Derek Eoff defeated defending MAST Year-End champion Nathan Michalowski 268-223 to cap off a stellar weekend of bowling and claim his eleventh career MAST title. Eoff finished Saturday’s qualifying round in third place at 1,875, and maintained that spot through twelve games of round-robin match play Sunday, before putting on a show in the stepladder finals with victories over Ryan Zagar 279-215 and Jeff Richgels 300-234 en route to the win.
Michalowski was bidding to become the first defending year-end champion to repeat in the tour’s 31-year history. He does join Eoff as the only two bowlers to ever reach the final match of the year-end event in consecutive years, with Eoff having accomplished the feat in 2015 & 2016.
Eoff earned $1,100 for the win, with Michalowski taking home $800 for second. The other match-play payouts Sunday were $650 for third (Richgels), $530 for fourth (Zagar), $430 for fifth (David Beres), $380 for sixth (Victor Cortez), $340 for seventh (David Labinski), $310 for eighth (Matt Mysliwiec), $290 for ninth (Mike Hoffman), $275 for tenth (Jay Heinzelman), $265 for eleventh (Jeff Prein), and $260 for twelfth (Chris Pounders).
The big movers Sunday were Michalowski, who went 7-3-2 with a staggering 249 average during match play to climb from sixth to first, and David Beres, who went 9-3 while averaging just under 232 in his twelve matches to climb from ninth to fifth.
In addition to Eoff’s pair of honor counts Sunday (300-847, both in the stepladder), Jeff Prein also shot 300 in his final match. Michalowski had a near-miss with 299 during match play.
MAST extends a huge Thank You to our tour co-sponsors, Matt Maly and M & J Truck and Auto Repair, and Bob Holzbauer and Phoenix Pro Shops, for their tremendous generosity this season. Thanks also to all of our bowlers for another great year. The schedule for the 2019-20 season will be posted sometime in August.