Woodburn, Ore. -- The final event of the RTB Northwest regular season took place at Woodburn Lanes, featuring the MegaBuck Singles tournament. The event, which serves as a last chance for bowlers to secure a spot in the Tournament of Champions (TOC) and earn points toward Player of the Year, drew a strong turnout.

The competition began with two squads. The first squad saw 29 bowlers vying for seven semi-final spots. Early standouts included Joe LaPerriere, who shot a 267, and Keith Stoner, who fired a 268 in the opening game. After five games, Mike Grenya led the squad with a +236 score. The top seven qualifiers were:

Mike Grenya: +236
Don Talbott: +196
Jake Rost: +190
Brian Penn: +185
Joe LaPerriere: +178
Paul Dorchak: +156
Bill Machin: +144

The second squad, labeled the “Burn Squad” due to more challenging lane conditions, saw 45 bowlers compete. Amanda Gay led this squad with a +203 score, followed by Daniel Barrera (+183) and Terry Bigsby (+164). The top 11 from this squad included ties for seventh place between Chelsea Sporkia and Travis Gunn (+126).

In the semi-finals, Bill Machin dominated early, rolling a perfect 300 game on the newly installed lanes. Despite this, Travis Gunn made an impressive comeback after a rough start, climbing to third place with a 697 series. The top three bowlers advanced to the finals:

Bill Machin: +67
Travis Gunn: +51
Terry Bigsby: +22

The finals were a tightly contested three-game series. Machin started strong with a 238 game, securing a narrow lead over Gunn and Bigsby. Gunn closed the gap in the second game, but Machin’s consistent performance and clutch strikes in the tenth frame of the final game earned him the victory. The final scores were:

Bill Machin: 667 (+67, $1,000)
Travis Gunn: 651 (+51, $625)
Terry Bigsby: 622 (+22, $450)

This marked Machin’s 13th career RTB title, leaving him just one title shy of the all-time record held by Jason Brutosky.

The RTB Northwest regular season ended with a record 1,976 unique entries. The TOC, set for December 14 at SuperPlay, has already garnered 94 entries, with hopes for a sellout. Next season promises to expand further with the addition of RTB Columbia Gorge and potential new sponsorships.

Acknowledgments

RTB Northwest Tournament Director Andy Schmidt thanked Brunswick Bowling Products for their three years of sponsorship and announced Storm Bowling Products as their new sponsor under the 900 Global brand. Special thanks were given to Caillean Massey and Chris Neff for their efforts during the event.