Jeff Richgels won his fourth MAST Year-End tournament Sunday at Leisure Lanes in Monroe, running the table in the stepladder finals with victories over Tony Oliva (225-214), David Beres (247-203) and Derek Eoff (254-189). The title was Richgels’ 25th overall MAST title.
Richgels earned $1,000 for the win. Eoff took home $800 for second, Beres $680 for third, and Oliva $570 for fourth. Payouts for the other match-play participants were $470 to Chris Gibbons for 5th, $440 to Ron Wallenkamp for 6th, $410 to Cody Ramsden for 7th, $380 to Kevin Thompson for 8th, $350 to Tim Janz for 9th, $320 to Todd Kjell for 10th, $290 to Gail Myers for 11th, and $260 to Ron Blanchar for 12th. MAST also paid out three additional cash spots from Saturday’s qualifying round, going to Chris Pierson (13th – $110), Tim Morris (14th – $105), and Chris Pounders (15th – $100).
Richgels bowled the maximum 23 games during the two-day event, finishing second with 1735 (+135) in Saturday’s eight-game qualifying round, then falling to fourth at 4309 (+309) after Sunday 12-game round-robin match play to hang onto the final stepladder slot.
Sunday’s match play was contested on the 2016 USBC Open Championships Minors pattern. Qualifying leader Eoff extended his lead to nearly 100 pins after match play to claim the top slot in the stepladder. The other big movers during Sunday’s match play were Beres, who moved up from 7th to 2nd, and Ron Wallenkamp, who won nine of his twelve matches Sunday to climb from 12th to 6th.
MAST also recognized the top ten point earners in the M&J Truck and Auto Points Race. Mike Hoffman received $600 as this year’s points champion. Jeff Prein earned $400 for second. The rest of the top ten were Brent Ritchie (3rd – $210), Herb Kimpel (4th – $180), Kevin Punzel (5th – $150), Chris Pierson (6th – $140), Kevin Thompson (7th – $130), Derek Eoff (8th – $120), Mark Newkirk (9th – $110), and Dal Geitz (10th – $100). MAST extends a huge Thank You to Matt Maly and M&J Truck and Auto Repair for their generosity this season.
MAST also wishes to acknowledge our other year-end sponsors. Thank you to Jim Wipperfurth and Badger Pro Shop for their $1,000 donation to the year-end prize fund, and for bowling balls donated at cost for our raffles throughout the season. Thanks to this year’s host center Leisure Lanes and host Dan Goepfert, who provided an additional lineage discount and kept things running smoothly throughout the weekend. Thanks also to Deppe’s Awards Plus for the beautiful trophies & plaques they provided this year.
And finally, thanks to all of the bowlers who participated in our events this past season. We look forward to seeing you all again next year. The 2016-2017 MAST schedule will be released later this summer.