BATON ROUGE, LA – The August BR Singles Tournament at Circle Bowl saw out-of-town bowlers from four different states advance through to the semifinals.
In the end 202 average bowler Bo Edwards Sr. from Columbus, Mississippi, who averaged 230 for his 16 games, walked away with the $4,168.50 from the total prize fund of over $20,000 with a 417-380 two-game handicap match win over Jason Noell of Mobile, Alabama. Noell is a 160 average bowler who averaged 163 for 22 games of tournament play.
So with a 77 pin difference in handicap, Edwards went to work with a 222 in the opening game of the final match, virtually making up all the handicap with Noell shooting 147. Edwards shot a 172 in a low-scoring second game to comfortably win the August BR title. Noell walked away with $2,084.25.
In the semifinals, Noell defeated Justin Monteleon of Lafayette, 470-458., while in a match of big averages, Edwards got a 494-484 decision over Mykel Holliman of Memphis, Tennessee.
Holliman came in with a 243 average and Edwards opened with a 23-pin handicap advantage. Holliman posted games of 227-257 in the match, but Edwards did what he needed to do (stay close in actual score) and his 225-246 gave him the win and advance him to the finals. The two semifinalists earned $875.39.
Reaching the quarterfinal round were Daniel Kellar of Slidell, Sumner Taylor and Justin Bui of Baton Rouge and Jared Thompson of Spring, Texas. Each bowler earned $583.59.
Louisiana bowlers in the round of 16 were Daryl Askins (BR), Cory Ledet (NOLA), Wayne Mannie (Lafayette), Jeremiah Sanderson (Bossier), Brandon Trahan (BR) and Brian Yoches (BR). That was worth $333.48.
A total of 526 entries took part in this the second of three BR Singles events in the calendar year. The next one is set for December. An interesting note from the very fine tournament staff is that for this tournament there were over 250 early bird entries. This is a relatively new thing that people have really begun to take advantage of to get into a specific shift that you may want to bowl.
Josh Sander and George Goohagen had 300 games in the qualifying round, while Holliman had a 300 game in the round of 96. Goohagen’s 300 helped him to the leading qualifier spot with an 804 set, while Holliman posted 769 in his set.
The Friday night sweeper and the $500 top prize was won by Jared Thompson by three sticks over Ryan Holland, 950-947, for four games. Thompson was in third going to the final game with 723, while Ryan Holland had 731 and Eric White 747. White posted 177, Holland 216 and Thompson got through to first with 227.
Thompson won $350 for second with White taking third for $200 with a 924. Justin Veitch (916), Taylor (905), Bui (899) and Austin Bertrand ($60) were the other cashers.
Strike Out
The Capital City Strike Out is back for its seventh go around on Sept. 1-2 at All-Star Lanes and this event is unique in that there is a nine-game qualifier over two days on three different lane conditions. There are two three-game blocks starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 1 with a three-game block at 8 a.m. on Sunday before the double-elimination finals begin. Based on entries, the top scholarship prize can be as much as $500 per division with a possible $750 first place in the U20 boys if there are 50 entries.
Last year’s event paid out over $4,500 in scholarships, so when you throw in the large amount the state match games paid at the end of last month, these two tournaments can really help someone’s college fund.
Also, this year’s U15 and U12 divisions will be boys/girls and the Europe/Asia handicap conversion will be used with girls receiving a 7-pins handicap per game, the patterns will not be announced in advance.
Those are a couple of little twists that should make things a little more interesting this year.
Honor roll notes
Tyler Wright had the best set of the week with a 791 at Premier Lanes with a 280 high game, while Cassandra LaCour led the ladies with 721, also at the same center. Eddie Balser’s 560 (205) led the youth leagues, while in the senior leagues Stephen McIntyre rolled 665 and Patsy Dew 646.
If you are interested in league bowling, now is the time to call your favorite bowling center and see what might be a good league to get involved in. They are all starting within the next few weeks and there are spots that centers would love to help you get involved with.
We are back on Aug. 28 and until then, good luck and good bowling.
