Buckley bowlers win at Western Region Military Tournament

by Tech. Sgt. Rob Hazelett
Air Reserve Personnel Center Public Affairs

2/20/2014 - 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 in Las Vegas Feb. 14-15.

Sherry Arnold, Steven Roskelly, and Tech. Sgts. Richard Grybos and Alejandro Sanchez, knocked down 2,673 pins and defeated 33 teams in 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 2,028 points that earned him sixth place overall in the singles event. This was the third Las Vegas bowling tournament for the Dundalk, Md., native.

"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 finish second 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."

The team plans on returning to Las Vegas for the Military Team Classic Tournament, Aug. 11-14.