The heavy hitters were in town on Saturday.
A power-packed field of 63 bowlers -- including touring professionals Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga and Tom Sorce of Blasdell, touring amateur Mike Rose Jr. of Rochester and collegiate champion Jon Buckert of Rochester – found its way to Batavia for the Monster Energy Drinks singles scratch challenge at Mancuso Bowling Center.
While all of those aforementioned right-handers managed to advance to the head-to-head match play finals, which was no easy feat on extremely difficult lane conditions, it was a southpaw slugger who walked away with the $1,000 first prize.
Brian Cline of Depew, a frequent flyer when it comes to tournaments in the Genesee Region, added to a resume that includes numerous titles by defeating Rochester’s Phil Kaiser, 379-333, in the two-game championship match.
“I don’t count (the number of tournaments I’ve won), I count the money,” said Cline, with a big smile, accepting the prize money as his wife, Teresa, a teacher at Batavia Middle School, looked on. “This definitely was a grind. Just look at the scores.”
Indeed it was a grind. The long oil pattern applied by tournament director Mike Johnson – oiled to 38 feet and buffed out to 50 feet – took away the back end, making it very tough (impossible for some) to hook the ball. Every one of the 16 bowlers who made it through the qualifying round drew upon their experience to find a way to keep the ball in play.
At one time in our sport, a 200 game and 600 series meant something. As more than a few spectators commented, “This tournament is how bowling used to be.”
It took a 600 series on the nose to make the top 15. Buckert earned his place in the head-to-head finals by rolling a 235 game in the “Desperado” squad – a last-chance, winner-take-all feature where all those who failed to qualify get another try by throwing another $10 (on top of the $60 entry fee) into the kitty.
In the qualifying round, Gary Kinyon of Lockport pretty much lapped the field with an unbelievable 751 series. Kinyon, a Greater Buffalo Hall of Famer, pointed the ball in from the extreme right corner, using his accuracy to post the huge score.
Two others, Deric Houppert of Fairport and hometown standout Dave Montemarano Jr., also put up big qualifying numbers with 691 and 677, respectively. Montemarano and Curtis Foss of Medina (615) were the only “local” bowlers to make it out of the qualifying round. Both were eliminated in the first round of match play, and earned $80 apiece.
Cline, who qualified fourth with a 630 series, opened the finals with a 203-171 win over Jason Ciliberto of Gasport and followed that with a 196-157 victory over Eric Johns of Niagara Falls. This set up a battle against Johnson, a PBA Women’s Series champion and a fierce competitor on the PBA men’s circuit as well.
Johnson had eliminated Peter Maduri of Buffalo and Sorce to reach the semifinals. Johnson led in the late stages against Cline, but a split opened the door for Cline and he burst through. His 178-166 win propelled him into the title match against Kaiser, who had advanced with wins over Montemarano, Kinyon and Steve Meyer of Rochester.
Kaiser earned $500 for second while Johnson, who is scheduled to compete in a PBA Super Regional and Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour event in Wichita, Kansas next month, and Meyer won $250 apiece.
Kinyon, Sorce, Johns and Mike Rose Jr. won $120 each while Buckert, Dave Dobson of Rochester, Russ Mills of Auburn (the director of the PBA East Region), Maduri, Ciliberto and Houppert each pocketed $80.
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NO-TAP IN BROCKPORT
Promoter Mark Brown of Attica is venturing outside Genesee County this weekend to run a mixed doubles no-tap tournament at Brockport Bowl. The tourney takes place on Sunday with qualifying squads at 1:45 and 3:45 p.m.
Entry fee is $44 per team. First prize is $440 (based on 36 entries) with one in seven teams cashing. Handicap is based on 80 percent of 210, using last year’s highest average.
To enter, call 716-474-7960.
(Mike Pettinella’s Pin Points bowling column appears every Thursday during the bowling season in the print and online editions of The Daily News. If you have an item of interest for his column, contact him at mikepett2002@yahoo.com, at 343-3736 or by mail at 55 Edgewood Drive, Batavia).