Seventy-nine people have advanced to the state finals later this month at the 25th New Mexico Games Bowling competition at Tenpins & More in Rio Rancho.

BOWLING UPDATE

From Tenpins & More

They emerged from Center finals held this week, contested by 124 bowlers spread across fifteen different divisions.

In open men’s, former New York City policeman, Joe LaRosa opened with 289 – highest of any other game in the tournament – and consolidated his decisive win over Jacob Gill adding 224, 200, 204, 181 and 268 for 1,366, followed by Gill’s 1,320 and Tom Thornhill’s personal best 1,309 in third.

Socorro’s Joseph Paterson was one of three family members to move on, along with wife Teri (women’s B) and mother, Riza (senior women’s B), winning men’s A with a handicap-added 1,510 series that included finishing 245 and 238 games.

Andrew Carver was next, ten pins behind, closing with a pair of 257’s then East Mountain’s Josh Matthies third, eleven pins back.

Aaron Rivera bowled a PB 1,491 to win men’s B from left-handed Michael Money by nineteen pins and Ward Stoffer a distant, but consistent third.

Improving Scott McDonnell, whose average has gone up by more than 25 pins in summer, captured men’s C with 1,403, including a 49-pins over average 190 game over another improver Vince Likar 1,372 and Trevor Anderson 1,365.