Filled with all the turkey and dressing they could eat, the JTBA and its players rolled into Manfield’s Park Lanes for the third consecutive season, for the annual Pepsi Park Lanes Open. Special thanks go out to Joe and his staff at Park for their overwhelming hospitality yet again this season. Also thanks go out to Pepsi for their co-sponsorship of the event, along with Park Lanes.

A 37 foot pattern awaited our players, and it posed quite the challenge throughout the day, as only four bowlers found themselves in the black after our 6 game qualifying round. A pair of Michigan residents led the qualifying rounds, with Nicolas Sutherland and Felicia Goll found themselves in front at scores of +42 and -20 respectively. Kara Richard

In the boys match play round Sutherland continued to move toward his first career title, all the way to the semi final match before being stopped by Jon Myers 2-1. Meanwhile, Bobby Bures of Mentor, OH figured out the tricky lane pattern, and marched his way to the title match as well, stopping Player of the Year Points Leader Adam Jablonski in the semi-final. In the final Bures got out to a quick lead, and never looked back, taking the match 2-0, and earning his 2nd career JTBA title, and first in two years.

On the ladies side, top seed Felicia Goll was not quite so fortunate, bowing out in two games to her good friend Kara Richard of Tecumseh MI. Meanwhile our #2 seed Mary Wells continued click of the victories, to advance to the title match. Richard would also advance after a tight semi-final with Westerville OH’s Joy Arrigo. In a low scoring title match it was Richard taking home the title, her first.Bobby Bures

]The Mansfield event marked the end of the JTBA’s first half swing, with competition not scheduled to resume in Ohio until after the end of the Ohio High School Season in March. We wish all of our members participating in high school luck this season, and look forward to their return in March!