Sunday, August 3, 2025 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
Story courtesy of Rick Torres
Eleventh seed Jess Muya unleashed six blistering strikes to thwart sixteenth seed Gina San Nicolas’ upset effort to take the August Pin Point Senior Monthly Challenge 253-184 with handicap. Muya took no chances and ended his last seven months of trying to get to the championship match.
The Last Man Standing competition, which is always the exciting start of every monthly competition because of the lucrative progressive pot that has blossomed to over $2,400. Manny Tagle was successful in his bid to take 10% of the pot and not chance further efforts or lose his winnings altogether.
San Nicolas and 12th seed Leody Ersando came out of the first round eliminations in Bracket A. They succeeded over 14th seed Virgil Toledo, 9th seed Mike Duenas, 7th seed Manny Torre, and 5th seed Alex Santiago. Bracket B winners Muya and 13th seed Cris Leal triumphed over newcomers 15th seed Manny Palileo and 10th seed Carlos Ongpauco, along with 8th seed Frank San Agustin, and 6th seed Sheila Bangs.
The upsets in the next round hit the top four seeds like covid infecting the public, as one by one they went down. Fourth seed Zaldy Ponce and Leal fell to Muya, who advanced to the semi-finals. But it wasn’t without the stressful best-ball tie-breaker with Leal, who tied Muya.
Muya continued his title run in a more dramatic fashion, upsetting top seed Jess Meno, but had to beat him twice to go to the semifinals. San Nicolas lost her first match but came back strong to take the next game and force a best-ball scenario. A rare miscue by Tagle went San Nicolas’ way as she took the match 8-6, taking her to the finals.
The championship game started with open frames by both players, but Muya took the lead with a double in the second and third frames, only to open with a split in the fourth frame. San Nicolas faltered with open frames in the fourth and fifth. This was when Muya unleashed six strikes to overcome San Nicolas’ handicap and get the title that had been eluding him all year. The points gathered also boosted both players’ ranking for a position in the grand finals in December. The $520 first-place and $ 360.00 second-place did leave both competitors with a sense of accomplishment after having rolled so many qualifiers to get this far. The third and fourth place players (Meno and Tagle) also cashed in at $160 each, so there was still something to smile about at the end of the day.
The September qualifiers are currently ongoing throughout the various leagues till around the last week of August. Interested senior bowlers aged 50 and over can check with the bowling counter or the Pin Point Pro Shop at Central Lanes for more information on the qualifying rules and tournament details. Ask for Joey Miranda, Jim Pinaula, or Manny Tagle for tournament rules and event information.
Guam Bowling 