The qualifying portion of the MAST 2023-24 Year-End Invitational event at Bowl-A-Vard Lanes in Madison is in the books.
Thirty-eight bowlers competed on the forty-one foot Kegel Beaten Path v2 oil pattern. After eight games of qualifying Saturday, the cut to twelfth place was 1,740, with the top twelve bowlers advancing to Sunday’s round-robin match play, and then the top four advancing to the stepladder finals.
The field averaged 212.21 in the first game of qualiyfing. Mike Hoffman opened with a 279 to take the early lead, followed by Jon Schalow (258), Aaron Turner (248), Chris Jackson (246), and Chad Kuehmichel (245).
Game two saw the field’s highest average of the day at 220.92. Schalow posted a 256 game to take over the lead at 514, followed by Casey Gibney (511), Derek Eoff (499), Chad Svendsen (497), and Turner (495).
The field average dropped to 217.29 for game three. Eoff posted the day’s first 300 game and just missed a second honor count in taking over the lead at 799. Svendsen shot is second straight 269 game to climb to second at 766. Also in the top five were Schalow (742), Turner (731), and Chris Gibbons with a 268 game to climb from seventeenth to fifth at 711.
The field averaged 211.87 in game four. Svendsen continued his run with a 290 game to take over the lead heading at 1,056. Others in the top five heading into the break were Eoff (1,034), Turner (989), Schalow (978), and Billy Foertsch with the day’s second 300 game to jump from twenty-second to fifth at 947.
Coming out of the break, the field averaged 208.11 for game five. The top two bowlers started to pull away from the field; Svendsen shot 277 to extend his lead at 1,333, and Eoff posted a 258 to hold second at 1,288. Also in the top five after game five were Turner (1,189), Schalow (1,172), and Shannon Dins (1,163).
In game six, the field average dropped to 203.32. Svendsen maintained his lead at 1,555, with Eoff closing the gap at 1,522 in second, followed by Schalow (1,388), Foertsch (1,379), and Turner (1,377).
Eoff shot 247 in game seven to pull into a tie with Svendsen for the lead at 1,769 as the field averaged 203.34. Schalow posted a 253 game to pull away from the pack in third at 1,641. Tony Oliva climbed to fourth at 1,598, followed by Dins fifth at 1,587.
Eoff shot 243 in the eighth and final qualifying game to take the outright lead at 2,012. There were several big moves in the final qualifying game. Rick Thomas posted a 267 game to climb from ninth to fourth at 1,823. Brent Ritchie finished with 256 to climb from twelfth to sixth at 1,792. Peter Kortes shot 243 to climb from fourteenth to ninth at 1,764. All pins carry over to Sunday’s match play.
1 2,012 Eoff, Derek 2 1,982 Svendsen, Chad 3 1,844 Schalow, Jonathan 4 1,823 Thomas, Rick 5 1,808 Dins, Shannon 6 1,792 Ritchie, Brent 7 1,776 Turner, Aaron 8 1,773 Oliva, Tony 9 1,764 Kortes, Peter 10 1,763 Jackson, Chris 11 1,742 Foertsch, Billy 12 1,740 Morris, Tim
MAST paid four additional cash spots Saturday, with $140 to Chris Pounders for 13th (1,739), $120 to Chris Gibbons for 14th (1,728), $110 to Jermey Wolfe for 15th (1,725), and $105 to Casey Gibney for 16th (1,715).
MAST also recognized the top ten bowlers in our M & J Truck and Auto Points Race this season. Chris Pounders won the title going away with 1,641 points and nine cuts in ten events bowled, earning him $500. Congratulations to all for a terrific season.
POS NAME POINTS CUTS EVENTS PRIZE 1 Pounders, Chris 1,641 9 10 $500.00 2 Pursell, Matt 1,330 4 11 $350.00 3 Gibbons, Chris 1,273 4 10 $250.00 4 Thompson, Kevin 1,231 2 11 $205.00 5 Hoffman, Mike 1,221 4 8 $162.50 5 Erce, Rick 1,221 3 11 $162.50 7 Jackson, Chris 1,141 3 9 $130.00 8 Staude, Gabe 1,106 3 9 $115.00 9 Ritchie, Brent 1,094 4 8 $105.00 10 Wolfe, Jermey 1,050 2 10 $100.00
Sunday’s round-robin match play begins at 11:30am.