Second seed Florence Gareza faced the same situation with the same opponent and the result was the same. Gareza took advantage of her handicap and with marks in key frames took two straight narrow wins over veteran kegler Manny Tagle to take her second straight senior bowling title for February.
The high scoring lane pattern resulted in some exciting close scores. The shootout began with the even number bracket as 12th seed Rene Cariaso eked out a 194-191 win over 6th seed Robert Baker. 10th seed Jim Pinaula took a ten point win over 8th seed Nori Catbagan 193-183.
The odd number bracket shootout resulted in 11th seed Josie Catbagan falling to 5th seed Chris Norton. 9th seed Weng Concepcion took advantage of miscues by 7th seed Nick Gutierrez to move on 181-132. Pinaula continued his title quest with a big 252-167 victory over lefty Cariaso. Concepcion did likewise with a 222-205 win over Norton to move from the shootout to the quarterfinals.
Unfortunately, Concepcion yielded to 4th seed Terry Roberto 192-178 to end her title run. Pinaula however, continued with an upset win over 3rd seed and 2019 Grand Finals champion Tony Sobrevilla 204-200.
In the semifinal round where lower seeds must beet the higher seeds twice to advance, both higher seeds prevailed. Gareza ended Roberto’s title hopes with a 220-185 victory. Top seed Tagle got the better of Pinaula 258-207 to get a second shot at a senior title and even things up against Gareza.
The championship series is the first to two wins for the title. In the first game Gareza came through with a 204-200 squeaker. Tagle tried to even things up but again Gareza came up with enough pins to take the second game and avoid a third straight contest with Tagle 207-202.
The second win solidified Gareza’s hold as the top points leader for the Grand Finals to be held this December at Central Lanes.
In the “Survivor” series which is open to all bowlers who rolled the qualifiers but did not make the finals round, Chris Norton came through for the victory for February.
To be eligible to enter this senior event, bowlers who are fifty years of age and over must be in the Friday Night Senior Bowling League at Central Lanes. The tournament uses the league series scores based on a point system to determine the top twelve bowlers who will compete for the championship title usually on the final Sunday of each month. There are at least four qualifiers prior to each tournament with a $20 fee for each qualifier you enter.
The next tournament will be at 11AM on Sunday, March 29th at Central Lanes.
The new rules in effect this season include a mandatory check-in time from 10:15 to 10:45AM for the top twelve bowlers who made the qualifier shootout. Failure to do so will open the door for reserve bowlers ranked by order of finish in the qualifiers to enter the shootout. For more information contact Manny Tagle, GSBA Tournament Chairperson.
Guam Bowling 