Tim Janz outlasted Brent Ritchie 193-189 to win the MAST event at Rock River Lanes in Fort Atkinson Sunday. Janz qualified third at 862, and survived several tightly-contested rounds of Survivor-format play en route to the victory, his fourth career title.
Janz took home $564 for the win, with Ritchie receiving $312 for 2nd. The other payouts were $199 for 3rd-4th, $151 for 5th-8th, and $116 for 9th-16th.
61 bowlers competed on the recently-released 2016 USBC Team Event pattern. The pattern proved very challenging; the cut after four games of qualifying was 785 and only 12 bowlers averaged 200 or better during the qualifying round. Tournament leader Dave Beres lapped the field with his 1004 set, but fell just short of the cut in the second round of Survivor play. Beres will receive 25 bonus points in the M&J Truck and Auto Points Race for leading qualifying. There were no honor counts on the day; Bryan Bannach had the only near-miss with a 298 in the opening round of Survivor play.
Host center Rock River Lanes provided a lineage discount, and also donated a Brunswick Nirvana bowling ball (won by Adam Bannach) and two gift cards (won by Herb Kimpel and Mark Newkirk). MAST extends a huge Thank You to Rock River Lanes for their generosity and for a wonderful event.