Budzyn wins Burlington Area Open bowling singles title; Ferrill, Rettig take doubles
Charles Budzyn has been one of the top bowlers in Burlington for many years.
Budzyn has won numerous tournaments through the years, including doubles and team events in the City Tournament.
But the singles championship had always eluded Budzyn.
That is until Sunday.
Bowling in the final squad on the final day of the Burlington Area Open Bowling Championship at KingPins, Budzyn rolled the game he had been waiting for in singles. Budzyn rolled a 789, which after adding 35 pins for handicap, added up to an 824 total. That was 48 pins better than runner-up Aaron Miller of East Galesburg, Illinois.
At long last, Budzyn added the one piece missing in his trophy case.
“It feels good," Budzyn said. "I’ve been on a few teams that have won and a few doubles teams that have won, but it’s my first singles title. It’s one of those where you work hard na put in the effort and it’s finally starting to pay off.
“Aaron Miller bowled the first weekend. He bowled really well.”
For Budzyn, president of the Burlington Area Bowling Association, it was the culmination of a hectic two weekends.
The team event was bowled at Tombstone Bowl in Monmouth, Illinois. The singles and doubles competition was held at KingPins.
Budzyn also won the all-events title with a 2,272 pin total. Kevin Henkens and Thomas Boche tied for second with a 2,227 total.
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Jim Ferrill and Thomas Rettig combined to win the team title with a 1,548 total. That was 25 pins better than runners-up Randy Kester and Don Meisner.
Making the feat all the more amazing for Ferrill and Rettig was they rolled their winning series in the first squad on the first day back on Jan. 15.
“It feels good to be able to hold on that whole time. When you shoot first, everybody knows your number and they are all after it," said Ferrill, who bowls four nights a week. “Everything just fell perfect. One strike after another. I shot a 678 and my partner shot 620-something. There is no way I expected to hold on for the whole tournament, but it did.”
Ferrill has been part of the winning team twice in the past, but this was his first title in doubles.
“I won the team event twice, by one pin both times," Ferrill said. “When you bowl 40 years, eventually you are going to get lucky.”
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Case-New Holland won the team event with a 3,489-pin total. ME Painting of Monmouth, Illinois was second with a 3,482 total.
Members of the winning Case-New Holland team were Maria Drain, Lori Orth, Johanna Beason, Chris Drain and Kevin Henkens.
“This was the first time we bowled the team event over in Monmouth, Illinois," Budzyn said. "They joined our association a few years back. We took the team event over to that house. Charlie Brown over there does a good job. He always treats our association right.”
Budzyn was pleased with the overall tournament, which saw plenty of high scores, a good turnout and a lot of fun had by all.
“The team event was completely booked. We had 24 teams bowl. Doubles and singles we had a full squad the first weekend and then this weekend we had 20 teams bowl the first squad and 15 bowl the second. It was a pretty good turnout overall," Budzyn said. "We had a lot of good scores. I know Jim and Tom bowled really well in doubles. They put that score up last Saturday and it held up. It’s tough to beat that score when you see 1,550 for two guys. Overall, it was a really good tournament."
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Team Handicapped
1. Case New Holland, 3,489; 2. ME Painting, 3,482; 3. Pin Heads, 3,461; 4. Pullen Racing, 3,452; 5. Squatch and Friends, 3,440; 6. Case, 3,435; 7. Splits Happen, 3,425; 8. DX, 3,412; 9. Pocket Pounders, 3,362; 10. DD's, 3,348.
Doubles Handicapped
1. Jim Ferrill/Thomas Rettig, Burlington, 1,548; 2. Randall Kester/Don Meisner, Burlington, 1,523; 3. Thomas Boche/Andrew Smith, Burlington, 1,497; 4. Ed Budzyn, Jr./Jim Ferrill, Burlington, 1,492; 5. Gerry Marshall/Dian Marshall, Burlington, 1,485; 6. Kyle Shores/Brett Levins, Burlington, 1,456; 7. Chris Drain/Kevin Henkens, Burlington, 1,454; 8. Don Mesiner/Kyle Kaestner, Oquawka, Illinois, 1,453; 9. David Dixo/Randall Kester, Burlington, 1,439; 10. Christopher Braun/Darwin Cooley, Burlington, 1,435.
Singles Handicapped
1. Charles Budzyn, Burlington, 824; 2. Aaron Miller, East Galesburg, Illinois, 776; 3. Kevin Henkens, Burlington, 771; 4. Gregory Miller II, East Galesburg, Illinois, 756; 5. tie, Jake Shores, Burlington, Chris Drain, Burlington and Mike Lowary, Burlington, 753; 8. William Trimbnle, 752; 9. Troy Painter, Keithsburg, Illinois, 747; 10. Tom Stansbury, Monmouth, Illinois, 746.
All-events handicapped
1. Charles Budzyn, Burlington, 2,272; 2. tie, Kevin Henkens, Burlington and Thomas Boche, Burlington, 2,227; 4. Jim Ferrill, Burlington, 2,196; 5. Jake Shores, Burlington, 2,187; 6. tie, Randall Kester, Burlington and Charles Brown, Keithsburg, Ill., 2,185; 8. Kyle Shores, Burlington, 2,180; 9. Thomas Rettig, Burlington, 2,178; 10. James Rhinehart, Biggsville, Ill., 2,174.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Burlington's Charles Budzyn wins singles bowling title
