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Inaugural MBA Senior Masters in the Books

Not to be outdone by the 10th frame drama of the inaugural MBA "Regular" Masters, the first Senior Masters provided plenty of its own.

The tournament drew only 19 competitors but that took nothing away from the competition. The event was contested on a challenging condition, the Kegel Middle Road pattern. This pattern kept typical runaway league scoring in check, and provided a fair condition.

The first round cut for the top five bowlers was +55 and ended with a tie for the fifth spot. A 9th and 10th frame roll-off was conducted between Mark Recknagel and Dave Shaw. Recknagel began the roll-off with a spare, Shaw followed with a strike. In the tenth, Recknagel filled the first two strikes, then a nine count for a 49 - forcing Shaw to double in his 10th to advance. Shaw threw three strikes and won the roll-off 60-49.

The top five advancing to the second segment of the tournament were:

Gene Mlsna	+130
Dave Rasmussen	+117
Scott LaCoursiere	+99
Bob Holzbauer	+90
Dave Shaw	+55

In the second segment of the tournament, two additional games were bowled with first round qualifying pins carrying over. Shaw quickly moved back into the hunt with a fifth game 259. After six games, LaCoursiere had moved into the one seed with a pair of 230's. Shaw added his own 230 to become the second seed. Mlsna, Rasmussen, and Holzbauer struggled with 180's in game six - Holzbauer's costing him a seed in the stepladder finals. After six games:

Scott LaCoursiere	+170
Dave Shaw	+150
Gene Mlsna	+127
Dave Rasmussen	+117
Bob Holzbauer	+90	$50.00

The first stepladder match was relatively uneventful. Rasmussen never really got back on track and Mlsna cruised to a 212-182 win. Rasmussen earned $83.00 for fourth place.

Mlsna then advanced to the second match to face the red-hot Shaw. The match was very close with Mlsna holding a small lead through eight frames. In the ninth, though, he chopped the six pin off a 6-10 spare conversion attempt - opening the door for Shaw. Mlsna did force Shaw to mark in the tenth, which he did - but only after a late rolling messenger cleared the 10 pin out of a 7-10 split. The match ended 207-200 and Mlsna won $111.00.

The title match also came down to the tenth frame even though LaCoursiere had struck in seven of the first eight frames. Shaw had all but given up hope with two frames to go. Following a spare in the ninth frame, LaCoursiere left the 10th frame open with a 4-10 split. Shooting for a posted 235, Shaw had to have the first two strikes in the tenth for the win. His first two shots were near mirror images, but the second left a ringing 10 pin. Shaw finished with 227, second place, and $139.00. LaCoursiere wins the Senior Masters, the nice trophy (which is not a falcon, Dan) and $222.00.

Congratulations Scott LaCoursiere - 2009-10 MBA Senior Masters champion.

Thanks to Ten Pin Alley for their assistance with the tournament and lane conditioning. A big thanks to Bob Holzbauer for his relentless promotion of this first Senior Masters. The MBA looks forward to continuing this top level competition and hopes to see more faces at the event in the future.

So, what does LaCoursiere translate to, anyway? Some postulated that it means "the pirate" from the French Corsairs, privateers who were licensed to engage or 'pirate' enemy ships. A quick search on Google, though, reveals coursiere may equate to the French words accourse or messagere meaning "messenger". Scott "The Messenger" might be more fitting for a bowler!

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Final Results

Bowler	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	R 1 Ttl	Q5	Q6	R 2 Ttl	Ttl	S1	S2	S3	S Ttl	GT	Avg
Scott LaCoursiere	215	205	236	243	899	237	234	471	1370			235	235	1605	229.29
Dave Shaw	214	181	213	247	855	259	236	495	1350		207	227	434	1784	223.00
Gene Mlsna	228	246	242	214	930	213	184	397	1327	212	200		412	1739	217.38
Dave Rasmussen	235	211	213	255	914	223	180	403	1317	182			182	1499	214.14
Bob Holzbauer	161	259	216	246	882	227	181	408	1290					1290	215.00
Mark Recknagel	182	238	245	190	855				855					855	213.75
Jim Fosdick	227	206	220	201	854				854					854	213.50
Terry Walker	205	197	244	204	850				850					850	212.50
Don Grossen	160	244	217	223	844				844					844	211.00
Bill Kreitzman	176	225	203	190	794				794					794	198.50
Tim Sullivan	224	224	173	157	778				778					778	194.50
Bud Frye	155	206	186	223	770				770					770	192.50
Mark Henry	177	190	179	214	760				760					760	190.00
Dan Seppa	158	181	189	215	743				743					743	185.75
Bob Ruhland	193	180	170	193	736				736					736	184.00
Bob Eveland	200	184	182	169	735				735					735	183.75
Rollie Truehl	202	167	190	173	732				732					732	183.00
Mark Habich	214	189	157	157	717				717					717	179.25
Scott Starks	164	171	180	168	683				683					683	170.75

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