Chris Via of Springfield, Oh garnered his 5th career title as he defeated his JTBA Doubles partner Jamie Robinson of Westerville, OH in the title match at the 2011 JTBA Brunswick/Varsity Lanes Open. On the girls side Samantha Johnson Of Wyoming, MI defeated Fort Wayne, IN. Sydney "Big Bird" Brummett to take her second JTBA title. 104 of the finest youth bowlers in the midwest USA took to the soggy lanes in Bowling Green, OH as flash flooding the night before could not prevent Jay Young and the staff of Varsity from being great hosts and sponsors for this event!! The Varsity crew worked all night to save the event from being cancelled by a torrent of water from Saturday evening storms!!! After a full night of clean up the event ran like clock work with 35 girls and 69 boys trying their best to figure out the 41 ft Jay Young/Randy Hart designed pattern. Scoring was a bit on the low side what with the very humid conditions caused by the flood, boys field average was 169 and the girls was at 161!!! However 5 players managed to average above 200, with Champion Via leading at +122. Kaila Ryan of Dayton, Oh. lead the girls at -76. High game was by John "SoFarGone" Boyd III at 279 on the boys side and a 265 by Kayla Cummings for the girls. It took -115 to make matchplay for the boys and -218 for the girls. Defending Brunswick/Varsity Lanes Open Champ Via made it look easy as he walked through matchplay undefeated with 2 sweeps in round 1and 2 and then besting Nicholas"Happy Birthday Boy" Mittzenway of West Mifflin, Pa in the semi-finals 243-202. Robinson reached the Championship match by defeating Joe Beck of Toledo, OH 233-217. Via continued to pour on the strikes as he put away Robinson 258 to 196 to take home the plaque and the $650 in scholarship money!!! Johnson found the range in the late going besting 2011 JTBA Player of the year Mary Wells of Westerville, OH 210-183 in the semi's to then face Brummett who defeated Kayla Cummings of Huber Heights, OH. 210-189. Johnson continued to strike often in the seesaw battle as Brummett opened the title door with a split in the 7th frame to give Johnson the title 233-211.
Next up we will travel east to visit the beautiful Bill White's Akron Bowl on Sunday August 21, 2011. Added money by Isaly's and Pepsi should bring a large field to the spacious 64 lane center. Bring your friends to experience the competetive atmosphere of the JTBA!!!!!! Final Four at VarsitySamantha JohnsonChris Via