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Well, it's finally here, the last weekend of the Citizen Masters. We're coming off of a big weekend where we eliminated 40 bowlers. Emotions ran very high, and so did the scores. We have a new leader for the James Locastro Sr. Memorial award, a 300 game and a 298 game. There were also many matches that came right down to the wire. This year, we combined the men and women for the final two weekends which meant many more spectators. Overall, it was a great weekend for the City's most prestigious tournament.

I'll get right in with the Winner's bracket finalists in alphabetical order. First is Bob Kreydatus. This man has ice in his vains from what I saw this weekend. On Saturday, Bob lost the first game to Tim Pidlypchak, 169-189 but then came back in his second game, 243-181, going from -20 pins down to leading by 42. He then cruised into victory lane by winning the third game, 177-139. It was Sunday where Bob really impressed me. Josh Fatcheric had a really good look with a lot of strikes, but a couple of open frames kept him from a huge first game lead and Bob just picked his spares and catching a couple of strikes to keep him in the match. Josh won the first game 222-205. The second game was more of the same until half way through when Bob made the right adjustment and started his upward climb. Bob threw a few key strikes at the end to win the second game, 211-199 and now only trailed by 5 after two games. Both bowlers refused to give up and kept fighting for a finalist spot and started going strike for strike in the third game. Bob ended up with the upper hand winning the third game and series with a 246-220 and 662-641. Congratulations “Iron Man” Bob.

Ted Phillips has been in the final eight before and primarily bowls at Starlite Lanes. He might've used that to help him as he is now 4-0 and going to Rainbow Lanes Saturday. On Saturday, Ted led his match all day, but not with a big lead. Ted led after two, 374-330. Shawn Hastings kept himself within reach and won the third game, 196-192, but couldn't stage a comeback to steal the win. Sunday's matchup was against a very tough Paul Roche who comes with loads of experience. But it was Ted with the edge all day long nipping each game by just over a mark, 200-188, 234-221, and 247-224, 681-633. The ex-mullet man now has his place in the final 8. Good bowling “Ted with the edge”.

Two time Champion, Mike Ryan, still has a chance to be the first winner of three titles. Bowling against friend and former team mate, Jim Locastro was no easy task. Mike trailed the first game by 39 pins, 235-274, but then fired the tournament's first 300 game back at him, taking the lead now by 61 pins, 300-200. Jim started a comeback in the third game, but Mike held him off for the victory, 199-222 for a 734-696 match. Speaking of Jim, he had a great tournament. He also squashed any chance of a Bibbens vs Bibbens match at Rainbow Lanes after he beat Dan Bibbens, 673-614, and then in the next match he beat Greg Bibbens, 600-595. Next year we will look for Team Bibbens to walk through the ranks when both boys and father, Wayne, begin to make history. Back to Sunday's match with Mike Ryan vs. softball team mate sub, Duane Slater Jr. Mike came out with a first game lead, 238-203. The second game, Duane had a great line and looked like he was going to strike all day long, firing a very nice 277 to Mike's 246. After two, the 35 pin lead was now down to 4 as Mike led 484-480. Duane started throwing strikes again in the third game but lane 9 caught up to him and the string stopped. Mike won the third game and earned a finalist spot, 248-195 for a 732-675 series.

Fan favorite Steve Suslik knows how to put on a show. All four matches draws a crowd behind him with lots of cheers and all four matches were at a very high intensity. On Saturday a very strong Brandon Mettler tried to stand in his way. Brandon came out in game one looking like he was going to tame a tiger, 258-227. Suslik dug deep in game two, 238-193 and took the two game lead, 465-451. The third game both bowlers came after each other but Steve came out ahead, 237-236 and won the match, 702-687. On Sunday, Steve was matched up against another giant, Mike Sheehan. The first game looked like both competitors were waiting for each other while looking for the edge. Mike put one extra strike in the game and won 213-201. The next game was where the intensity started to flare up. Steve and Mike were both striking at will and lighting the place up. The crowd cheered for both bowlers as Suslik came out with a second game win, 268-259, and cutting the lead to -3 pins after two, 469-472. With everyone's blood boiling, both bowlers again came out at each other with strikes. Mike even picked a washout late in the match to keep things heated. Going to the tenth frame, it was still anyone's match but there wasn't any tiger taming today either as Steve won the third game 247-214 and won the match, 716-686. You might be familiar with the “string killer”, a video camera owned by the USBC BA that seems to have a curse against award scores. After this tournament, we might have to introduce Steve Suslik as “Leftie Killer” as he will face his third left handed opponent, Ted Phillips. Good luck LK, the crowd is behind you.

In the Loser's bracket, our first finalist is Gary Fedigan. This bowler has every reason to be in the final eight after averaging a stellar 230.5 for 12 games this past weekend. Starting in the Winner's bracket on Saturday, Gary suffered his first loss against Mike Sheehan. The first game was the only game that Gary struggled during the whole weekend and could've been the difference of being a Winner's and Loser's bracket finalist. Gary lost the first game 156-202. He then started to find his mark in the second game, but so did Mike. Mike took a commanding lead after shooting a 268 to Gary's 213 and a two game lead of 101 pins. Not giving up, Gary came back and won the third game 227-194 for a loss, 596-664. There's a good chance of a rematch on Saturday at 1:30. On Sunday, Gary needed three straight wins to make it to the final eight and did just so. In his first match against Brandon Mettler, Gary fired strikes all match long, winning the first two games and leading by 96 pins, 267-238, and 247-182. Brandon had a great 244 third game, but Gary stayed with him for the win, shooting 236 for a 750-664 victory. In the second match, Gary bowled against Chris Plis. Chris has been throwing the ball very well lately and even won a three way tie between Ed Monnell and Marty Black just to get to match play. But again, Gary threw strikes all match against Chris. Gary jumped to a 107 pin lead after the first game, 266-159. Chris came back in the second game, 257, but Gary stopped any chance of a comeback by shooting a 252 game. Gary won the third game 225-159 for a second victory of the day and another nice 700 series of 743. In the third match of the day, Gary bowled against a tough Jim Locastro, but a big 269 first game for Gary against a 190 from Jim, gave him a lead that earned his victory. Gary also won the second (205-192) and third (203-180) games for a 677-562 series. Great job this weekend Gary “strike master” Fedigan.

We have another great story with Dave Harvey. Every year, someone loses their first match and then wins the next six to be a finalist. This year it's Dave Harvey. A first time finalist, Dave has worked very hard and endured the toughest task to the final weekend. This is one of those stories that make the Masters fun. I can remember Dave hanging around during qualifying with a smile on his face as he watched other bowlers in excitement. After his qualifying match of 595 on Saturday at 2:30, he knew he was on the bubble. I also remember briefly talking with him and wishing him good luck on hanging on. As I walked away, I was instantly rooting for him hoping that he would make the cut. Then, sure enough, the cut was 585 and Dave was in for match play. After losing a heart breaker in his first match by only 5 pins to Josh Fatcheric, it's been lights out since then. Still, it was very nice to see Dave and long time friend, Pete Bommersbach, stay afterwards to enjoy the food and southern rock band that Cedar House had put on. On Sunday, after his three wins, another look at Dave after congratulating him, showed the same smile as I saw during qualifying. There's a man who is enjoying what the Masters has to offer. I wish everyone saw what I have seen in Dave, and I took a life lesson from him in the mean time. Thank you Dave Harvey for leading by example. Ok, enough of the mushy and on to the path that got him here. On the first match on Saturday, Dave squared off against Derek Locastro. Derek took the early lead in game 1, 231-219. But then Dave came back with a win in game 2, 199-179 for an 8 pin two game lead. In the third game, Dave pulled away with the victory, 246-162 for a 664-572 series. On the second match on Saturday, Dave took on last year's Runner Up, Dan Guzalak. Knowing how Dan got there, Dave had to stay strong for the match. In fact, Dave was so strong, that he fired the tournament's highest series so far and is in line for the James Locastro Sr. award, which is a plaque and $100 donated by the Locastro family for the bowler with the highest series in the tournament. And what a match it was because Dan kept within striking distance until the third game. Dave won game 1, 238-221, and then game 2, 257-245. With only a 29 pin lead, Dave kept his momentum going by firing a 268-215 third game for a very nice 763 series. On Sunday at 11:00 am, Dave met up against another tough opponent, Gary Feldman. Gary was the Runner Up in the Pilat Design Sport Masters tournament last year. Again, it was Dave Harvey winning all three games against Gary, 234-208, 197-193, 258-173 for a 689-576 series. At the 12:30 pm squad, Dave was on the verge of losing to another first round loser, Scott Bodner. In the first game Dave won by five pins, 193-188. The second game was pretty close too, but with Scott winning, 208-192. Then the fun began for Dave as he came back in a big way, winning the third game 288-238 and series 673-634. In the last match of the day, Dave Harvey went bear hunting. Out of nowhere and quickly gaining respect was Neale Baran. Neale's nickname is “Bear”, but it should be “lionheart” as he put his heart into every match (Even shooting his highest game ever of 298 against fellow board member Jeff Matty). This match went back and forth until the ninth frame of the third game. Dave came out to an early lead in game one, 217-198. But Neale answered back in game two, winning 236-216. Down by 1 pin going into the third game, Dave and Neale were back and forth at each other. Late in the game Dave strung strikes again, beating Neale 246-198 for a 679-632 series. Good luck this weekend Dave “this is too much fun” Harvey.

Next is the other leftie in the final eight, Mike Sheehan. Mike made a great run last year with a goal in mind and came up a little short. This year, he's here again, but now at home. On Saturday, bowling in the Winner's bracket, Mike bowled against Gary Fedigan. As explained earlier, Mike won the match 664-596 and Gary is looking for a re-match at the 12:30 pm squad on Saturday. Getting to Sunday, again in the winners bracket, Mike matched up against Steve Suslik on a tough match. Suslik walked away with a win, 716-686. And for the last squad of the day, Paul Roche did his best to stand in Mike's way. Paul started strong in game one 259-247. In game two, both bowlers might've been tired but stayed close to each other with Mike taking the lead now, 218-194 for a 12 pin two game lead. In game three, both bowlers mustered up all that they had and were throwing strikes at each other. Mike won the third game 275-241 in a very high scoring match, 740-694. A great tournament showing for Paul Roche, who averaged 225 over the weekend and received two losses in three matches. Mike “Sheeb” Sheehan is currently leading all finalist bowlers' averages with 235.55.

And last but not least is first time finalist and walk on, Duane Slater Jr. On Saturday, Duane faced up against Dan Bibbens in the Winner's bracket. Dan was impressive and threw a lot of strikes, but it was Duane's solid game that earned him a victory. Dan won the first game 219-214. On the second game, Duane broke away by shooting a very nice 242 to Dan's 179. With a 58 pin cushion, Duane was able to hold off a Bibbens charge in the last game, 193-214 for a 649-612 series. On Sunday in the Winner's bracket, Duane bowled against Mike Ryan and suffered his first loss of the tournament, 675-732. Even with a loss, Duane kept his solid game against Josh Fatcheric. Josh had a small lead in game one, 203-191, and then also winning the second game by one pin, 204-203 for a 13 pin two game lead. But it was the third game where Duane came through. Duane pulled out at 215-144 third game victory and 609-551 series win to get a spot in the final eight. Duane has been very quiet during the masters and you might not have noticed him until now. But you will certainly notice Duane “BOO” Slater Jr. this weekend if you come to watch.

Before this gets too long, there were a few matches that I wanted to bring up. There were three bowlers that lost a match this weekend while shooting 700. Probably one of the biggest heart breakers was the match of Dave Sutton vs. Charlie Guziewicz. On Saturday, Dave came out to an early lead in the first game, 245-193. He then padded his lead also winning the second game, 268-247. Not ever giving up, Charlie came back at Dave the third game firing the first 10 strikes in a row for a 288 game, but Dave wouldn't budge, shooting a 248 back at him. Great high scoring match as Dave Sutton earned a win 761-728. Sorry Charlie. But karma has its own ideas of getting even. On the very next match, Dave Sutton took on Mike Dries. The outcome wouldn't be in Dave's favor though. Mike came right out with a big 269-206 first game victory. Dave came back with a 234-193 victory of his own. Still leading by 22 pins after two games, Mike knew he had to throw strikes because Dave was lined up again. This match went down to the wire. Dave threw a 266 to Mike's 246. Mike Dries earned his victory by two pins, 708-706. The last match was with Gary Feldman vs. Rick McDonald. Rick had a great look after two games, but so did Gary. After two games, Rick had a huge 519 on games of 253 and 266 while Gary trailed by 52 pins on games of 242 and 225. Rick slightly lost his mark and Gary just got stronger, winning the third game and series, 254-181, 721-700. Them pesky lefties…they just don't go away without a fight to the end!

No matter if you are left handed or right handed, we have good quality bowlers in the final eight. We have four new faces, two retired bowlers, one youngster (at the age of 31), two lefties, and six righties. I think we have the recipe for a great weekend in a great place. Come down and support these bowlers and meet up with some old friends. It only happens once a year, it the Citizen Masters final weekend.