CANTON — On a day when carry was key and strikes were king, Lakewood’s Tim Voytko was able to rule Eastbury Bowling Center with minimal moves, a tilt of his hand and a lot of speed.
The 41-year-old right-hander — who tied for the No. 1 seed after five qualifying games, lost a rolloff for that position and then earned it again for the stepladder finals — found the key on the championship pair to win the 30th annual John Klonowski Memorial Scratch Singles on Sunday.
After leaving 7- and 10-pins, respectively, on his first two shots of the title match, Voytko ran off nine strikes to claim a 268-214 win over No. 3-seeded Ryan Liederbach to earn the title.
“It feels great. I want to win every time out, but you don’t expect to do that,” said Voytko, who bowls without his thumb in the ball. “I picked the right ball today and that’s what it came down to. Total, I think I moved four or five boards and just made adjustments with my hand and speed.”
Voytko tied Perry Township right-hander Brett McCourry for the top qualifying position with 1,284 total pinfall, an average of 256.8 for the five-game qualifier. For the purposes of seeding the two had a two-frame rolloff for the top spot with McCourry winning 40-38.
It was the last time Voytko lost all day.
In his quarterfinal match against 19th seed Alan Hoover, Voytko rolled to a 764-663 victory. His most difficult period came in the semifinals against good friend Jody Boyd of Lancaster.
“I threw a bad shot in the ninth frame of the third game, dropped the ball and left a bucket,” Voytko said of his 729-725 victory. “He needed to double to shut me out and left a 9-pin. I just needed a strike on my first ball in the 10th for the win.”
Voytko’s 1,493 total pinfall through six match-play games gave him the top seed for the stepladder finals.
In the opening stepladder match, No. 4 seed Jason Johnson, a 39-year-old Macedonia right-hander, topped McCourry 267-234, striking on his first seven shots.
But in the quarterfinal match, Liederbach turned the tables on Johnson. Following a 3-6-7-9 split in the second frame, Liederbach, a 25-year-old two-handed lefty, ran off the final 10 strikes for a 266-226 win.
Liederbach continued his onslaught in the semifinal match, starting with four strikes en route to a 242-177 win over 57-year-old Rootstown right-hander Dean Billings. Billings had just three strikes to go along with a pair of splits in the match.
That set up the title match between summer league teammates Voytko and Liederbach.
“I really can’t complain much about the day except for a few 7-10s, some solid 8s and solid 9s,” said Liederbach, who missed the cut in his only prior appearance in the Klonowski. “I had one problem with an approach on lane 6 … there was some powder or maybe easy slide on it and I had a few shots where I slipped and pulled the ball. It was just a little bit of a setback and it really didn’t matter because I got here.”
He got there because he opened with one of three 300s thrown during Game 1 of qualifying, joining J.D. Jones and Chris Miller. His problem came during Game 2 when he had just 219 en route to the No. 4 seed.
“I carried some shots no doubt. There was one straight up during the 300 that just sort of split everything in the ninth and carried. You get what you get,” Liederbach said.
In the title match, Liederbach ran off five strikes following a 2-6-10 spare in the first frame. His problem came in the eighth frame when he left a pocket 7-10 split.
“I really can’t say it was a bad shot. Unfortunately, that’s the way things go,” Liederbach said. “I just missed leaving one in the seventh and thought, well, I got that one out. I left a few of those today.”
Meanwhile, Voytko just continued striking all the way to the second ball in the 10th frame. And he ran through the entire day with a 10-year-old Roto Grip Defiant ball.
“The first two shots, I liked off my hand, but they seemed to wiggle a little down the lane,” Voytko said of his early 7- and 10-pins. “So I just changed my hand position a little, but I didn’t move. I knew if I moved right, it was going to burn. I just changed my hand position to get more turn.”
And it turned out to be the right move for the title after Voytko admitted he almost didn’t get in the event due to conflicts with a pair of events in the Cleveland area. It also won him a bet with Liederbach.
“We bowl on the same summer league team,” Voytko said. “Now after this, I’ll be the anchor on the team.”
NOTEBOOK: The tournament drew a full field of 108 players for the first time in six years, and there also was a waiting list. … It took a total pinfall of 1,170 (a 234 average) to make the 20-player cut for match play, and 1,148 (an average of 229.6) to earn a cash spot. … Dylan Rinella gained the final match-play spot by just one pin over Jesse Hodge. Also, Vicktor Varner gained the final cash spot at 27th by just one pin over Brian Ball. … Players came out firing in Game 1, In addition to the three 300 games, there was a 280, five 279s and two 278s. In all, there were five 300 games on the day, with McCourry and Tim Jones Jr. also recording them, and a pair of 299s. … There also was a two-frame rolloff for the No. 5 seed after qualifying with Boyd defeating Steve Forrester 60-38. Ironically, Forrester also tied his quarterfinal-round match with Brian Grassler, forcing another rolloff. Forrester also lost that rolloff 36-15, throwing a pair of splits en route to finishing 18th overall. … No. 8 seed Al Petrosino withdrew following Game 2 of his quarterfinal match with No. 13 seed Allan McQuaid due to a thumb injury. McQuaid, who was bothered by a groin injury during match play, fell to Billings 702-696 in the semifinal round. … There were five women in the field. Kristy McDermott was the high finisher at 58th and Kim Zerbey, who set Eastbury’s female series record earlier this season, was 60th. … Defending champion Jim Fellows finished 73rd.
KLONOWSKI MEMORIAL SINGLES
Quarterfinal round
(Three-game match play)
Brett McCourry d. Dylan Rinella 739-636; Tim Voytko d. Alan Hoover 764-663; Jordan Norris d. Trent Hoover 685-664; Ryan Liederbach d. Casey Cohagen 706-699; Jody Boyd d. Brian Murphy 626-607; Steve Forrester tied Brian Grassler 642-642 (Grassler won rolloff 36-15); Dean Billings d. Tim Jones Jr. 772-696; Allan McQuaid won by forfeit over Al Petrosino; Eric Long d. T.J. Charles 714-648; Jason Johnson d. Kevin Schott 682-649.
Final standings: 11, Cohagen 699 series, $250 earnings; 12, Jones Jr. 696, $240; 13, Rinella 636, $230; 14, T. Hoover 664, $220; 15, A. Hoover 663, $210; 16, Schott 649, $200; 17, Charles 648, $190; 18, Forrester 642, $180; 19, Murphy 607, $170; 20, Petrosino WD, $160.
Semifinal round
(Three-game match play)
Billings d. McQuaid 702-696; Voytko d. Boyd 729-725; McCourry d. Grassler 644-592; Johnson d. Long 740-630.
Final standings: 6, Norris 1,390, $360; 7, Boyd 1,351, $320; 8, Long 1,344, $300; 9, McQuaid 1,315, $280; 10, Grassler 1,234, $260.
Championship round
Match 1: Johnson d. McCourry 267-234;, McCourry wins $420
Match 2: Liederbach d. Johnson 266-226; Johnson wins $460
Match 3: Liederbach d. Billings 242-177 Billings wins $560
Championship: Voytko d. Liederbach 268-214; Voytko wins $1,600 and free 2023 entry; Liederbach wins $850.
Other cashers
(With qualifying pinfall)
21, Jesse Hodge 1,169, $150; 22, Jeff DiMarzio 1,168, $145; 23, Mike Thewes 1,167, $140; 24, Dan Andrews 1,165, $135; 25, J.D. Jones 1,155, $130; 26, Dan Mariott 1,152, $125; 27, Vicktor Varner 1,148, $120.