Buckley bowlers take first place

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Rob Hazelett
  • Air Reserve Personnel Center Public Affairs
BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. --  A four-person bowling team here won the first place team event and two other individual events during the 37th Western Region Military Tournament held in Las Vegas Feb. 14-15, 2014.

The team, comprised of Sherry Arnold, Steven Roskelly, and Tech. Sgts. Richard Grybos and Alejandro Sanchez, defeated 33 teams after knocking down 2,673 pins to win the tournament.

"Our team rocked the house on the way to first place in the team event," said Grybos, Air Reserve Personnel Center recognition service team technician and a 23-year member of the Air National Guard.

Sanchez, who made his debut in a Las Vegas bowling tournament, agreed with Grybos.

"Our team performed to their highest capabilities during the team portion, as most of the team had their best performance during the tournament," said Sanchez, 310th Space Wing logistics supply manager. "After we finished our team event, we thought we had come in second place. We were surprised by the team outcome once we showed up to the awards presentation that's when we found out we had won 1st place."

Grybos, an avid life-long bowler, amassed a total of 2,028 points that earned him sixth place overall in the singles event. This is the third Las Vegas bowling tournament the Dundalk, Md., native has participated in.

"This was a tournament filled with great team and individual performances," Grybos said. "During the first day of the tournament, I was able to bowl my highest game to date, a total of 278 points, which came in the doubles event where we finished with a 663 series for three games."

Sanchez and Grybos teamed up to make their presence known by finishing second overall in the doubles event.

"It was a good experience for my first time bowling in any Las Vegas Tournament. We persevered through each game by producing enough points to keep up with some of the more experienced teams," said Sanchez, who hails from Albuquerque, N.M. "In the doubles portion, Grybos contributed in total points and we finished with a score of 1,396."

This is just the beginning for the team which plans on returning to Las Vegas and participate in the Military Team Classic Tournament scheduled for Aug. 11-14, 2014.