Let me start by thanking the many fine sponsors of the Vegas Invitational; the PVA/Outdoor Recreation fund, Nevada PVA, Bay Area & Western PVA, Northern California W/C Bowling Association, and Storm bowling products. We would also like to thank Leia Turner of ABC Home Medical for the great raffle items and bowling balls as well as the $500 donation to the AWBA. Without these generous sponsors, the tournament would not be possible. Also a big thanks to Eric Kearney with the USBC for attending and getting a true flavor of what wheelchair bowling is all about.
Thanks as well to the 59 bowlers who came from one end of the country (MA to CA and WI to FL) to the other to support us as well. One of them was a novice bowler from South Carolina, Judy Overholt using a push stick. It was a pleasure to have her in attendance and we hope to see more of her at future tournaments.
The events began on Thursday with the doubles event fielding 32 teams and after the elimination rounds William Smith and Stephen Smith of Oklahoma were crowned champions. The Bob Murdock Up & Down, pairing a w/c bowler with two able bodied bowlers. The event promotes wheelchair awareness and demonstrates how capable the wheelchair bowlers as compared to their partners. The winners of that event were again William Smith paired with two local bowlers, Joe D’Ambra & Zack D’Ambra.
On Friday the competition shifted to the singles event with the bowlers across 3 divisions. After three days and 20 games the roll-off contenders were determined. (The roll-off results are listed below.) I would like to congratulate the winners of this years tournament, Ray Dennison (FL) in the B division, Paul Cook (TX), in the A division and Mark Shepherd (CO) in the Scratch division. All three bowling well throughout the competition, and we salute them as champions as well.
In closing, I would like to thank all the bowlers that came from across the country to bowl and have fun in Las Vegas. I also want to thank Linda Schneider and my wife Helena, for an excellent job scoring, Richard and Charlene, Debra Frost and the Auxiliary members, for their efforts as well. I hope each and every one will come back next year.
Click here for the Tournament Results Pdf...
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