The Tenth Board

The PBA reported today that George Tignor of Winchendon, MA was one of the cashers in the PBA East regional Strike Zone Senior Open in Pottsville, PA. Tignor qualified for match play in 7th, but was ousted 3 games to 2 in the first round by David Kneas of Annapolis, MD. The tournament, which was contested on Senior Pattern #2, was won by Sam Maccarone of Glassboro, NJ.

The PBA reported that Brendan Bierch of Grafton, MA finished 7th and George Tignor of Winchendon, MA finished 12th in last weekend’s PBA East regional Colony Park Lanes Senior Open in York, PA. Bierch lost to David Kneas of Annapolis, MD 2-0 in the best-of-three round of eight in match play, while Tignor lost to Kneas 3-1 in the best-of-five opening round. The tournament, which was contested on Senior Pattern #1, was won by Gary Shultis of Levittown, NY.

Catching up on the happenings on the PBA regional tour…

On July 23-25, the PBA East regional tour was at Cedar Lanes in Lebanon, PA for the Cap Card Open, and Jon Van Hees (Charlestown, RI) cashed in 26th place, failing to qualify for match play. The tournament was contested on the Scorpion pattern, and was won by Terry Miller of York, PA.

In an East regional tournament that wound down today, Gary Erickson (N. Attleboro, MA) cashed in 21st place and Chris Monroy (Holden, MA) cashed in 24th place in the Mid-County Lanes Open in Middletown, DE, which was contested on the Chameleon pattern. Danny Wiseman of Baltimore was the champion.

The PBA also runs regional tournaments for the senior crowd, and, at the recent PBA East regional Iroquois Lanes Senior Open held at Iroquois Lanes in Canajoharie, NY on July 9-11, George Tignor of Winchendon, MA was reported by the PBA as finishing 7th in the tournament. Tignor qualified in 6th position, but went 3-5-0 in match play. The tournament was won by Bob Caruso of Dayton, NJ. Senior tournaments at the regional level also guarantee four “super senior” cashers, and one of the final super senior cash spots went to Brendan Bierch of Grafton, MA.

Congrats to both of the New England cashers.

Note: The tournament was contested on Regional Senior Pattern #3.

The High Roller blog reported that Braintree’s Ed Roberts finished in the fifth-to-seventh place cashing group in the July High Roller at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas. Roberts lost in the eighth round of match play to Steve Calyore of Naples, FL by a score of 215-173, and “The Big Game” was eventually won by Dennis Killough of Indian Trail, NC. Alex Aguiar of Dartmouth also did well, cashing with the 21st-39th place group after losing in the fifth round to Casey Murphy of Nixa, MO by a score of 258-219. Congrats to both of the local bowlers.

These posts may be sporadic b/c of my forgetfulness in checking the PBA’s site for East regional tournament results, so I’m going to combine the recent New England-based cashers into one post and hope I get back on track:

• Jonathan Van Hees (Charlestown, RI; round of 16) and Gary Erickson (N. Attleboro, MA; 30th) cashed in the King Pin Lanes Open on April 30-May 2 in Rome, NY, contested on the Viper oil pattern. The tournament was won by Rick Graham (Lancaster, PA).
• Jon Van Hees cashed again (round of 16) at the Burlington Bowl Open on June 11-13 at the Burlington Bowl and Recreation Center in Burlington, NJ, contested on the Shark oil pattern. This tournament was won by Ryan Ciminelli (Cheektowaga, NY).
• Van Hees scored another round of 16 cash at the Howell Lanes Open on June 18-20 in Howell, NJ on the Cheetah oil pattern. This time, however, there was a New England-based bowler ahead of him, as Chris Monroy (Holden, MA) made it to the round of 8. The winner was Brian LeClair (Athens, NY).

The People’s Tournament reported that Ed Greene (Westgate Lanes, 193 avg.) was the winner of the June event held at Westgate Lanes. Greene defeated Dave Sloane (North Bowl Lanes, 154 avg.) by a score of 236-217 (with handicaps) in the title match. Roland Sandefur (191 avg.) was the only other Westgate Lanes bowler in the top 8, but I should recognize my buddy Rob Dickens (161 avg.), who made it to the round of 16.

Note: The TPT has decided to cancel the July and August tournaments, so the next TPT event will be held at AMF Silver Lanes on Sept. 25 and 26.

The PBA reported that Jonathan Van Hees of Charlestown, RI was one of the cashers in the 2010 Regional Players Championship, held on Memorial Day weekend at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, MI. Van Hees was the top qualifier for match play, but lost in 4 games of a best-of-5 match to Chris Hibbitts of Ft. Worth, TX in the match play round of 32. The tournament was eventually won by Riga Kalfas of Florence, KY, who defeated Chris Collins of Savannah, GA 236-216 in the championship match.

The People’s Tournament reported Al Brown (Town Line Ten Pin, 200 avg.) as the winner of the event held on May 22 and 23 at Westgate Lanes. Al Brown won an all-Town Line final match in which he defeated Ryan Oreste (184 avg.) by a score of 266-205 (with handicaps). Representing Westgate Lanes, Kris Higgins (203 avg.) and Philip Spera (157 avg.) were in the semifinals, and Albert Rue (171 avg.) and Zach Leverant (164 avg.) were also in the final eight.

The final unofficial results for the Massachusetts open state championships have been posted by the Worcester County Bowling Association, and, as I did last year, I will recognize the state champions here (with local association represented in parentheses):

Team

Handicap: The Winers (Worcester County) 3,888
Scratch: The Winers (Worcester County) 3,663

Doubles

Handicap: Brian Emery & Brian Wallace (Worcester County) 1,663
Scratch: Lawrence King & John Williston (Worcester County) 1,513

Singles

Handicap: Anthony Ferraro (Pittsfield) 881
Scratch: Jason Hebert (Greater Gardner) 807

All-Events

Handicap: Frankie Walker (Brockton) 2,536
Scratch: Michael Silva (Southeastern Mass.) 2,300

The Worcester County Bowling Association also posted a list of honor scores in the tournament, and I’ll list the more locally-notable ones (Brockton Bowling Association members and/or current or former Westgate Lanes league bowlers) here:

800 series

Troy Labrie (823 on 5/16)
Pat Carrara (803 on 5/16)

300 game

Derek Hamm (4/17)
Jon Van Hees (5/8)
Troy Labrie (5/16)

11 in a row

Dan Esdale (299 on 5/15)
Craig DiGiorgi (290 on 5/15)

Congrats everyone!

The People’s Tournament reported Eugenio Mauro (North Bowl Lanes, 120 avg.) as the winner of the event held on April 24 and 25 at AMF Silver Lanes in E. Hartford, CT. Mauro defeated Bert Roy (AMF Silver Lanes, 183 avg.) by a score (with handicaps) of 246-194 in the title match. Two other bowlers from the BBA cashed: John Hayes, Jr. (Westgate Lanes, 200 avg.) was in the semifinals, and Herb Brown (Kingston Lanes, 170 avg.) was in the top 16.

As reported on NEBA’s homepage, Mike Lichstein added to his record total of career NEBA titles by winning the event held this past weekend at Westgate Lanes. Lichstein defeated Bill Green by a 259-236 score in the title match. For the “locals,” Richie Fulton made the quarterfinals, and I’m fairly certain the other local cashers included Alex Aguiar, Danny Khuu, Sean Richard, and John Ellis.

As reported by the Brockton Bowling Association, Rich Fulton successfully defended his Hall of Fame Tournament (also known as “the plastic ball tournament”) title Sunday at Boston Bowl Hanover. Fulton won a three-way title match, which also included Keith Tantillo and Rob Young, by shooting a 279 scratch, 299 handicap game. Tantillo took second w/ a 202/239 score, while Young was third with 153/194. Mike Trent and John Hayes Jr. were the other cashers.

The People’s Tournament reported William Trudell (AMF Cranston Lanes, 215 avg.) as the winner of the event held on Mar. 20 & 21 at AMF Cranston Lanes. Trudell defeated James Ryan (Lanes & Games, 178 avg.) by a score of 203-198 (with handicaps) in the championship match. Representing the Brockton local area, Will Cabral (Westgate Lanes, 179 avg.) and Judith Yankee (North Bowl Lanes, 141 avg.) both made the semifinals.