Now I know why they call it the Super Bud Bowl. It’s because you have to bowl really “super” to have a chance at the big money.
The annual seven-day handicap singles tournament at Lighthouse Lanes in Oswego attracted close to 1,100 (yes that’s right, 1,100) entries last week., and four Genesee Region bowlers fought through the challenging lane conditions and mental tension to place among the 96 finalists who competed for the $5,000 first prize.
In the end, Ryan Kretchmer of Rochester walked away with the five grand, but brothers Matt and Justin LaGeorge of Leicester, Brian Weber of Perry and Joe Trigilio of Attica also had reason to smile.
Matt LaGeorge won four matches to advance to the final six bowlers and took home $1,000. Weber and Trigilio each won one match and made $170 apiece while Justin LaGeorge lost in the first round and earned $150.
Kretchmer defeated Mike Tryniski of Syracuse, 259-219, in the championship game for his second $5,000 payday in three weeks. He also won the Brockmyre Classic in Newark.
“It’s definitely a tough tournament,” said Trigilio, the 1999 Super Bud Bowl champion who makes the trip north every year. “You’ve got more than a thousand bowlers and it usually takes around 830 for four games (to make the top 96). That tells you something right there.”
Trigilio qualified with 849 while Weber had 862, Justin LaGeorge 843 ad Matt LaGeorge 834. Only two bowlers had over a 1,000 for the four games and just 11 had 900 or better. It took a score of 827 to make the top 96.
Bowlers who failed to qualify for the finals but finished in the top one-fifth of the field also cashed. Among those was Batavian Heather Johnson, who finished 176th with a handicap score of 806.
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LEFTIES SHINE AT MANCUSO’S
A pair of left-handers – Rick Kosciolek of Batavia and Brian Green of Pavilion – led the hit parade at Mancuso Bowling Center last week.
Kosciolek, 48, erupted for an 828 series in the Polish Falcons League on Wednesday night and Green, 26, fired his fourth certified 300 game in the Genesee Plumbing League the following night.
“It was just one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ nights,” said Kosciolek, who registered 32 of a possible 36 strikes on lanes 11-12. “I’ve had a bunch of 700’s, but nothing like this.”
Kosciolek rolled games of 279, 259 and 290. He had 11 strikes in the opener, leaving the 7-pin in the fifth frame; 10 strikes in the middle game, leaving a 7-pin in the fourth and a 7-pin in the seventh, and 11 more strikes after converting the 4-7 spare in the last game.
“In practice I didn’t really throw any good balls; I kept crossing over,” Kosciolek said. “I moved a bit, rolled it over the first arrow – down and in – and it just kept hitting the pocket.”
A 206-average bowler this season, Kosciolek competes for the FRA Engineering team along with his father, Dick; brother-in-law, Vin Bucciferro; Joe Gerace and Dan Chrzanowski. His mother, Tossie, also bowls on Wednesday night and was able to watch the final few frames.
“I knew I needed the first strike in the 10th (for the 800),” said Kosciolek, who was using a Columbia Tour Boss ball. “I wasn’t nervous. I just let it roll.”
Kosciolek is a senior designer at FRA Engineering in Henrietta.
The 828 is the best three-game series in the Genesee Region United States Bowling Congress Association this season.
Green Takes ‘Inside’ Angle
Filling in for Mark Brown on lanes 19-20, Green, a big man with a big backswing, opened the evening with 12 consecutive strikes. He shot a 237 second game and finished with 204 for a 741 series.
“I used a different line, hitting around 17-18 (boards), out to about 5,” said Green, a department manager for Wal-Mart in Geneseo. “I was hooking the whole left side of the lane. Every ball was in the pocket. I knew I wasn’t going to miss the pocket, but if you said I would carry them all, I would have laughed at you.”
Green said he used a Brunswick Twisted Fury. He is averaging 225 in the Sunday morning scratch league at Scopano’s Lanes in Oakfield and 207 in a Monday night league at Clarence Bowling Academy.
The 300 game is the fourth certified perfect game at Mancuso’s this season; Matt Balduf rolled a 300 in the Genesee Plumbing league the previous week.
While an inside line worked for Green, a line around the 8th board did the trick for Batavia right-hander Gregg Wolff in the T.F. Brown’s/Budweiser league on Tuesday night. Wolff, a former Batavia Bowling Association Senior Masters Tournament champion, posted a 783 series on games of 268-236-279.
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GRUSBC TOURNEY NEARS
The second annual Genesee Region USBC Association Tournament runs April 4-6, 11-13 at Oak Orchard Bowl in Albion (four-person team event) and at Cal Bowl in Caledonia (doubles and singles).
Squad times are the same for both events – 7 p.m. April 4, 11; 1 and 3 p.m. April 5, 12, and 1 and 3 p.m. April 6, 13. Entry fees are $20 per bowler per event -- $80 per team, $40 doubles and $20 singles – and $5 for optional nine-game all-events.
Competition takes place in two divisions – open and women’s. One in five entries will cash.
In the Open division, handicap is based on 80 percent of the difference between the average and 880 (team), 440 (doubles) and 220 (singles). In the Women’s division, handicap is based on 80 percent of the difference between the average and 800 (team), 400 (doubles) and 200 (singles).
Entrants will use the highest USBC certified average based on a minimum of 21 games for the 2006-07 season. If a bowler does not have an average from last season, he or she may use the highest 2007-08 average based on 21 or more games at the time of bowling.
For more information or to enter, call Steve O’Dell, GRUSBC Association manager, at 948-87578, or call the bowling centers – 589-6900, Oak Orchard, or 538-6530, Cal Bowl.
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CAMPBELL MEMORIAL SCHEDULED
Hornell, a community with a rich bowling tradition, once again honors its own with the second annual Tim Campbell Memorial tournaments at Maple City Bowl at the end of this month.
A scratch tournament is scheduled for March 29 with squads at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., and a youth handicap tournament is scheduled for March 30 with squads at 10 a.m. and noon. Both events feature a $1,000 first prize – cash for the scratch tourney and scholarship for the youth handicap tourney.
Entry fee for the scratch tournament is $65; entry fee for the youth tournament is $35.
An adult handicap tournament will take place sometime in May, according to Bill Scheiwer Sr., whose son, Bill Jr., is part-owner of Maple City Bowl.
The events are dedicated to Tim Campbell of Canisteo, who, according to Scheiwer, rolled the first of his many 300 games at the age of 13. Campbell went on to bowl on the PBA Tour in the early 1980’s and made in excess of $15,000.
He moved to Pittsburgh and then to Youngstown, Ohio. Campbell died of leukemia in April 2006, leaving a wife and two daughters. He was 41.
To learn more about the memorial tournaments, contact Scheiwer at 1-724-986-7254 or log on to maplecitybowl.net.
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CAL BOWL TO HOST TOURNEY
The annual Caledonia Volunteer Firemen’s five-person handicap no-tap tournament will take place April 18-20, 25-27 at Cal Bowl. First prize, based on 100 teams participating, is $3,500. Entry fee is $140 per team.
Squad times are 7 p.m. April 18, 25, and 1 and 3 p.m. April 19-20, 26-27. Free pizza and wings will be served following the Friday squads.
The tourney also will feature an optional singles tournament and a 300 game jackpot.
To sign up, call Ken Benware at 538-6530.
(Mike Pettinella’s Pin Points bowling column appears every Thursday during the bowling season. If you have an item of interest for his column, please contact him at mikepett2002@yahoo.com or at 343-3736 or by mail at 55 Edgewood Drive, Batavia).