CANTON — After undergoing a kidney transplant in 2021, Brian Esterle made a decision to reduce his bowling equipment weights to 14 pounds.
Admittedly, it just didn’t work out.
“I just don’t think the layouts I was using on the balls were matching up with 14 pounds,” the 52-year-old Wadsworth right-hander said. “It worked well with 15 pounds, but I just wasn’t getting a lot of carry with the 14-pounders.
“The last couple of years have been a struggle.”
So, in January, he decided to go back to 15 pounds. To say it has worked out for the Summit Racing employee and Highland High School bowling coach is an understatement.
After claiming a Michigan Senior Singles Open (SSO) at Station 300 in Saline, Mich., in August, Esterle earned his fourth overall win in a College Bowl Tournaments event Saturday with a 258-242 win over Branden Ball in the group’s 2023-24 opening event at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes.
“I had a good look all day,” said Esterle, who averaged 254.57 over seven games and had just one game under 253 with a high of 268.
“Everything just went well today. I think I left like five 10-pins the whole day, which is just awesome.”
Esterle didn’t take over the qualifying lead until Game 3 of the four-game qualifier, and then shot just 221 in Game 4. He still held the lead going into single-game match play by eight pins over Vincent Ludwig, who shot the day’s high game of 289 in Game 4.
“I had one bad pair, but it really wasn’t a bad pair,” Esterle said. “It was just me. I was able to use the same ball all day (Storm Ruby IQ Tour) except for one game when I went to the (900 Global) Wolverine.”
In match play, Esterle continued his assault by rolling past No. 8 seed Alex Lincoln (253-195) and then starting with the first seven strikes against No. 5 seed Joe Hostetler (257-200).
BALL’S POOR START
The opposite was true for Ball early in qualifying. Using a combination of the IQ Ruby Tour and the Storm Summit, Ball was sitting 14th with 424 after two games.
“Both of those balls didn’t work for me at the start, which is obvious,” the 23-year-old Jackson Township right-hander said. “So at that point, knowing what these tournaments are like scoring-wise, I figured I was so far out of it so, who cares?
“I took out my trusty (Storm) Fate and just threw it as hard as I could at the head pin.”
He shot 279 with the strategy to jump to fifth after three games and closed with 216 to earn the No. 7 seed for match play.
Ball used the same strategy to stop Ludwig 226-204 in his opening match before using five strikes in a row late to stop No. 3 seed Scott Vandegrift 248-210 and earn his first title match appearance in the group series.
“Against Scott, the lanes were a little weird, but I stuck with the Fate,” said Ball, a Carter Lumber employee. “But in practice for the title match, I just thought the Fate was getting a little lazy down the lane so I switched back to the IQ Ruby.
“It was the right ball, but just bad execution.”
TIGHT TITLE MATCH
It was Ball who jumped out quickly in the final match, stringing six strikes to start. Esterle left a 10-pin spare in the second frame, but struck on his other five shots through six.
But in the seventh and eighth frames, Ball left 10-pin and 4-pin spares.
“The first 10-pin, I thought was a pretty decent shot,” Ball said.
After Esterle added another strike in the seventh to run his string to five in a row, he also left another 10-pin in the eighth. Then disaster struck Ball in the ninth as he left a 3-6-9-10 spare.
“I had a chance, then I decided to throw it really bad. If I make a good shot there, I can throw a double in the 10th to win,” Ball said. “But I didn’t.”
He covered the spare, but then left another 10-pin on his first ball in the 10th frame.
“I just didn’t hit it quite enough and it kind of rooster-tailed out and left the flat 10,” Ball said.
But Esterle struck in the ninth and added the first strike in the 10th frame for a double and the win.
“I started the day playing around eight (board) and got into 10-to-15 later,” Esterle said. “I think I was standing on 31 and going around 11-to-13 in the finals.”
But on this day, it didn’t seem to matter.
“The pins,” Esterle said, “were just going down.”
NOTEBOOK: The first event of the College Bowl Tournaments schedule drew 25 players. … Lincoln, who shot just 209 his final game, earned the final qualifying spot by just one pin over senior John Barnard 895-894 with another senior, Mike Parker, finishing with 893. … Five players shot 700 for their first three games, led by Esterle’s 793. Brian Ball, who had 745 through three games, fell to Joe Hostetler during the opening round of match play. … Esterle led qualifying with 1,014 as three players — Ludwig and Vandegrift being the others — were over 1,000 after four games. … Esterle has previously won two singles and one doubles (with Ray Cook) in the College Bowl series. … The next College Bowl Tournaments event will be a doubles event at 10 a.m. Oct. 21 at Park Centre Lanes in North Canton. Entry fee is $130 per team. For information, contact Jeff DiMarzio or see the College Bowl Tournaments Facebook page.
COLLEGE BOWL TOURNAMENTS SINGLES
(Saturday at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes, Canton)
ROUND OF EIGHT
(Single-game match play; losers receive $100 each)
No. 1 Scott Esterle d. No. 8 Alex Lincoln 253-195; No. 7 Branden Ball d. No. 2 Vincent Ludwig 226-204; No. 3 Scott Vandegrift d. No. 6 Ray Cook 213-189; No. 5 Joe Hostesler d. No. 4 Brian Ball 259-217
SEMIFINALS
(Single-game match play; losers each receive $140)
Branden Ball d. Vandegrift 248-210; Esterle d. Hostesler 257-200
CHAMPIONSHIP
Esterle d. Ball 258-242; Esterle wins $300, Ball wins $220
