Robert Bousley of the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy Bravo team follows through on his shot during the third and final game of the post intramural bowling championship, held Thursday at the Fort Bliss Bowling Center. Photo by Heather Wilburn.
121st BSB takes post bowling championship
Heather Wilburn, Special to The Monitor
When the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy Bravo team took to the lanes at the Fort Bliss Bowling Center Thursday, they expected to end the night with a first-place finish in the post intramural bowling championships.
The team from 121st Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, shattered those expectations.
“As a team, (they) brought their A-game out,” Sam Suslik of USASMA Bravo said of 121st BSB. “If we had brought our A-minus game, we wouldn’t have even come close to them tonight.”
The team from 121st BSB swept three games in a row to take the title, leaving USASMA Bravo team members stunned.
“During the season, we were the top team out of 34 teams. We only lost a total of, I think, five games out of 60,” Suslik said. “But when it comes to a tournament like this, the last thing that happens is what matters … they bowled so great I think we would’ve come in second tonight, regardless.”
After the second game, USASMA Bravo was down 2-0, but still had hopes of taking the championship.
“We still have a good opportunity, a good chance of pulling out a victory and pulling off a tie, and that’s our objective right now: to pull out a tie,” Walter Hampton, captain of the USASMA Bravo team, said at the start of the third game. “If we pull out a tie, we can force a roll-off, and that’s our objective, to force a roll-off.
“I think we’re doing alright,” he continued. “We’re not bowling to where we normally bowl, but I think we’re doing alright. We’re still motivated to go out here, we know what we have to do to win and we haven’t given up – that’s the main thing. It’s a shame that on the night we need to be bowling to our standard, we’re either a little off or not all of us are on.”
Despite facing a loss to 121st BSB, Roberts was still happy to be at the championship.
“We’re very excited,” he said. “To come from as many teams as there were (during the season) to be one of the final two teams, and to be able to represent USASMA – I love it.”
With their team up by two games, 121st BSB’s side of the lane had a different atmosphere.
“We’re up by two games and a whole lot of pins. We’re feeling relaxed, and that’s not good for them,” said Joseph Stevenson, 121st BSB’s team captain. “When we win two, we stay relaxed. We’re more comfortable, and that way we can bowl better because we’re not as worried about ‘OK, now we have to win.’ There’s no pressure at all right now. We’re just having fun bowling.”
His team had an easy time making it through the tournament bracket, Stevenson said.
“Lately, everybody that we bowled against, after we win the first one they’re not as interested in it anymore,” he said.
“If they beat us by 206 pins, then I’m worried,” Stevenson said of the USASMA Bravo team, with the third game underway. “Right now, we’re hanging right there with them, just like we did the first two games, so I’m actually very content.”
For Shane Towns, a 121st BSB bowler, the team’s victory was sweet.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “We were gone to Iraq for 15 months, and to come back and win the post championship without getting all the practice everybody else gets for the whole year, it’s a great feeling.
“We bowled great all season long, we just never got a chance to play the USASMA team, so we didn’t know who was actually the better team until this tournament,” he continued. “And for four people to shoot a 600 series on (our) team – that doesn’t happen very often. These guys did a great job.”
Stevenson, Towns, Hum-berto Pando, Stephanie Correll, Adrian Graham, Josh Powell, Kyle Babb and Davena Scott comprised 121st BSB’s first-place team. The team received 50 Commander’s Cup points for its win in addition to individual and team trophies presented by Fort Bliss Garrison Commander Col. Edward P. Manning and Don Aguilar, business manager of the Fort Bliss Bowling Center.
Hampton, Suslik, Jorge Chavezrey, Eduardo Martinez and Robert Bousley bowled for USASMA Bravo. The team’s second-place win earned 25 Commander’s Cup points for USASMA, along with their trophies.
The third-place team, Bravo team from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 31st Air Defense Artillery Bde., earned 10 Commander’s Cup points. The team was composed of Tia Napoli, Blake Peters, Dave Franz, David Jackson, Wyatt O’Brien, Steven Gilbert and Jimmy McCoy.