Behind the Numbers: 2012 Citizen Masters part 1
Another exciting year of the Citizen Masters has begun the past weekend and I liked what I saw. There was heightened intensity right from the start, bowlers coming back on Sunday to watch qualifying despite the Giants playoff game being on, lots of spectators cheering on participants, great sportsmanship, and lots of qualifiers encouraging fellow qualifiers to help them make the cut.
There were 190 bowlers that joined defending Champion, Tom Knapp that walked through Rainbow's doors. Speaking of Tom Knapp, his exhibition match showed why he is a two time champion. The smooth lefty fired one of 16 700 series over the weekend. With games of 245, 268 and 206, a nice 719 series put him what would be 8th place had he not been already seeded.
This year we will see 25 bowlers in match play that were in match play last year. More importantly, to my best calculation (and I sincerely apologize if I miss someone), 13 bowlers have qualified for the first time in their Masters career. In no specific order, they are: Cory Dockstader, Scott Thomas, Chris Gomez, Todd Weigand, Chris Binns, Nick Bolak, Joe Nadherny, Mark Lawson, Josh Devlin, John Jones, Tom Winslow, Wayne Clark and Nate Breese.
It took a score of 643 or better to make the top 64 and enter into the match play portion of the tournament. One peculiar oddity I noticed this year was a seven way tie at 644, only 1 pin above the qualifying score. Even more peculiar, when there are ties like this, the bowler with the highest score will get the higher seed. In some cases, the high score is tied so we need to use the second highest score. That always breaks the tie…until now. Mike Sheehan and Nick Kilmer's scores were all identical! They each bowled 225, 214 and 205. We actually had to break the tie with the bowler that scored the 225 game first. If they had bowled those scores in the same order, I think the only fair way at that point would've been to flip a coin or have a one game roll off!
On to the tournament awards. There are several awards one can win in the tournament besides winning the Citizen Masters. The first award given out is the George Lumb Memorial award donated by Jeff Lumb in memory of his father. This savings bond goes out to the top two bowlers in the qualifying portion of the tournament. This year's recipients are David Ashby (753) and 2005 Runner up Cory Slater (752). Other awards are the Alfred “Gale” Stanley memorial award donated by his wife Anastasia and son William. This award goes to the bowler with the highest overall series in the tournament along with $100. Then there is the George Vitetta Memorial award that goes to the bowler with the highest average in the tournament that reaches the final 8. We also have the Joe Catalfano Sr. award which is a trophy donated from the Catalfano family that goes to the Runner up. Finally, to the eventual champion, the Theodore Skowron Memorial trophy, the Stan Roche Sr. memorial watch donated by Paul Roche and the James Locastro Sr. Memorial shirt, donated by the Locastro family.
There are 8 former champions that qualified for match play, three of which have multiple titles, Ben Appleby('79 & '82), Tom Knapp('06 & '11) and Mike Ryan('04, '08 & '10). The other five looking to join a group of ten bowlers with more than one title are Rick Lambrecht ('02), Rick Liccion ('07), Tim Poormon('03), Steve Suslik('09) and Lou Tabone('01). There are also four bowlers that are looking to earn their first title and also join a club of six to win a masters after becoming a runner up: Kevin Ashby ('11), Mike Crowley('95), Dan Guzalak('08) and Cory Slater('03).
There were several families involved in the masters this year. 13 pairs were a father & son and eight were brother & brother. Of these, only 4 combos made it to match play. Hopefully they don't meet until the finals but just for fun, I hope they meet earlier. The father & sons are: Duane Slater Sr. and Cory Slater, Dale & Todd Weigand. The brother & brothers are: John and David Ashby, Greg and Dan Bibbens.
Looking for interesting matches next Saturday? Here are a few I recommend: Tom Knapp vs. George Knapp. Nothing really stands out here other than Knapp vs. Knapp. Are they related? I'm not really sure but they don't look or bowl alike. Ed Wasilenko vs. Jeff Farrelly. Both bowl at Starlite, who is the king? Don't make fun of Ed with his Brunswick Black Beauty because he's deadly with that ball in his hand. He bowls award scores with it. Lou Tabone vs. Mike Crowley. Former champ vs. former runner up. Lots of experience here, should be lots of strikes on both sides. Rick Liccion vs. Mike Ryan. Hmmm, friends? Yep. Former champ vs. former champ? Yep. President vs. Associaton Manager? Yep. Lots on the line here. I hope the fire house don't call that day. Ron Kratzer vs. Jeff Matty. These two like to chew head oil and make you play their game. Try to beat them at their own game is not an easy task. Jeff already has a 299 game to his credit at Starlite this year. What's even better, this is a rematch from 15 years ago when Ron really had the upper hand on Jeff. I won't mention the score from then, but it was ugly. This could be a barn burner this time if you ask me. Looking ahead, if things work out right we could have Steve Suslik vs. Ben Appleby on Sunday. Another former champ vs. former champ match in the making? Let's hope so. Speaking of Steve Suslik, he is in another rematch on Saturday. Steve Gardner, all the way from Gloversville, NY bowls here once a week so he can bowl in the Masters, and he intends to win every match. Last match between these two was back in 2006 when Gardener ousted Suslik, 638-596. Neutral house and new match. I'm positive this will go to the end of the third game before a winner is decided. The last rematch we have on hand is between John Ashby and Tim Waters. Both bowlers have been throwing very well this year. Tim bowls at Starlite already but John has the win under his belt from the last meeting.
Be sure to come down to Starlite Lanes this weekend and support our bowlers. We guarantee there will be some really good matches.