Behind the Numbers Part 2 - 2009 Citizen Masters
by Mike Ryan
The first weekend is now at a close and I'd like to thank everyone who participated, volunteered and cheered on during Saturday and Sunday's matches. We've had a good weekend with some good scores and some very close matches.
Two bowlers are looking to make history by being the first to earn three Master's titles. Tom Charles ('84 & '00) is in the Loser's bracket and Mike Ryan ('04 & '08) is still in the Winner's bracket. Two bowlers are looking to add a second title to their resume, Paul Samasuck ('77) and Pete Bommersbach ('84). They are both in the Loser's bracket. There are also two previous Runner Up bowlers that are looking for their first Master's title, Paul Roche ('97) & Dan Guzalak ('08). Paul is still in the Winner's bracket while Dan is in the Loser's bracket.
This upcoming weekend is a big weekend for all bowlers as the biggest percentage of bowlers will be eliminated from the tournament. Bowlers currently in the Loser's bracket will need to win five consecutive matches to reach the final 8 while bowlers in the Winner's bracket could only bowl 2 matches if they keep winning or up to 4 matches if they lose on next Saturday.
In the first re-match of the year, Mike Ryan defeated Jamison Mills, 729-578. Jamie struggled in his first game, but kept a level head and came back with games of 228 and 206. Jamie is still alive in the Loser's Bracket after defeating Angelo Tozzi on Sunday in a very close match, 573-567. In another rematch from last year, Gary Fedigan evened up the series, 1-1 with Jeff Matty by blasting a 711 to Jeff's 651. Maybe these two will get another chance to meet up later in the tournament. That will surely be a great match to watch.
In case you didn't make it out to Cedar House on Saturday, I will bring you the results of the featured matches. At 4:00 PM, the Heavy Rollers Match. Dan Bibbens walked away with a big win against John Walters Jr., 675-590. Dan jumped out to a large lead in the first game, 244 -162. He then padded his lead to 106 pins after winning the second game, 236-212. John started a comeback in the third game, but Dan held off the charge to seal the win, 195-216. Proprietor match, Bill Dockstader vs. Jim Locastro. Although Bill had a great look shooting 644, Jim had a better look by firing the high score of the day with 750, which put him in the lead for the James Locastro Sr. award for highest series of the tournament. The leftie vs. leftie match just may be the biggest come from behind victory of the tournament. Angelo Tozzi started off with a 202 to Dave Sutton's 165. He then increased his lead to 64 pins by winning the second game, 219-192. On the third game, Dave found his mark while Angelo started to lose his. Dave threw a 246 to Angelo's 176, giving Dave the win, 603-597. Angelo Tozzi lost both of his matches by 6 pins each day. Tough break for Tozzi after qualifying 2nd with 710. In the good to watch match with Dan Guzalak and Harold Frisbie, it was just that. In the first game, Harold etched out a win, 230-223. The second game is where things started to happen. Both bowlers lost their stroke, with Harold keeping just clean enough to take a commanding lead, 172-125. In the third game, it was neck and neck again. Harold had too much of a lead for Dan to stage a comeback, 184-181. There's a good chance these two bowlers will meet again as they are now both in the loser's bracket. Could they meet in the final match on Sunday to be a finalist? Wait and see. At 7:00 PM in a former champion's match, Pete Bommersbach had the upper hand all night, winning 726-493 over Scott Bodner. We also saw a good match between Paul Samasuck and Shawn Hastings. Hastings had Paul's number all night long, winning all three games, 631-527. Paul bounced back on Sunday with a big win over Phil Perkins 695-642. Speaking of Phil Perkins, in the same league match between Phil and Jim Relfe, Jim looked his usual self by firing games of 278, 235, and 214 for a 727 series over Phil's 617. In the other Proprietor match, it was Ron Rizzo vs. Ed Feek. Ed took an early lead in the first game, 186-161. In the second game, Ed pulled further away from Ron by rolling a very nice 241 game to Ron's 170. With a 96 pin lead, Ed coasted to a victory by shooting a 160 to Ron's 169. Ron also lost his second match on Sunday to John Conklin, 582-634. It looks like it's not a good year to have two z's in your last name as Rizzo and Tozzi both went 0-2 for the tournament. In the good to watch match, we had Mike Sheehan and Brian Storrs. Mike Sheehan looked very solid all night long as he earned his first victory 693-575. Steve Suslik had his hands full against Jeff Chalupnicki. Jeff may have had a home advantage, but Steve made a match out of it by winning all three games by a small margin, 192-180, 254-236, and 186-160 equaling a 632-576 series. Paul Roche and Don Paquette kept things close all three games. Paul had the edge on every game over Don with a 593-552 victory. In a low scoring but good match, Brandon Mettler gave Mike Walker II a lot to shoot for as both bowlers had a hard time finding their mark. Brandon won the first game, 187-163 and also the second game 194-178. The third game was getting down to the wire when Mike threw a split in the ninth frame in a clutch situation on unforgiving lane 10, which sealed the deal for Brandon, also winning the third game 154-150.
There were a couple of other matches that went down to the wire. Jeff Matty fired the last six strikes in a row for a one pin victory over Dave Dec. Dave had Jeff on the ropes and threw a clutch strike in the first ball in the tenth frame, but a seven pin fill on his second shot gave Jeff a chance to strike out and earn his first victory. In another close match, Neale Baran and Darrin Emperato were going strike for strike in the third game. If both bowlers struck out in the tenth frame, there would've been a tie. Neale fired a big first strike and then Darrin fired one right back at him. Neale executed a second strike while Darrin left one pin on his second shot. Emotions ran very high as many spectators looked on to see the outcome.
There are some good upcoming matches to watch on Saturday. In the Loser's bracket, at 1:00 PM on Saturday, the Proprietor's match, Jamie Mills vs. Bill Dockstader. Bill is the owner of King Ferry Bowling Center. He had a great look at Cedar House Lanes all weekend. Will he carry that look to Starlite this weekend? Former Champions matches. Paul Samasuck ('77) vs. John Conklin. Paul currently bowls one night a week, and it's the Turner Lumb Memorial League at Starlite Lanes. Also, Pete Bommersbach ('86) vs. George Donahue. Pete currently bowls one night a week and it's the Finger Lakes League at Starlite Lanes. Will these former champions have the house advantage to earn a spot as a finalist? Another former Champion, Tom Charles ('84 & '00) squares off with a very tough Harold Frisbie. Good to Watch match: Darrin Emperato vs. Dave Dec. This should be a good battle to the end as both bowlers have similar games. Both Darrin and Dave have a great game playing straight up the boards. Director vs. Director match: Neale Baran vs. Jeff Matty. Is it really a leftie house or will the right side open up quickly? Who knows what the outcome will be in this great match up for bragging rights.
For the Winner's bracket, there are many questions and the picture will be clearer after Sunday's squads as the field will be cut to only four bowlers in the Winner's bracket. Will Mike Sheehan top his last year's fourth place finish run to the title? Will fan favorite Steve Suslik get past the hump this year to be at home for grand finale? Will Mike Ryan be in position to earn his third title? Will Chris Plis ride his wave to the final eight? Will Paul Roche go all the way this year after being Runner Up in 1997? Will the Bibbens brothers keep walking through the field for a Bibbens vs. Bibbens matchup at Rainbow Lanes? As the tournament unfolds, the excitement grows.
You've made it past the modified qualifying conditions at Falcon Lanes, fought your way through the not so easy but respectable conditions at Cedar House, now its crunch time. You'd better keep your eyes and mind wide open as we approach this weekend. The final weekend made up of bowlers that are on top of their game. So if you want to make it to Rainbow Lanes, you'd better keep your shoes tied on tight!