Saturday, December 28, 2024 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
Story by Rick Torres, Guam Senior Bowlers
When the dust settled at the Central Lanes venue Saturday afternoon, Joe Murphy stood atop the group of 16 senior bowlers into the grand finals championship Sunday. His five-game 1369 series pinfall total including handicap and bonus points secured his spot.
Art Dulla led after game 1 as his opening 232 game shot his point total including bonus points plus handicap to 512. He was followed by Yvonne Acda, Murphy, Rose Tosco, and Ray Manibusan to round up the top 5 bowlers.
Bill Roberto’s second-round scratch score of 278 pushed him past Dulla to take the lead after the second round. Rounding up the top five was Alex Santiago, Murphy, Tosco, and Yvonne Acda.
Game three saw another change at the top as hard-hitting Jess Muya’s 257 game propelled him to the top of the heap with a blistering 725 scratch series. There was a change in the top five lineup as Santiago, Roberto, Murphy, and Tosco followed closely after.
Alex Santiago total pinfall of 1,112 including bonus points made him the new leader after four games. Murphy, Muya, Roberto, Dulla followed suit as it was apparent the top five was beginning to resemble musical chairs with a different leader after every round.
But now the final game laid the path for the top 16 qualifiers to enter the next day’s championship rounds to determine the 2024 Pin Point Senior Challenge Bowler of the year. Several bowlers in the lower ranks were rolling their best scores over the final three rounds to finish in the 16 coveted positions for the grand finals.
The final ranking results after the grueling five-game contest including handicap for average, age, gender, and bonus points are as follows:
The remaining bowlers who did not make the final squad will become the reserve squad who may have an opportunity to participate in the finals should one of the above names fail to report in by the 12:30 PM deadline to register for the final rounds. Check-in for the finals is Sunday from 10:30am to 12:30pm. Reserves will be called to fill any empty slots in the top 24 roster. All finalists will receive cash depending on their finish in tomorrow’s finals. In addition, all finalists shall receive a bowling ball courtesy of the tournament sponsor Pin Point Pro shop.
The Last Man Standing is the eagerly anticipated finals event with a huge prize fund of over four thousand dollars according to tournament officials Manny Tagle and Jim Pinaula. This tournament is scheduled for early January to kick off the 2025 Senior Monthly Challenge season. For more details contact Joey Miranda, Jim Pinaula, or Manny Tagle at the Pin Point Pro Shop at Central Lanes.
Guam Bowling 