Ben Hafeman and Jon Shultz defeated Cody Ramsden and Brent Ritchie 438-417 to win the MAST doubles event at Schwoegler’s Entertainment Center in Madison Sunday, earning both bowlers their first career MAST titles.
Hafeman and Shultz claimed the eighth qualifying spot at 1,657, climbing from fifteenth after game two with team games of 458 and 457 to secure the final spot in match play. Ramsden and Ritchie qualified sixth at 1,662 and also had a strong finish in qualifying with games of 478 and 408 to climb from tenth.
Hafeman and Shultz earned $772 for their win, with Ramsden and Ritchie taking home $514 for second. The other match play payouts Sunday were $312 for 3rd-4th and $226 for 5th-8th. Hafeman and Shultz also earned $150 from the Bet to Win pot.
Thirty-one doubles teams competed on the 2022 USBC Open Championships Minors pattern. The duo of Rylee Schwartz and Ryan Dreikosen led qualifying wire-to-wire, finishing at 1,723; Dreikosen was the high individual qualifier at 960, earning him an additional twenty-five points in the M & J Truck and Auto Points Race. There were no honor counts posted Sunday.
The cut line to the top eight teams hovered around even for the first three qualifying games before jumping in the fourth game. The first-game cut was 416 with only one other team above even. The second-game cut dropped below even at 785 with only seven teams above even.
The top teams started to pull away in the third game as the cut to eighth place held even at 1,200, but seventh was 1,236. Several teams posted big scores to move up the ladder, with Ramsden and Ritchie’s 478 moving them from tenth to fifth, Jay Heinzelman and Dan Swenson posting a 452 to climb from ninth to seventh, Hafeman & Shultz shooting 458 to jump from fifteenth to eighth, and Dan Carlson and Chad Maas 431 to get from eighteenth to twelfth.
The fourth game had several more big scores and big moves. Hafeman and Shultz shot 457 to hang onto the final qualifying spot. Shaun Taliaferro and Jeff Taylor combined for 485 to climb from eleventh to seventh at 1,661. Carlson and Maas posted a 455 to finish as the last of ten teams above even at 1,623.
Tour co-sponsor Bob Holzbauer and Phoenix Pro Shop donated a Storm DNA bowling ball at cost, won by Matt Gannon. Host center Schwoegler’s Entertainment Center added three $10 gift cards, won by Heath Haug, Jeff Prein, and Joe Johnson. Total proceeds resulted in $272 added to the prize fund for this event. MAST extends a huge Thank You to Phoenix Pro Shop and Schwoegler’s for their generosity.
Our final regular event of the 2022-2023 season will be at Rock River Lanes in Fort Atkinson on Sunday, March 19th at 11:30am. We will be using the 2018 USBC OC Minors pattern which is currently in use by Rock River’s scratch league, and it will be Survivor finals. We hope to see you all there.