• April 6-7, 2019
• Schwoegler’s Entertainment Center
• 40 Bowlers
• Cut: +168

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.

MAST held the qualifying round of its 2018-2019 Year-End invitational tournament at Schwoegler’s Entertainment Center in Madison Saturday. A full field of 40 bowlers competed on Kegel’s 35-foot Boardwalk oil pattern, with the top twelve qualifiers advancing to round-robin match play on Sunday.

The field averaged just over 206 in the opening game, with 12th place at +25. Jay Heinzelman led at +65, followed by Derek Eoff and Corey Schmidt (+57) and Matt Krueger (+52).

The second game cut to 12th climbed to +40, with the field averaging just under 205. Victor Cortez claimed the lead at +94, followed by Heinzelman (+92), Eoff (+76), and Kevin Thompson (+74).

The field average climbed to 208.5 in game three, with 12th place at +52. Cortez maintained his lead at +127, following by Eoff (+109), Jeff Richgels (+104), and Tony Oliva (+96).

The game four average rose again to over 210 as the cut to 12th climbed to +67. Going into the break, Richgels took over the lead at +168, followed by Ryan Zagar (+161), Cortez (+141), and Eoff (+130).

Coming out of the break, the field’s game five average dropped for the last time, down slightly to 209, but the cut to 12th jumped to +91. The top four shuffled positions with Zagar taking the lead at +218, followed by Richgels (+182), Eoff (+174) and Cortez along with Chris Pounders (+173).

The cut after six games moved to +111 as the field averaged almost 214. We saw our first of two ties at the top spot with Richgels and Zagar at +239, followed by Eoff (+223) and Pounders (+198).

The field average held steady at just under 214 for game seven as the cut climbed to +127. Eoff took over the lead at +291, followed by Richgels (+272), Zagar (+263) and Pounders (+213).

The cut to 12th spiked to +168 as the field averaged nearly 219 in game eight. Cortez capped off his qualifying set with a 300 game (the day’s only honor count) to tie Richgels at +307. Other bowlers advancing to match play Sunday are Eoff (+275), Zagar (+262), Pounders (+193), defending champion Nathan Michalowski (+183), Heinzelman (+182), David Labinski (+180), David Beres (+172), Jeff Prein (+171), Mike Hoffman (+170), and Matt Mysliwiec (+168). The match play segment begins Sunday at 11:00am. MAST paid out three additional cash spots Saturday, going to Oliva for 13th (+150 – $110), Todd Saeger in 14th (+141 – $105) and Schmidt in 15th (+139 – $100).

MAST also recognized individual bowler achievements during the past season. Chris Gibbons received $500 for winning this year’s points title. The rest of the top ten points earners this season were Tony Oliva ($325), Cody Roedner ($275), Mike Hoffman ($235), Chris Pounders ($200), Jeff Prein ($170), Dal Geitz ($145), Kevin Thompson ($125), Ken Duffield ($110), and David Beres ($100). Congratulations to each of these bowlers for a great season.