COLUMBUS — Canadian Zach Wilkins wasn’t supposed to bowl the event.
Professional Bowlers Association members Graham Fach, Matt Sanders, Brett Shepherd and Mike Wolfe had teamed up the previous two years during the Nance Construction-HP Lanes MEGA Team event at HP Lanes.
“Mike is a ball rep for Ebonite and he was tied up with the PWBA tournament this week and wasn’t able to come,” said Fach, a 30-year-old Urbana left-hander with four career PBA titles.
“So we messaged Zach immediately and snagged him just in time,” Sanders said.
Wilkins, a 29-year-old Canadian righty two-hander who is living in Kansas City, Mo., on a visa, accepted his fellow native Canadian Fach’s invitation. It paid off in a big way.
The foursome combined for 3,769 total pinfall to claim the title in the 2022 version of the event Friday night, finishing 54 pins ahead of the field. The trio’s best previous showing with Wolfe was a top-10 finish a year ago.
“Our lefties (Fach and Sanders) were able to feed off each other as were our two righties. We had a lot of good communication going on,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins led the way with a 997 series during the four-game event, including a 299 in Game 2. He was followed by Fach with 981, and a high game of 266; Shepherd, a 34-year-old Louisville, Ky., right-hander, with 911 and a 267 high; and Sanders, a 28-year-old lefty, with 880, including a pair of 225 games.
“You have to have a couple of lefties, one to score and one that holds up the rear,” Shepherd joked.
The surge came in Game 2. After the quartet shot just 886 out of gate and stood in 24th place, Wilkins’ 299 led them to a 1,057 in the second game — the high game of the event and the only 1,000 game shot after the opener — to move into the lead.
Wilkins jokingly took the credit.
“I bought a round of drinks to start that game,” Wilkins said. “I buy drinks and the scores go up. That’s factual.”
After a 942 in Game 3, they held a 36-pin lead heading into Game 4.
“After Game 2, I saw we were leading, but that’s the only time we looked at the scores really until we got done, and were checking on the other lefty team,” Shepherd said.
That second-place team at the time included Jean Perez, who had claimed the doubles title Thursday with teammate George Gohagan III. But that team, which also included AJ Rice, Ronnie Sparks Jr. and Mykel Holliman, shot just 832 during its final game to fall back to fourth, 88 pins behind the leaders. Perez finished with a 1,020 series, with a high of 279.
The team of Justin Bohn, son of PBA Hall of Famer Parker Born III, Bryce Oliver, Charles Bostic and AJ Wolstenholme finished second with 3,715 after holding the lead following Game 1 with a 1,052 game. They shot 948 in Game 4.
Taking third was the team of Jeff Sisson, Michael Williams II, Joshua Jones and Chris Hankins with 3,706 following a game-high 983 in Game 4.
Scores were significantly lower Friday during the team event with 192 players on the house oil pattern as opposed to just 144 during doubles Thursday.
“There was a significant difference,” Fach said. “It was a lot tighter down the lower end and hooked a lot more at the higher end. It was really cold in here last night, but a little warmer tonight.”
“The righties saw it, and we all saw it,” Sanders said.
And the foursome saw enough to claim the title. So does Wilkins return in 2023?
“I’m crossing my fingers,” said Wilkins, the only non-PBA member of the team.
“We just have to explain this to Wolfe,” Fach laughed.
NOTEBOOK: It took a mark of 3,541 to earn one of the 10 cash spots in the full 48-team field, with the team of Hunter Kempton, Andrew Hall, Tiler Levesque and Corey Umbrella gaining the final cash spot by just four pins over a team that included Northfield two-handed lefty Ryan Liederbach. … First place paid $4,000 to the winning team on a $400 entry fee. … Gohagan’s team, which included Brian Waliczek, Adam Barta and Andre Gonzalez, finished sixth overall with 3,606. … There were three 300 games, including two in Game 1 by Vincent Bellar and Brandon Novak. Jordan Hornes had the only other one in Game 2. … The MEGA main singles event begins at 9 a.m. today with the first shift of eight games for 150 competitors, followed by B squad at 4 p.m. The field will then be cut to the top 50 for six more games in the cashers round at 10 a.m. Sunday before a final cut to the top 10 for a modified stepladder round in the quest for the $12,000 top prize.
NANCE CONSTRUCTION HP LANES MEGA TEAM EVENT
(Based on four-game pinfall)
1, Graham Fach, Matt Sanders, Brett Shepherd, Zach Wilkins 3,769 total pinfall, $4,000 earnings; 2, Justin Bohn, Bryce Oliver, Charles Bostic, Al Wolstenholme 3,715, $2,400; 3, Jeff Sisson, Michael Williams II, Joshua Jones, Chris Hankins 3,706, $2,000; 4, AJ Rice, Ronnie Sparks Jr., Jean Perez, Mykel Holliman 3,681, $2,000; 5, Tim Pfeifer, Vernon Peterson, Ari Wilson, Matthew Anderson 3,677, $1,200; 6, Brian Waliczek, Adam Barta, Andre Gonzales, George Gohagan III 3,606, $1,200; 7, Simon Mote, Eli Cox, Brandon Mooney, Quintan Kocher 3,587, $1,200; 8, Scotty Kramer III, Trent Jarvis, Zach Weidman, Dustin Zehner 3,585, $1,200; 9, Jack Ness, Brandon Vallone, Jeremy Milito, Donovon Kelly 3,580, $800; 10, Hunter Kempton, Andrew Hall, Tiler Levesque, Corey Umbrello 3,541, $800.