KETTERING — Ric McCormick had a very simple philosophy as he moved through match play at the BowlerX Ohio Masters.
Shut his brain off.
“I was driving up here with my mother this morning and we were talking,” said the 28-year-old Cincinnati right-hander. “I just worry too much … like I need a double to beat this guy or something else instead of just beating the lanes.
“I just kind of went up there, shut my brain off and said just throw the best shots you can. Whatever happens, happens.”
It all happened the right way Sunday at Poelking Woodman Lanes as McCormick averaged 253.3 through 10 games of match play and defeated 2021 champion Brandon Novak 506-479 in the championship two-game match-play final to claim the title in the sixth annual event.
“I’m still at a loss for words. I won a regional about five years ago on Mother’s Day weekend. Since then, I’ve won a couple of sweepers and had 32 (strikes) in a row at one point,” said McCormick, day manager at Northwest Lanes in Fairfield who bowls in the Professional Bowlers Association Central Region events.
“I’ve done some cool things. But every time I got to a big tournament, I just couldn’t pull through. I’ve made the top four in this before, but I was just pressing way too much. It’s good to kind of get that monkey off my back essentially.”
McCormick sat eighth after the opening five qualifying games Saturday, and dropped to 10th after the five-game evening block during the first cut to the top 54 players in the 108-player original field. During those 10 games, he averaged 221.4.
“I felt the first block (Saturday) was a lot easier, but the second block, the pattern seemed more flatter,” said McCormick, who earned $2,200 with the win using primarily his Storm Pitch Black and mixing in the Storm Fast Pitch. “I knew coming in that no matter what, I was going to stick with my game plan of throwing urethane.
“So I drilled one up with layout suggestions from my home pro shop and the guys from Storm and just hit it with 500 (surface). I told myself to break down the right side as much as possible.
“Every match I bowled, I got on 20 (board) and slow hooked them using five, six, seven and eight as my gutter. I haven’t been on that kind of a run in a while.”
McCormick shot 502, 548 (the day’s high two-game series) and 495 during his first three match-play wins over Tim Voytko, Steve Pennington and Eric Hamilton.
In the semifinals against No. 6 seed Dan Higgins, he took a 52-pin lead after Game 1 en route to a 472-415 win.
“Against Dan, I knew he was struggling with carry because of the urethane,” McCormick said. “But when I got to Novak and saw his ball reaction, I had a slight hunch that I was going to have to put up a ton.”
NOVAK’S DAY
Novak, the 35-year-old Chillicothe right-hander and PBA Tour pro, was 14th after the opening five games Saturday and moved up to eighth during the night block by averaging 224.1 to earn a first-round bye in match play by just nine pins over Jeffrey Scott.
“It’s been up-and-down, but more down than up … it hasn’t been the greatest season for me,” said Novak, a two-time PBA champion. “I just happy to bowl as well as I did this weekend. The last two months haven’t been good for me.”
Novak opened with a win over No. 24 seed Ken Abner, before having to face off against top-seeded and qualifying leader Graham Fach, an Urbana left-hander and fellow PBA pro who leads the Central Region points list.
“Graham is probably the hottest bowler in the state right now, and he had to battle the lanes with urethane. But I was able to get on him early,” said Novak, who shot 255 in Game 1 en route to a 499-442 win.
Up next in the semifinals came defending champion Dean Vargo, a Willowick right-hander. Again, Novak came out strong with six strikes in a row for 248 in Game 1 and then had strings of four and five in a row in Game 2 to complete a 507-427 win.
“Against Abner, he was up 10 going to the second game, but he split in the ninth and I had to mark in the 10th to win. I bowled Vargo on McCormick’s starting pair, so I was able to play the hold there from the urethane,” Novak said.
TITLE SHOWDOWN
Novak had used a combination of the Storm Absolute and the Roto Grip Tour Dynamx.
“I made a late ball change (to the Absolute),” Novak said. “I probably should have started with that ball. But it came back to me in the end.”
Novak took the early lead in Game 1 with three strikes, but failed to a convert a 10-pin spare in the fourth. After a 4-7 spare conversion in the seventh, he had a chance to close the deficit to three pins in the 10th frame by striking out following a double, but left a 3-6-10 spare.
“That was my only missed spare of the weekend,” Novak said of the 10-pin. “That shot in the 10th, I just kind of pulled up on it a little. Just a terrible shot.”
After two spares in the first three frames, McCormick ran off five straight strikes, doubled in the 10th, and took a 248-221 lead.
Then things got interesting.
After Novak left a 4-pin in the first frame of Game 2, he ran off seven straight strikes. McCormick, after a double, left a 4-6-7-10 split.
“Urethane stretches the lane for guys like (Novak) who want to hook the ball, and it makes it easier,” McCormick said. “That was just a horrible shot on the big four. I don’t think I got that ball right of 18 (board).”
“I moved deeper in the second game and I was playing the hold he created for me. The Absolute had more on the back end and allowed me to play more of the lane,” Novak said.“I thought that maybe there I caught a break on him … that I could capitalize on that. But he
just got a few more breaks than I did at the end.”
McCormick went on a string of his own, throwing six strikes into the ninth frame. Novak, with an opportunity to strike out for 290 and a one-pin win if McCormick also struck out in the 10th, left a 4-pin spare in the ninth and a 10-pin in the 10th.
“I knew if I struck out there, I could get him by a pin. That one in the ninth was costly,” Novak said. “I would rather have caught Ric on a burn pair rather than fresh because they hooked a little more. I tried, but I’ll get it next time.”
After Novak’s 258 finish, McCormick stepped up and struck on his first shot, letting out a loud “Yes” with the realization that victory was in his grasp. He finished with an identical 258.
“When he got up in the ninth and 10th, I just wanted to have a chance. It may sound crazy, but I really wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing,” McCormick said. “Just staying in my own little world and trying to throw shots.
“But in the back of my head, I knew if we both struck out, I would lose by one.”
A couple of breaks didn’t hurt, as McCormick struck on the eighth on another pulled shot he didn’t like and got a trip-4 pin in the ninth.
“That trip 4-pin was almost as bad as the big four, but it evens out,” McCormick said. “I’m really proud of myself there because usually I press too much and think too much.
“Against Dan and Novak I tried to just zone in, not say anything and just kind of go up there and throw shots. Just shut my brain off.”
Now it’s back to work and awaiting the next September regional stop for McCormick and possibly another chance at the PBA Tour.
“I bowled on tour for nearly two months,” McCormick said. “We’ll see if that pans out. I’ll see if I can get time of work to chase something again.”
ROUND OF 24: With only one two-handed lefty (Jeffrey Scott) bowling in this round on fresh oil, some big numbers were rolled to advance. Abner, the No. 24 seed had gams of 278 and 262 to top Scott 540-515. Vargo was down 255-244 after his opening game, but survived against Jalen Mosley for a 439-432 win as the latter shot just 177 in Game 2. The match between Casey Cohagan and Charles Easton came down to the final two frames as Easton rallied from a 34-pin deficit to shot 266 in Game 2, but ultimately fell 507-504. Round winners included Brian Himmler, Abner, Vargo, Kyle Cook, Hamilton, McCormick, Cohagan and Brenden Salo as the lower seed won just three of the eight matches.
ROUND OF 16: With the top eight mixed into the round, also on fresh oil, only five survived match play to advance. Fach was joined by No. 3 Brandon Kennard, Higgins, No. 5 Chriss Rasnic and Novak into the quarterfinals. No. 2 Simon Mote needed to go off the sheet in Game 2 to pull out a win vs. Hamilton, but left a 4-10 split on his first ball in the 10th frame to fall 454-420. Rasnic shot 247 in Game 2 to pull past Cook 440-430. Others remaining were Vargo, Hamilton and McCormick, who stopped No. 7 Steve Pennington 548-364 in rolling the highest two-game series of the day.
ROUND OF EIGHT: This was the first match-play shift not bowled on fresh pairs, with the two remaining left-handers, including Fach, knocked out. Novak went 499-442 to stop the qualifying leader. McCormick shot 288 in Game 1, the fourth-highest score of the weekend, en route to a 495-406 win over Hamilton. Higgins needed four strikes late in Game 2 to stop Kennard 494-482, and Vargo rolled past Rasnic.
WHERE TO NEXT: The seventh annual Ohio Masters has not determined a site for 2024. Co-tournament host Paul Brown said it has been tradition to hold the event every three years in Columbus, but “Toledo is not out of the question” after previous stops in Cincinnati, Akron and Lexington. The event’s largest field came at HP Lanes in Columbus with 120, the only time there has been a cut to 32 for match play. “We are going to stay on the Labor Day weekend,” Brown said. “The only time we didn’t was in Akron.”
TOURNEY OPERATIONS: Again a big thank you to Dawn Altimore-Eckenrode and Kim Ellis-Hogue for running a flawless event and providing the information needed for our reports. Also, a shoutout to general manager Brian Kretzer and the Poelking Woodman Lanes staff for the smooth-running event. Five-game qualifying blocks Saturday ran just four and 3 1/2 hours, respectively, with 108- and 54-player fields. That doesn’t happen without a lack of breakdowns.
NOTEBOOK: There were no 300 games this weekend, with McCormick throwing the high game Sunday of 288. Ryan Liederbach had the high game overall of 299 and Ian Carpenter had 298. … In the six-year history of the event no left-hander or two-handed bowler has ever claimed the title. … The oil pattern was the same 2018 Ohio State Masters 41-foot pattern, with only the sites being changed. … BowlerX jerseys were presented to Fach and Kennard as qualifying round leaders and to McCormick as the champion. Fach topped the first five games with 1,231 while Kennard shot 1.263 during Saturday’s Round of 54. … Past champions Jeff Fehr (2020) and Charles Easton (2018) fell I the opening round of match play while Vargo (2022) reached the semifinals and Novak (2021) was runner-up. Zeke Bayt (2018) didn’t make the cut to match play.
BOWLERX OHIO MASTERS
(Sunday, at Poelking Woodman Lanes, Kettering)
ROUND OF 24
(Two-game total pinfalls with seeds; losers each receive $250)
17 Brian Himmler d. 16 Jeff Fehr 492-440; 24 Ken Abner d. 9 Jeffrey Scott 540-515; 13 Dean Vargo d. 20 Jalen Mosley 439-432; 21 Kyle Cook d. 12 Nick Arvin 459-390; 15 Eric Hamilton d. 18 JT Cherpeski 482-429; 10 Ric McCormick d. 23 Tim Voytko Jr. 502-346; 14 Casey Cohagan d. 19 Charles Easton 507-504; 11 Brenden Salo d. 22 Joe Bailey 484-464.
ROUND OF 16
(Two-game total pinfalls, losers each receive $345)
1 Graham Fach d. Himmler 453-407; 8 Brandon Novak d. Abner 455-421; Vargo d. 4 Ryan Liederbach 494-430; 5 Chriss Rasnic d. Cook 440-430; Hamilton d. 2 Simon Mote 454-420; McCormick d. 7 Steve Pennington 548-364; 3 Brandon Kennard d. Cohagan 456-450; 6 Dan Higgins d. Salo 424-393.
ROUND OF 8
(Two-game total pinfalls, losers each receive $455)
Novak d. Fach 499-442; Vargo d. Rasnic 452-372; McCormick d. Hamilton 495-406; Higgins d. Kennard 494-482.
SEMIFINALS
(Two-game total pinfalls, losers each receive $599)
Novak d. Vargo 507-427; McCormick d. Higgins 472-415.
CHAMPIONSHIP
(Two-game total pinfall totals)
McCormick d. Novak 506-479; McCormick wins $2,200, Novak wins $1,200
OTHER CASHERS
(With 10-game total pinfalls)
25, Brian Kretzer 2,134, $200; 26, Bradly Adler 2,123, $200; 27, Rusty Walter, 2,096, $200.
