2009-2010 MBA Masters

A pair of MBA Hall of Fame members provided a very dramatic title match in the 2nd annual MBA Masters tournament at Bowling Green. 2009 inductee Kevin Thompson outlasted tournament leader and 2008 inductee Marc McDowell 236-222. The match was dead even after the first four frames; both bowlers putting up the first four strikes. It remained even through five when both bowlers lost the pocket but converted seven count spares. The close match continued with both players putting up doubles late - Thompson's going into the 10th frame. In the end, Thompson needed nine on his first ball for the win. We almost witnessed a repeat of last year's title match when Ken Duffield slammed a 4-9 split in the 10th frame to fall to Bob Richardson. It was not to be the same fate for Thompson, though, as his 4-9 'almost' was broken up when the nine fell late.

Thompson won $400.00 for first place, the crystal MBA Masters Eagle, passes to the annual MBA Hall of Fame Dinner and the annual MBA Dinner With the Champions. McDowell earned $250.00 as runner-up.

The first round of qualifying required a score of 1012 to advance to round two. The second round of two games did not affect the top four positions for stepladder, although Gail Myers and Rick Thomas swapped positions at third and fourth. Jeff Richgels climbed from ninth to fifth on the strength of a 258 final game.

Myers defeated Thomas in the first round 257-215. Thomas won $150.00. Myers was then dispatched by Thompson 236-210; Myers won $200.00

The tournament attracted 37 bowlers, down from 46 last year. The event was contested on a USBC Blue Pattern, programmed by MBA tournament sponsor Schemm Bowling Inc. The condition was pretty rough for most - particularly lane five which appeared to have had an oiling malfunction.

I failed to pull the trigger on removing lanes five and six from competition and in hindsight perhaps should have done so. Analyzing the post-tournament data showed that lanes 5-6 averaged just under 16 pins less than the other pairs in the house. Oddly though, of the 23 competitors that crossed that pair - five made the cut to the top nine. Additionally, only five of the 23 had their low game on that pair. Two of them were in the top nine. In the end, those that found a way around the obstacle by maximizing their other four games were able to succeed. Still, it looks like a couple of competitors were definitely adversly affected in terms of making the cut. Better assessment practices will be employed, and I apologize for what I think was the incorrect call.

MBA Association Manager - Bill Dennis

---

Stepladder Finals

Match 1: #4 Myers def. #3 Thomas 257 - 215
Match 2: #3 Thompson def. #2 Myers 236 - 210
Match 3: #2 Thompson def. #1 McDowell 236 - 222

---

Final Prize List

	Bowler	Prize
1.	Kevin Thompson	$400.00
2.	Marc McDowell	$250.00
3.	Gail Myers	$200.00
4.	Rick Thomas	$150.00
5.	Jeff Richgels	$75.00
6.	Bob Holzbauer	$70.00
7.	Chris Gibbons	$65.00
8.	Dan Swenson	$60.00
9.	Jim Fosdick	$55.00

---

Round 2 Qualifying

	Bowler	Carryover	Game 5	Game 6	Round Total	Grand Total
1.	Marc McDowell	1146	209	247	456	1602
2.	Kevin Thompson	1098	245	218	463	1561
3.	Rick Thomas	1086	234	214	448	1534
4.	Gail Myers	1095	195	235	430	1525
5.	Jeff Richgels	1012	194	258	452	1464
6.	Bob Holzbauer	1072	179	177	356	1428
7.	Chris Gibbons	1025	231	156	387	1412
8.	Dan Swenson	1035	193	183	376	1411
9.	Jim Fosdick	1016	175	169	344	1360

---

Round 1 Qualifying

	Bowler	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Total
1.	Marc McDowell	266	216	226	221	217	1146
2.	Kevin Thompson	239	231	243	224	161	1098
3.	Gail Myers	247	196	178	259	215	1095
4.	Rick Thomas	226	225	241	196	198	1086
5.	Bob Holzbauer	204	241	219	198	210	1072
6.	Dan Swenson	230	191	178	225	211	1035
7.	Chris Gibbons	194	188	231	196	216	1025
8.	Jim Fosdick	218	167	170	206	255	1016
9.	Jeff Richgels	178	202	203	204	225	1012
10.	Ken Duffield	159	180	226	225	221	1011
11.	Scott Erickson	224	202	201	190	185	1002
12.	AJ Schultz	162	246	206	174	209	997
13.	Jeff Sweeney	147	203	233	155	254	992
14.	Dave Shaw	204	186	207	215	166	978
15.	Bob Richardson	182	215	212	208	151	968
16.	Shawn Mitchell	204	173	174	224	177	952
17.	Jeff Prein	141	234	185	167	224	951
18.	Dan Seppa	174	145	226	201	197	943
19.	Scott Kramer	152	207	188	173	222	942
20.	Dan Marks	149	190	215	191	195	940
21.	Brian Longfield	170	188	167	171	243	939
22.	Eric Pederson	174	173	180	211	189	927
23.	Chris Pounders	180	129	178	249	190	926
23.	Matt Midlikowski	180	190	190	188	178	926
25.	Brian Hoffman	164	186	211	186	172	919
26.	Mike Hoffman	188	163	209	189	167	916
27.	Bill Dennis	218	162	195	189	147	911
28.	Dustin Meisel	154	181	188	190	177	890
29.	Lauren Sammel	155	237	163	175	156	886
30.	John Gradel	186	147	187	157	180	857
31.	Mark Newkirk	161	189	184	169	151	854
32.	Chad Kuehmichel	172	158	160	161	195	846
33.	Brittany Pollentier	178	222	133	152	160	845
34.	Tim Fosdick	166	179	168	179	145	837
35.	Chris Pollentier	174	116	185	160	173	808
36.	Sean Knurek	160	126	176	147	189	798
37.	Ray Percoski	157	179	128	192	134	790

---