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Bowling tournament raises funds for scholarships

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Over 200 bowlers participated in the Eighth Annual Willie ‘Iceman’ Knight Bowling Tournament on May 9-10 at Gal-A-Bowl. They were registered in three divisions: Red, White and Blue and were allowed to participate in more than one division, according to their season’s averages.

Winning the Red Division was the team of Cathy Mitchell and Donna Gonzales, while second place went to Karmela Kinsel and Roger Kinsel. Sheila Canete and Ed Canete took third, and Alex Patterson and P.J. Montoya were fourth.

In the White Division, Serenity Smith and Joe Quicero placed first, Zach Beasley and Cory Gonzales were second, Ranee Cleveland and Nolan Kelly were third, and Peter Gonzales and Mitch Green were fourth.

Ed Canete and Cory Gonzales were first in the Blue Division, while Ray Spencer and Gary Pinto placed second. Jerry Pinto and Aaron Jim were third, and David Rukstelis and Cory Gonzales placed fourth.

Cash awards for the above finishers totalled $1,254.

Forty-two local merchants donated raffle prizes for this tournament. The donations for the tickets almost wholly paid for the three $1,500 scholarships earned by three high school seniors who have had a 3.0 GPA during their last four years and who also have participated in a bowling league for two consectutive years. The students honored this year, all from Rehoboth Christian High School, are Gilbert Charley, Jr., Astrid Gonzaga and Kyrene Josafat.

The generosity of the bowling public and Gallup merchants is well-known through this and other fund raising tournaments, and Jacki Knight Ryan, Chairperson for this tournament, summed it up best in a letter she forwarded for inclusion in this article, which reads in part:

“The Willie ‘Iceman’ Knight Bowling Tournament extends our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to all of this year’s tournament participants, volunteers and supporters along with the generosity of supporting Gallup area businesses, making it possible this year and past years to fund scholarships for 19 deserving young graduating men and women from area high schools totaling $23,000.00.

Past recipients of Willie Iceman Knight Bowling Tournament scholarships are, alphabetically: Damian Abeita, James Farrell, Brian Ford, Caitlin Harrison, Celeste Knight, Jennifer Knight, Scott Knight, Shelby Martinez-Mathews, Jonathan Matajcich, Amanda Newman, Sean Notah, Courtney Spencer, Jessica Swatzell, Dustin Wyatt, Travis Wyatt, and  Phillip Young.

On behalf of the Knight family and tournament director Pete Chiapetti, we would like to express our gratitude and thanks to all who have contributed to the success of this scholarship program and helped honor the legacy of Willie Knight . You will be forever in our hearts, Iceman!”