Date of Event: August 16-19, 2018
Location of Event: King Pin Lanes, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Bowlers from around the country gathered in Colorado Springs for the 14th Annual MSCPVA/AWBA Invitational. During the 4 days, the weather was beautiful and as always, King Pin Lanes and Carol’s staff went out of their way to accommodate all entrants into the event.
Thursday began the Singles competition with two Divisions competing for the Championship. Players found the lanes to be fair to both Divisions and the scores indicated they would accept well thrown shots by all. After the first day of competition, the top 5 in both divisions was very close.
Friday started with the Doubles event and was won by Phillip Daniel and Eric Sanchez, both from Texas. The Team event was then held and won by Shawn Beam, TX, and Colby Kortum and Doug Dalton, both from Colorado. Both events were very close. Friday evening brought a full house for the up/down event. We were honor to have Tish Johnson, USBC Hall of Fame, joined us as a spectator. She couldn’t bowl as she was off the next day to compete in Canada where she and the team were the winners. At the end of the night, John Budd’s team won the up/down championship.
Saturday the Singles competition resumed with sets 3 and 4. In between the sets, Halliburton was once again kind enough to feed all of those that attended the tournament and extended an invitation to all those that bowled in the up/down event Friday night. As usual, the food was outstanding, and we want to thank Halliburton and those that did the cooking and gave up their Saturday, for a wonderful meal. On Saturday night, Onie Ryan prepared her special shrimp gumbo for those that wanted to come to the “Trailer Park” in the parking lot of the bowl. Lots of laughs with those that attended the dinner and thanks to Onie for a meal well done.
Sunday began with the 5th set being bowled and again, after the set was completed, the scores were very close. The top 5 in the Scratch division were Eddy Hutchens, top qualifier, Doug Dalton, Shawn Beam, Curtis Wolff, and Colby Kortum. In the roll off, Curt eased by Colby winning a 2 frame roll off. Curt then took on Mr. 300, Shawn Beam with Curt eliminating Shawn, 212-199. Curt then took on Doug Dalton with Doug outlasting Curt, 204-171. Doug then faced High Qualifier Eddy Hutchens for the championship and Doug was up to the task, bowling a great 267-167 and winning the Scratch Division Championship. In the Handicap Division, the top 5 were Gary Ryan, Top Qualifier, Phillip Daniel, Larry Chrislip, Greg Clough, and David Spotts. The scores shown here are with handicap as Greg Clough ousted Larry Chrislip, 196-173. Greg then took on David Spotts with David coming out victorious, 215-193. David then faced Phillip Daniel with Phillip winning a very close match, 194-192. Daniel then faced top qualifier Gary Ryan for the championship. In the end, both bowled very well however, Ryan beat Daniel to win the championship 241-236.
The MSCPVA along with the AWBA would like to extend our thanks to King Pin Lanes and their staff. We would also like to thank Halliburton for the great meal. A big thanks goes out to the PVA staff for their hard work during the 4 days and also, Julet Hutchens for an awesome job scoring the event. It was her first time to do so. Special Thanks goes out to the National PVA for their support of the local chapter. We also extend our thanks to AWBA’s National Sponsors, Storm, Logo Infusion, USBC, BPAA, ABC Medical and Sportaid for supporting the sport of wheelchair bowling. Finally, to Donna and her great staff for putting on an event under great stress. We enjoyed our time in Colorado Springs and are looking forward to celebrating with you next year, the 15th MSCPVA/AWBA Invitational. Dates will be announced soon.
