NEBA began its dual event weekend at Wonder Bowl lanes in New Bedford, Massachusetts with the Royal Flush Apparel and JoPo Grips Women - Senior and Super Senior event. The 35 participants comprised the small but competitive field on Saturday, April 5th. Bowlers competing in the “special cuts” event would be met with a 37ft, 27.75mL pattern with a 7.6:1 ratio giving the potential for high scores. Leading the qualifying stage was none other than tournament champion, Joe Scianna with a blistering +251(250.2 avg) for his 5 games. The regular cut score was Chris Forry at +161 and he would be accompanied by Joe and 6 additional players to comprise the 8-person single elimination finals.
Higher scores were proven to still be a must in the first round of match play. Joe Scianna came out on top of his first match against Mike Dupuis (NEBA HOF’r) 236-191. Following Joe into the semifinals would be Chris Forry who beat lone female finalist, Olivia Hillman 234-227, Steve Blanchet with his 254 victory over John Camara’s 206 and Daniel Levesque claiming his place with a 269-201 victory over Greg Flammand (NEBA HOF’r). The semifinals hosted the matches of Joe Scianna vs. Chris Forry (NEBA HOF’r) and Blanchet vs. Levesque. Joe, who had been throwing urethane in qualifying, chose to break out a Roto Grip RST Hyperdrive during match play. This gave Joe the perfect opportunity to flex his strike shoes and take the win against Forry 279-237 and advance him to the finals. Joining Scianna fresh off his 226-214 win was Steve Blanchet.
Moving into the championship finals, Joe would look to become part of the 5-time winners club while Steve would be adding a impressive 8th title to his accolades. The tone for scoring in the match seemed to be set by early opens from both competitors. Joe would bounce back from his 1st frame 2-10 split with a series of strikes and filled frames while Steve seemed to struggle finding the right shape as well as combating a few errant shots. While the pair appeared to test both players, Joe kept his lead running into the final frames with high quality shot making when he needed it. A late 7-10 for Blanchet would seal the deal and allow Scianna to walk calmly into the winners circle and claim his 5th NEBA championship! (181-159) Joe took home $700 plus and entry into this years TOC($125)! Steve would receive $500 for his runner-up efforts. We'd like to thank the staff at Wonder Bowl lanes for hosting and for continuing to support NEBA. We would also like to thank Royal Flush Apparel and JoPo Grips for sponsoring this event and their continued support of NEBA.
We invite you all to Nutmeg Bowl in Fairfield, CT for the BuddiesProShop.com Classic - $2,000 Added to Prize Fund and $1,000 Special Junior Prize Fund Presented by Island Bowling Supply. More information is available at BowlNeba.com or you can use the Google calendar link below.
Thank you to all of our members and sponsors. We could not continue to be one of the best tournament bowling organizations in the country without YOU!
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