The 7th Annual PVA Mid-Atlantic Invitational, sanctioned by AWBA, was held September 22-24th at Short Pump Bowl America in Glen Allen, Virginia, with 30 bowlers from 9 states registered to compete.

The festivities began with a bowling clinic co-hosted by PVA and the AWBA and attended by bowlers, many of whom were newcomers to the sport hoping to hone their skills and potentially enter bowling events in the future.

Our doubles competition featured 11 teams, with the winning duo of Mark Hartney and Carl LaGroterria followed by Debra Freed and John Melvin in 2nd place, and Jimmy May and Michael Marcheskie finishing third.

On Friday evening, Mid-Atlantic PVA hosted an Up & Down event, pairing each of our registered wheelchair bowlers with a trio of stand-up bowlers representing our partners throughout the community. With 29 teams and a total of 116 bowlers, it was a night of friendly competition, and a chance to showcase wheelchair bowling as a sport which displays genuine ability, and not disability. The team of John Melvin and Chris Bacon, along with Corey Dumas and Sam Norton held-on to secure 1st Place honors.

Saturday and Sunday featured our singles competition. In the A-Division, Michael Marcheskie locked-up the 1st Place prize, with Randall Pope finishing second and Wayne Webber in third. Competing in his first-ever wheelchair tournament, Daren Crespo finished first in the B-Division, followed by Kathy Tilbury and Carl LaGroterria. Our Scratch Division winner was David Nelson, Jr., followed by Eddy Hutchens and George Holscher.

As always, the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of PVA is honored to host this event in association with AWBA. A strong expression of appreciation goes out to each participant, along with their families and caregivers, and our partners, supporters and volunteers. A special thank you to Frank Goebel for efficiently handling scoring responsibilities for the entire weekend event. Additionally, our thanks to USBC, Storm Bowling, Logo Infusion and Bowl America for their unwavering support. And when it comes to support, we must also thank the PVA Mid-Atlantic team of Sarah Lake, Sue May, Evelyn Jones, Sabine Coiner, Janet Groessler and Wayne Poteat for their dedication and effort in making the event a huge success.

My thanks to all who attended the event, and we look forward to seeing you again next fall for the 8th Annual PVA Mid-Atlantic Invitational.
 

Jimmy May
Tournament Director