By:
Mark Martin
MICHIGAN
STATE
MASTERS
Tom
Smallwood of
Saginaw
won the Michigan State Masters at Airport Lanes in
Jackson
Sunday when he defeated Travis Raskey of
South Lyon
442-349 to win the $5,000 first prize and the title. Raskey settled for the
second place check of $2,500.
Smallwood
qualified 13th with a six-game total of 1,287. In match play he
remained undefeated by beating Toby Sambueno of Saginaw 417-387, Dale Hofmeister
Jr. of Essexville 465-358, Terrence Syring Jr. of
Bay City
527-315, Jeff Austreng of
Waterford
Township
438-424 and Raskey 435-382 to advance to the championship match.
“Anytime
you can win a title in
Michigan
against the best bowlers around it is satisfying.” said the 31-year-old
Smallwood. “You know you’ve earned it when the condition is this much of a
test and the best bowlers are involved.”
Smallwood
beat the best bowlers in the state of
Michigan
on a difficult lane pattern under tight Sport Bowling requirements averaging
222.8. The lane pattern was the same as the 2009 United States Bowling Congress
Masters Tournament.
He
also won a paid entry into the 2010 USBC Masters, which will be contested in
Reno
in February 2010.
Raskey
qualified 18th with 1,265. He remained in the winner’s bracket with
victories over Aaron Koch of
Grand Rapids
381-345, Dale Strike of
Saginaw
389-349, Mason Brantley of
Detroit
488-440 and Bruce Falcon of
Bay City
438-308 before losing to Smallwood 435-382. In the loser’s bracket he beat
Austreng 421-333 for the opportunity to avenge the defeat to Smallwood. It was
not to be as Smallwood won 442-349.
Defending
champion Austreng qualified 17th but was seeded ninth by virtue of
his victory in 2008 with 1,265. He remained in the winner’s bracket with
triumphs over David Carroll of
Wyoming
494-426, Jason Battishill of Clarkston 389-349, Brian Waliczek of Birch Run
460-447 before falling to Smallwood 438-424. In the loser’s bracket he beat
Brantley 422-354 and Carleton Chambers of
Taylor
443-360 before losing to Raskey 421-333. Austreng received a check for $1,500.
Chambers
qualified fifth with 1,336. In match play he lost his first match to Terrence
Syring Jr. of
Bay City
453-452 to fall into the loser’s bracket. Once in the loser’s bracket he
defeated Brian Regan of Swartz Creek 485-348, James Fedorka of
Madison Heights
410-315, Robert Hutchings of
Marshall
374-346, avenged his loss to Syring 503-475, Waliczek 452-401, Falcon 436-352
before getting knocked out by Austreng 443-360. He took home $1,000.
Top
qualifier Waliczek led qualifying by 46 pins with 1,411. He beat Jason Overmyer
of
Jackson
425-326 and Craig Nidiffer of
Trenton
460-445 before falling into the loser’s bracket with a loss to Austreng
460-447. In loser’s bracket he beat Dale Strike 417-412 before getting knocked
out of the competition by Chambers 452-401. Waliczek cashed for $600.
The
field of 122 bowlers averaged 191.67 during the six games of qualifying. The top
game in qualifying was recorded by Brian Regan with 289. In match play Tom
Smallwood of
Saginaw
had the top game with 279.
The
top 32 qualifiers averaged 213.5 during qualifying and 200.1 in match play.
Other
Oakland County keglers who cashed were Jason Battishill of Waterford Township
for $400, James Fedorka of Madison Heights $250 and Jeff Grego of Waterford
Township $200.
The
Michigan State USBC Masters Tournament is a USBC certified event operated by the
Michigan State USBC Association.
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MICHIGAN
MAJORS BOWLING ASSOCIATION
Ken
Wyatt of
Sterling Heights
won his eighth Budweiser Michigan Majors title with a perfect 300-203 win over
Terry Haines of
Whitmore
Lake
at Plaza Lanes in
Plymouth
.
Wyatt
qualified fourth with a nine-game total of 2,175 and had to beat Rick Gregor of
Sterling Heights
258-228, Jeff Grego of
Waterford
Township
237-212 and Jeff Roche of
Dearborn
238-195 to advance to the championship match. Wyatt took home the top of
$1,000.
Haines
was the top seed for the stepladder finals and settled for $600.
Grego
cashed for $400 and Robert Schulz of
Oxford
for $130 to pace the
Oakland
County
contingent.
The
next MMBA event will be May 19 at Nortel Lanes in
Monroe
.
For
more information on the MMBA contact Ken Charrette at (586) 775-2414.
------
NATIONAL
SENIOR BOWLING ASSOCIATION
Dan
Mytty of
Livonia
won his first National Senior Bowling Association title with 224-213 win over
Rick Vittone of
Canada
at Century Bowl in
Waterford
Township
.
Mytty
collected the top prize of $1,000 after qualifying fifth and beating Charles
Reynolds of
Rossford
,
Ohio
221-171, Gary Zarick of
Macomb
Township
263-226 and John Ciantar of
Monroe
268-179 and advancing to the championship match.
Vittone
qualified 11th, collected the second place prize of $500 and beat
Jack Logan of Plainwell 245-201, Tony Stipcak of Redford 215-192, Robert Michaux
Jr. of Detroit 257-185 and Perk Fairris of Flint 236-195 en route to the title
match.
Local
bowlers who cashed were Ed Austreng of
Waterford
Township
for $150, Dave Eatmon of
Ferndale
$110, Joe Fitzsimmons of
Waterford
Township
$110, Dan Mayer of
Waterford
Township
$95, Lyle Schaefer of
Southfield
$95, Rod Bryant of Oak Park $95 and Bill Haynes of Rochester Hills $90.
The
next NSBA tournament will be May 9 at Skore Lanes in
Taylor
. For more information contact Phil Horowitz at (248) 489-1333, e-mail prh300@aol.com
or visit www.nationalseniorbowling.com.
------
BOWLING
ON TV
The
PBA King of Bowling series will continue next Wednesday, May 6 at 9 p.m. with
week three of the action on ESPN2.
------
HONOR
SCORES
300
Games
Date,
Name, Hometown, Center, League
High
scores will return next week
800
Series
Date, Name
(Score), Hometown, Center, League
High
scores will return next week
Mark
Martin writes a weekly bowling column for The Daily Oakland Press and is the
association manager of the Metro Detroit USBC Association. He can be reached at
(248) 443-2695, faxed at (248) 443-2690 or e-mailed at mark.martin@mdusbc.com.