Blue Water Area bowling: Foltz, Palmateer capture tourney
Steve Foltz and Nick Palmateer won the Fall Senior Nonsenior tournament last Sunday at Port Huron Lanes. Palmateer led the way in the three-game qualifying set as he was 127 pins over average with a 667 series. In the final two-game baker match, the champs knocked off Frank Mitchell and Chase Hollis, 485-430.
The runners-up, Mitchell/Hollis snuck out of qualifying with the 16th and last seed, then had the highest point total of the bracket finals with a 568, including a 278 game in the first round to knock off the No. 1-seeded team of Mike Freeman and Jeff Krauss.
The two semifinal matches were tight with Foltz/Palmateer winning 455-445 over Brian Hayes and Josh Bombard. Mitchell/Hollis escaped with an identical 10-point margin 479-469 over Frank Mowinski and Matt Pawlak. Hayes/Bombard were especially strong in the first two matches with totals of 516 and 513.
The No. 2-seeded team of Don Allen and Jackie Karl won their first match before falling victim to Hayes/Bombard. The third seed (Doug Campbell and George Stafford) and fifth seed (Brenda Bruehan and Jennifer Wilkins) also lost in the second round. The other team to make the round of eight was Rich Ahrens and Steve Blake.
Seven others advanced out of qualifying: Anthony Thomason/Dan Kamendat, Steve Jakubowski/Andrew Jackson, Greg Allen/Don Nichols, Dawn Buchheister/Bill Buchheister, Craig Boucher/April Boucher, Maggie Gossman/Lori Schrieber and Jill Friis/Steve Lewicki.
Jill Friis posted the best individual performance for the women in qualifying with a 648 series that included a 221 game. Alicia Vennettilli shot the high game with an outstanding 264 and finished with a 633 series. Kelly Larsen also had a big game with a 252 and ended with a 595 series. Other top series (games) were Brenda Bruehan 605, Jackie Karl 590 (223) and Joddy Swoffer 574 (233).
Brian Hayes claimed the best overall series with a 749 and had a 275 game. He was followed by Jeff Krauss 738 (279), Mike Gossman 736 (278), Jeff Meldrum 736, Matt Pawlak 731 (277), Steve Jakubowski 727, Anthony Thomason 726, Don Nichols 706, Rich Ahrens 703 (276), Paul Lewandowski 277 and Kurt Salter 276.
Also during qualifying, Scott Badley picked up the 4-6-7-9-10 Greek Church split for the first time. One study covering the professional bowling tour showed that spare converted only 0.3% of the time, making it the toughest. It’s followed by 4-6-7 (0.6%), 7-10 (0.7%), 4-6-10 (0.8%), 3-7-9 (0.8%) and 4-6-7-10 Big Four (1%). This paragraph is dedicated to PHBA spare expert Chad Rich.
In league play, Bob Pihaylic picked up his 11th perfect game and ended his Cowboys & Indians session at Port Huron Lanes with a league-leading 763 series. Ian Francis was one pin away from perfection with a 299 game in Blue Water Mens at St. Clair River Lanes. James Minor had a 297 game in the Beverage league at Bowl O Drome, just missing his second perfecto of the season.
Brenda Bruehan fired a 269 game in the Friday Wanna Bees league at Port Huron Lanes. She would end with a 601 series. Kristie Lashbrook posted the second-best game with a 257 in the Don McIvor Memorial league and ended with a strong 649 series. Amanda Long pitched a 243 game in Saturday Nite Bridge and also had games of 221 and 220 in Inter City Ladies. Jen Ojczyk shot a 236 game in Inter City Ladies. Other strong games were Laurynn Ball 225, Jamie Prize-McCoy 225, and Margy Dunn 224.
Terry Crampton owned high series for the women with a 664 in Monday Big 12 at St. Clair. Her high game in that set was 248. Stephanie Freeman rolled a 618 series with a 246 game to lead Inter City Ladies at Port Huron Lanes. Jessica Badley rounds out the top three as she threw a 610 in Saturday Nite Bridge. Badley’s top game was a 243. The rest of the top series were Amanda Long 595 & 585, Jill Friis 587, Terry Crampton 583, Donna Toutant 578, Joddy Swoffer 578, Anita Hubbard 577, Kelly Larsen 574, Laurynn Ball 573, and Heather Bombard 572.
Dave Cox had the high series of the week with a 767 in PHL Early 4 Man. Cox was amazingly consistent with games of 257, 254, and 256. Ed Karwinski paced Blue Water Men with a 755 series that included a 289 game. Other outstanding series were Steve Jakubowski 749, Eddie Crampton 744 & 736, Mike Church 738, Neil Sinclair 737, Zack Dudley 737, Bruce Arnett 737, Jon Dean 729, Steve White 727, Lee Halifax 727, Ed Martin 726, Jason Moehlman 726, Chad Jeroue 719, Dale Camphausen 717, Jose Ganhs 713, Jeff Crow 713, Casey Donnenworth 712, Robert Smith 710 and Don Purdy 710.
Mike Church heads up the rest of the high games with a 289 in Cowboys & Indians. Jason Moehlman fired a 288 in the Wednesday Night league at Colony Bowl. Also in Cowboys & Indians was Chuck Duvall 284 and Jon Dean 282. Ed Crampton had 279 at Colony Bowl and 277 at St. Clair. They were followed by Steve Lewicki 279, Jordan Gamble 279, Jose Ganhs 279, Steve Jakubowski 279, Nick Conard 279, Sebastian Freeman 279, Cory Smith 276, and Zack Dudley 270.
Upcoming Tournaments: Match Game Doubles scratch tournament will be Dec. 3-4 at Colony Bowl. Five games of qualifying starts at 1 p.m. Saturday and the top 10 teams will advance to the 10-game round robin finals on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Handicap Doubles is Saturday Dec. 10 at Bowl O Drome. Duos must have a combined average of no higher than 410. There are two qualifying shifts (10 a.m. and 1 p.m,) with the finals immediately following.
Senior Doubles is Saturday Jan. 14 at Strikers Entertainment Center. All bowlers must be 50 years or older. Qualifying starts at noon and the finals immediately follow. Entry forms for all tournaments are at local bowling centers or online at phba.net.
Splits: 3-7: Stefanie Distelrath; 3-7-10: Barb Kilcoyne
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Blue Water Area bowling: Foltz, Palmateer capture tourney
