLOS MARRERO, TOM KULESZA WIN JBT CHALLENGE TITLES

At the end of two days of high-scoring competition, Giancarlos Marrero and Tom Kulesza emerged as the champions of the 2007 JBT Challenge Tournament. Each bowler earned the top scholarship prize of $2,000, with more than $20,000 being awarded over the weekend.

Marrero defeated Travis Celmer in the scratch division title match, 247-200 to earn his second career JBT title. Celmer had led the field on Sunday, averaging better than 246 for his eight games. In the handicap division, top-qualifier Kulesza won his sixth JBT title of the season with a 223-206 win over Tommy Winschel.

Earlier in the scratch finals, Adam Chase rolled a 259 to win a four-way roll-off against Eric Cornog, Matt Mertz and Tony Bennett. Brandon Moon won the next match, with his 244 winning a close battle with David Knight Jr., Keith Kozak and Chase. Marrero then defeated Moon, 237-202, and followed with a 222-217 victory over Adam Bunting to earn a trip to the title match.

Emily Phillips began the handicap finals with a 305 game (with handicap) which topped Robert Borovec, Felix Dai and Jackie Carbonetto. Jake Cumming then rolled a 254 to defeat Phillips, Eric Steinberg and Jordan Griff. Eric Larson won the next match, over Cummings, 277-253, before falling to Winschel, 213-165, sending Winschel to the final game.

In other Challenge-related competition, Kulesza also won the Super-Brackets finals over Dennis Surmaczewicz to win the $500 top scholarship prize. Kulesza capped his dream weekend by winning the Etonic Bowler-of-the-Month Roll-off with a 757 handicap series to earn an additional $200 scholarship.

Kyle Handoga won the scratch Super-Bracket finals over Darren Flynn and David Knight Jr. to capture the top $500 scholarship prize. Adam Chase had a 744 series to win the top $200 scholarship in the Etonic Bowler-of-the-Month Roll-off.

The Inter-Conference Team Championship provided lots of excitement as it had the previous season. In the scratch division, the New Jersey team rolled a 6046 5-game total to edge the Delaware Valley Conference team by 25 pins. In the handicap division, the New York team had an easier time with their 5934 total topping runner-up Delaware Valley by 162 pins. Each member of the winning teams receives a $100 scholarship.

The winners of the Buddies Pro Shop Bowler-of-the-Year awards were also announced, and the winners are:

BUDDIES PRO SHOP BOWLER-OF-THE-YEAR

SCRATCH DIVISION 2006-07

NEW JERSEY	DAVID KNIGHT JR.
NEW ENGLAND	ALEX WEGLARZ
PENNSYLVANIA	DAVID KNIGHT JR.
DELAWARE VALLEY	DAVID KNIGHT JR.
NEW YORK	JON TRZCINSKI

HANDICAP DIVISION 2006-07

NEW JERSEY	ERIC LARSON
NEW ENGLAND	JOHN KING
PENNSYLVANIA	ADAM KOHLER
DELAWARE VALLEY	TOM KULESZA
NEW YORK	ERIC KENNEDY

DEAN RICHARDS, ZACH HATTORI WIN LAS VEGAS OPEN CROWNS

Dean Richards of Tacoma WA and Zach Hattori of Las Vegas were the scratch and handicap division winners of the 11th Annual JBT Las Vegas Open. Although the scoring was much lower than last season, neither bowler seemed to be affected very much as Richards outscored a quality scratch field and Hattori pulled off a rare back-to-back victory in the handicap division.

Richards was near or at the top of the leader board throughout most of the event and ended up in first place after 12 qualifying games with an average of better than 230. Only 20 of 114 scratch bowlers were able to average 200 for those 12 games. He then averaged close to 220 for the eight games of match play, winning half of those games to lead the field heading into the step-ladder finals.

The new 10-person finals began with Ernie Lukacs of Manville, NJ winning the first match when his 215 topped Jessica Baker of Springfield, OH, Jon Buckert of Rochester, NY and Mike Wodzinski of East Meadow, NY. Chris Pierson of Waukesha, WI won the next game with a 224, over Shane Tetterton of Kenhorst, PA, Lukacs and Emily Maier of Wichita, KS. Pierson then defeated Josh Blanchard of Moreno Valley, CA, 245-216, before falling to Devin Bidwell of Simi Valley, CA, 249-207.

In the championship match, Richards put together a string of strikes in the middle of the game to defeat Bidwell, 246-216. Richards earned a $2500 scholarship for the win, while Bidwell took home $1600 for his runner-up finish.

In the handicap division, Hattori also led throughout most of the event, going +133 (with handicap) for twelve games when only three other bowlers managed to stay on the plus side out of 74 entrants. Hattori then went 7-1 in match play and finished with a twenty-game average of 204 (his entering average was 197) to lead going in the finals.

Dominic Cuomo of El Paso, TX won the opening match of the step-ladder finals when his 253 topped Taylor Quintana of El Paso, Darcie Staggs of Bullhead City, AZ and Lynne Czyzewicz of Glenside, PA. Cuomo fired a 237 game in the next match to defeat Alan Williams of Hanover, PA, and sisters Samantha McFarland and Bailey McFarland of El Paso.

Taylor Ray of Las Vegas then defeated Cuomo, 177-160, and followed with a 235-223 win over Jeffrey Suma Jr. of Lake Orion, MI. Ray then took on high-qualifier Hattori and although the match was close for most of the game, Hattori put a string of strikes together late in the game to claim a 220-184 victory. Hattori's win earned him a $2,000 scholarship prize while Ray earned $1,200 for second place. It was the second consecutive year Hattori had won the handicap division of the event despite having improved his average more than 25 pins. He will have to try for three in a row while competing in the scratch division next year.

Over $25,000 was awarded in scholarships during the event, which included a warm-up tournament and two separate eliminator events. Brent Bowers of Mulvane, KS rolled a 697 to win the $1,000 scholarship prize in the scratch division of the Early Bird Tournament and Alan Williams had 657 to win the handicap division and the $350 scholarship.

Eliminator winners were Matt Sabin of Woodbridge, NJ and Matt Gasn of Laurel, MD in the scratch division and Daniel Hansen of Huntington Beach, CA and Brady Briggs of Keizer, OR in the handicap division.

The Junior Bowlers Tour will return to the Orleans Bowling Center for the 12th Annual Las Vegas Open on July 31 through August 3, 2008. Information will be available in November, 2007.

ANTHONY PEPE WINS NERVE-WRACKER ON FINAL BALL OF TOURNAMENT

Just as it was designed, the 3rd Annual Nerve-Wracker tested the abilities of the bowlers to perform under pressure, with survival in the tournament often coming down to a single shot. The tournament featured a unique best-of-two elimination format, with all ties (each bowler winning one game) being decided by a one ball roll-off.

The championship match between Anthony Pepe and Tony Bennett was all that could be expected. Top-seeded Bennett had averaged better than 240 for the day and brought a 9-0 match play record into the final round. Pepe had averaged better than 227 and had survived two one-ball roll-offs earlier in the day to reach the final match.

After Anthony won the first game, 195-191, Tony came back with a 234-215 victory, leaving the outcome of the tournament to each bowler's final shot. Tony went first and although he threw a great shot, the 10-pin stood. Anthony then rolled a strike to capture his fourth title of the season and 24th of his career. He earned a $600 scholarship for the win.

MANDY PEZZANO SETS SCRATCH TITLE RECORD FOR FEMALES

A collection of all-time JBT records tumbled at the hands of Mandy Pezzano at the recent event held at Ocean Lanes in Lakewood, NJ.

Mandy rolled a 1207 qualifying total and then followed with an 804 series in the semi-finals (and won her 3 match games) to finish with a final 8-game total of +501. It was the first time a female ever broke the +500 mark in a regular JBT singles event; and a rare accomplishment for any JBT bowler. The 800 series was the second of her JBT career, another first for females. The 299-804 in the semi-finals also extended another JBT record Mandy already held; bring her career honor score total up to six.

Of course, the most important event of the day was the title match, where Mandy defeated Ernie Lukacs, 278-210, to win the tournament, becoming the first female to reach five career scratch titles. Mandy averaged 254+ for her nine games and better than 270 for her final four games.

JBT HISTORY PAGE IS NOW UP-TO-DATE THROUGH 2006

It took a lot of digging through old records, but the history page of the Junior Bowlers Tour (on this website) is now up-to-date through the 2005-06 season. We will continue to add items to the various years as things we may have overlooked are brought to our attention. Feel free to contact us if you think we've missed anything of interest or importance.

Make sure you check out the history page....you may be surprised at some of the stats and some of the names you come across.

LOYALTY PROGRAM CONTINUES INTO 2007-08 SEASON

The Junior Bowlers Tour has a special program to provide an additional reward to those loyal bowlers who attend JBT tournaments on a regular basis. The champion of each singles tournament will earn a bonus scholarship prize based on his/her participation in previous JBT events.

All champions will continue to earn a $100 scholarship for first place as always and will also receive an additional $5 scholarship for each consecutive tournament they have bowled prior to their victory. The number of consecutive tournaments bowled is carried forward from year to year.

For example: When a bowler has competed in the previous five JBT singles events, he/she receives a Loyalty Bonus of $25 if he/she wins that day's tournament, bringing the first place prize to a total of $125. When a bowler has competed in the previous ten JBT singles tournaments, the Loyalty Bonus becomes $50 and the total first place prize becomes $150.

The consecutive tournaments bowled records are maintained for each bowler and in each of the JBT conferences separately. Bowlers may earn a Loyalty Bonus up to a maximum of $100 (20 tournaments) bringing the total first place prize up to $200.

The Champion Loyalty Bonuses have been increasing as each bowler's number of consecutive tournaments bowled has been increasing. Even when a bowler wins a tournament and earns a Loyalty Bonus, the available bonus continues to grow for the next tournament. Many bowlers have enjoyed the full benefit of the Loyalty Bonus, earning a $200 scholarship for their victory.

BUDDIES PRO SHOP BOWLER-OF-THE-YEAR AWARDS

The JBT offers its thanks to Buddies Pro Shop for once again donating $1,000 which is awarded as scholarship prizes for the 2006-07 Bowler-of-the-Year winners. A total of ten bowlers (five conferences, scratch & handicap) each received a $100 scholarship for their accomplishments throughout the season. Buddies Pro Shop will once again be awarding a $100 scholarship to each Bowler-of-the-Year in the 2007-08 season. Buddies Pro Shop (located at Nutmeg Bowl in Fairfield, CT) supplies assistance for all bowling equipment and drilling needs, and has a large following of JBT bowlers and their families from throughout the Northeast. Make sure you visit their website at www.BuddiesProShop.com.

If you are not yet on our mailing list, send your name and MAILING address and we will make sure you get a copy of the new season's schedule and rules.

We have begun to list a summary of each of the JBT seasons of the past. We will continue to add to the JBT History page until we reach the present. Make sure you check it out -- there are lots of interesting facts.

Just a reminder, we will be listing the high games bowled in JBT competition during the 2007-08 season on a separate page. Click the button below to reach our Honor Roll page.