Levittown, NY: Josh Valdes, a 33 year-old FDNY EMT from Staten Island, won his first club title with a resounding victory at LIGBT’s house shot tournament at South Levittown Lanes. Josh defeated Jose Roman, Bethpage, NY, 312-278 to earn the $1,000 top prize. While Jose earned $500 for second, David Ruiz, Whitestone, NY came in third with a 257 worth $350. Fourth went to Scott Teitler, Patchogue, NY with a 256 earning him $300 and fifth was taken by Derek Brandi, Whitestone, NY with a 250 worth $250.
Josh, who was getting the most handicap in the 5-person shootout, started the match with 5 straight strikes and never looked back. He put every ball in the pocket, shot a 9-pin no-tap 300, and rolled a 246 scratch game which was 100 pins over his club average. Josh would have won the match if it was bowled scratch.
There were other great performances in the shootout. Jose finished with 7 out of 8 strikes. Scott also bowled a 9-pin no-tap 300 but couldn’t string the strikes together. Derek started off hot with a 5-bagger but made several poor shots late in the match.
The South Levittown house shot tournament drew a nice crowd of 92 entries, advanced 16 bowlers to the finals, and paid out $3,560. The house shot (41 feet) resulted in very high cut scores; 785 at 1pm squad and 770 at 3pm. High handicap series of the tournament was shot by Jose Roman in the 3pm squad with a 906. Scott Teitler had the only 800 scratch series as he rolled an 815 in the 1pm squad which seeded him directly into the final shootout.
LIGBT’s next tournament, featuring the sport shot “Boardwalk”, is at AMF Wantagh on Sunday, March 20th with 2 squads; 1pm & 3pm. Top prizes are guaranteed to pay $1,000-1st, $500-2nd, $300-3rd, & $250-4th. One in 6 each squad advances to the finals and cashes for a minimum of $80. Entry fees are only $65 & $55. For complete results of the South Levittown tournament please visit www.ligbtour.com. The LIGBT is sponsored by Brunswick, Kegel, Randi Siegel Law Offices, and CLS Custom Upholsterers.