New Mexico Open offers more than $76K for field

RIO RANCHO — The 2024 New Mexico Open bowling tournament will offer record prize money of more than $76,000 when its 20th edition hits the Tenpins & More lanes Aug. 16-18.

Defending champion and two-time runner-up Francois Lavoie of Wichita be trying to join Albuquerque’s John Young as the tournament’s only two-time winner. (Young won the first two events in 2004 and 2005).

First prize is also a record $ 3,500, based on 192 entries, with prize money paid one in every four entries. Last year the field size was 211 in the 24-lane center.

In last year’s championship match, local bowler J.D. Nance, who had finished runner-up to PBA Rookie-of-the-Year Cortez Schenck in 2022, had a chance to send top-seeded Lavoie to overtime, but lost after the French-Canadian threw a clutch 10th frame double for the 202-194 victory.

Former PBA national tour champion Mike Miller will prepare another testing lane pattern, evidenced in the past 19 years with winning averages typically in the 205-215 range. Lavoie carded 210.4 in 2023.

Hope for a New Mexico victory received a boost after DeeRonn Booker, the pro-shop operator at Starlight Lanes, won the USBC Masters in Las Vegas, Nevada, earlier this year. Of course, Nance will be back to go “one better” than the past two years.

Last year’s third- and fourth-place finishers, Steven Novak of Kentucky and Fero Williams from Oklahoma are also among early sign-ups.

Following eight-game qualifying rounds, the top 32 will return Sunday for double-elimination bracket play, until only four remain — the unbeaten leader and three from the losers’ bracket — to contest the championship round.

BowlStreamTV.com will cover three pairs of lanes from start to finish, along with score updates and predictions, while area radio station KDSK-FM will provide a two-hour live remote on opening day.

Tournament entry forms are available at tenpinsmore.com under the “league” tab.

Also on the local lanes…

Entries increased by almost 5% over last year in last week’s 56th annual Native American Bowling tournament at Tenpins & More.

The prestige Masters titles went to two-handed Jordyn Manning of Gallup, 175-161, over Claudette Casaus in the women’s division. Rusty Coffey defeated Laguna Pueblo’s Larry Silva, 226-132, in seniors play. Brian LaBelle topped Andres Racon 226-182 in Men’s B, and Matthew Vargas, in a 10th-frame finish, eked out a 191-188 win over Farmington’s defending men’s champion, Scott Ashley.

Coffey enjoyed his career best all-events win, with 636 in singles, 710 in doubles and 702 in teams for 2,048 scratch and 2,201 with handicap added.

Included in the 704 entries were bowlers from Arizona, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Kansas.

• Seven winners were decided Sunday in the Spring 9-pin No-Tap finals at Tenpins & More. Regular No-Tap winners Joe LaRosa (Open) and Becky Fisher (Women’s A) were joined by five newcomers.

Andrew McKinsey took Men’s A after overcoming a slow start to finish with 300 and a pair of 278s to beat Orlando Ulibarri III by 11 pins, followed by Socorro’s Joseph Paterson.

Damien Coffey won Men’s B by 13 from Dennis Scott with Cesar Ruiz-Jimenez third, 15 pins behind.

Mike Fisher surprised himself with a no-tap 300 and ran off with Men’s C by 84 pins from former Cibola High School bowler Trevor Anderson, with Sunday night leaguer Brian Peterson third.

Sue Buffington made a welcome return to the lanes in Women’s B by 70 pins over Teri Paterson; Evelyn Trujillo was next.

Diana Conzuelo also won by a wide margin of 89 pins in Women’s C from Teresa Rincon of Bernalillo, followed by Laurie Shultz. LaRosa included three 300s in his 1,701 total, leading runner-up Guillermo Espinosa by 125 pins, followed by Tyler Grier; Becky Fisher’s 1,430 beat out Karen Coffey and Mia Medina.

• Summer short-season league got started this week with two four-person leagues on Tuesday and Thursday night. Seventeen other leagues will commence over the next few weeks.