• April 6-7, 2024
• Bowl-A-Vard Lanes
• 38 Bowlers
• Cut: +140

Derek Eoff defeated Jon Schalow 255-224 to win the MAST 2023-24 Year-End Invitational event at Bowl-A-Vard Lanes Sunday.

This marked the eighteenth career MAST title and third this season for Eoff. This was also his third career Year-End title and second straight, having won our 2022-23 Year-End event at Ten Pin Alley. Schalow was seeking his second Year-End Title.

Eoff earned $1,000 for the win, with Schalow taking home $825 for second. Also making the stepladder finals Sunday were Brent Ritchie (3rd – $650) and Chad Svendsen (4th – $500).

Eoff averaged just over 241 in his thirteen games Sunday including the day’s only 300 game mid-way through match play, and stepped up the pace late averaging over 256 through his final four matches and the stepladder final.

Schalow was one of several big movers during match play Sunday. Following a slow start in the front half of the block with a 2-4 record and a 211.67 average to fall from third to ninth, Schalow rebounded by winning his last six matches and averaging 233.33 to climb back to third and make the stepladder.

Ritchie held position in the middle of the pack for most of the day, but posted a 279 game in his tenth match to climb from fifth to second, and held onto that spot through the position round.

Svendsen held onto the second position for most of the day, briefly relinquishing the spot to Peter Kortes. A 162 game in his tenth match dropped him out of the stepladder at fifth, but he rebounded by averaging 220 in spliting his last two matches to lock up the fourth seed in stepladder.

Kortes averaged over 241 in winning his first seven matches to climb from ninth to second, but struggled with blisters in his last few matches to fall back to fifth, missing out on the stepladder finals by just thirty pins.

Tim Morris averaged over 226 in winning four of his first five matches to climb from twelfth to sixth, eventually finishing in eighth place.

We do want to acknowledge an error near the end of match play. After the eleven round-robin matches, there was a tie for eighth place at 4,291. We noted the tie and highlighted the high-game tiebreakers on the recap sheets, but this was not accurately reflected on our standings sheet, leading to incorrect lane assignments for eighth and ninth place for the position round matches. The error was not noticed until after the position round matches were completed. After discussion with the affected bowlers including seventh place, the bowlers agreed to pool and evenly split the seventh-, eighth- and ninth-place payouts. Our sincere apologies to those affected by the mistake; we will work to improve our processes for future events.

This concludes our 2023-24 season. Thank you to all of the bowlers who participated in our events. We also want to extend a huge Thank You to Matt Maly with M & J Truck and Auto Repair and Bill Pounders with Ten Pin Alley Pro Shop for their generous sponsorships this season, and to all of our host centers for their ongoing support. Our 2024-25 schedule should be posted in August.

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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