NORTH CANTON — After doing a lot of bowling while growing up in the Chicago area and attending the University of Illinois-Champaign, Frank Kaczynski has restricted his play in recent years to leagues and area team tournaments.
“I did a whole lot of bowling growing up, but I stopped all together for about 13 years, from 2005 to 2018,” said Kaczynski, a 51-year-old Plain Township left-hander, who took the time off for family reasons.
“When I came back, it took a few years to get some semblance of consistency back. I probably had more revs on the ball back then, but I’m not sure if I have more speed now or then.”
After not bowling an individual scratch event since his college days, the Accenture IT consultant decided to come out of his self-imposed tourney retirement to participate in Saturday’s College Bowl Tournaments singles event at Park Centre Lanes, his home center where he bowls two leagues and averages 217.
“I really don’t know why I did it. I just figured I have been bowling well the past month or two and throwing the ball well,” Kaczynski said. “Hopefully, I would throw the ball well here and have a good day. You just never know.”
Kaczynski had a very good day, earning the No. 6 seed for match play, stopping two previous opponents and then topping No. 8 seed and past College Bowl Tournaments winner Rob Sample 257-226 in the title match.
“It’s just rewarding to know that some of the time I’ve put in the last few years trying to recapture some of my youth with bowling paid off,” Kaczynski said.
Kaczynski, who led the tournament field after Game 2 of the four-game qualifying round, averaged 247 over seven games on the day, including shooting 770 during his three matches.
“I think I had to adjust about two boards with my feet all day, going back and forth,” Kaczynski said. “There was a little more oil for me and that’s fortunate because my misses where when I was hanging up in my thumb hole a little bit and pulling the ball. When I did that, there was enough oil to keep me on line.
“Being a left-hander, it was a little bit different. I didn’t have to worry as much about what the lanes were doing or not doing. I did have a shot tight, and it was going to stay that way. And I stayed with the same ball all day because it wasn’t going to change my look.”
Throwing his Storm Proton Physix, Kaczynski started with 258 and 248 before his low game of the day (215) that dropped him from first to fifth. But a 238 enabled him to make the match-play cut.
He defeated fellow senior Bob Bures 267-198 in his opening match and then stopped recent Stark County USBC Hall of Famer Mark Herdlick 246-173 in the semifinals as the latter had just one strike through his first nine frames.
SAMPLE BATTLES INJURIES
Sample, a 52-year-old Akron right-hander and district sales manager for Gravely and Ahrens, has battled injuries through much of 2023.
“I injured my back and then tore the meniscus in my knee in May,” Sample said. “I’m bowling three games a week and working a lot. It’s good to be able to come out on weekends for this, and I did pretty well at the last one.”
Throwing his Storm IQ Tour Solid (a 10-year-old ball) all day, Sample moved up from 16th after the opening two games by shooting 256 and 244 his final two to earn the final match-play spot by just four pins over Massillon’s Cooper Smith.
“With the back, my chiropractor has been hanging me upside down like a bat, but it’s been getting better. Bowling is what did it to me,” said Sample, who still rolls the ball in the 20 mph range. “I run around and throw it like an idiot. But I don’t slow down, because every time I do, it throws things off.
“So I’ll stay with it until I can’t do it anymore.”
Sample opened match play by topping No. 1 seed Brandon Leggett, a 19-year-old Canton right-hander, 216-203 before throwing six strikes in a row at one point to defeat No. 5 seed Keith Zeigler 249-200 in the semifinals.
TITLE MATCH
During the title match, Sample started with three strikes before leaving a 2-4-8-10 split in the third frame on the right lane. After a solid 8-pin in the fourth frame, he left the exact same split again in the fifth.
“They were both shots I got out. Normally you can’t get the ball out here,” Sample said. “When I got it out a little on both shots, I thought I was going through the nose — and it leaves that both times.”
After opening with a double, Kaczynski left a 4-7 spare in the third and then ran off five strikes in a row to put the game away. He also left a solid 8-pin in the ninth before striking out for his final total.
“I did try to get the ball out a little wider to avoid leaving the 7-pin. I was a little worried about that,” Kaczynski said.
Sample did run off five strikes in a row after his second split, but it was too little, too late.
“I just looked at it as staying within myself and just throwing the ball … just do what I can do,” said Kaczynski when asked it there were any nerves after having been away from competitive bowling for so long.
“I’m used to the house shot here, so it helped that it was used for this. I knew coming in what to expect. This was surprising.”
But the Park Centre Saturday morning practice sessions he does with friends in his off-league days paid off.
NOTEBOOK: The tourney drew 41 players, with first place paying $500. … The cut to the top eight was at 943, with the cut to cash among the top 12 players being 911. John Price earned the final cash spot by 13 pins over Matt Coffelt. … High game of the day was 279, with Zeigler shooting 279 and 278 his final two games to jump him from 31st into the top eight. Leggett, a 2022 Canton McKinley High School graduate, also had 279 in Game 3. … Lanes 19-20 were a problem for right-handers all day, with Leggett having 246 on the pair for the high game. “I watched three guys next to me shoot 260s and 270s and then go to that pair and they had 160, 150 and 140,” said Sample, who avoided the pair. “Anyone who hit that pair and cashed, kudos to them.” … The next College Bowl Tournaments event will be a doubles at 10 a.m. Jan. 20 at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes. Entry fee is $130 per team. For information, contact Jeff DiMarzio or go to College Bowl Tournaments’ Facebook page.
COLLEGE BOWL TOURNAMENTS SINGLES
(Saturday, at Park Centre Lanes, North Canton)
Round of Eight match play
(All losers receive $130)
Frank Kaczynski d. Bob Bures 267-298; Mark Herdlick d. Jim Fellows 233-226; Keith Zeigler d. Brian Esterle 234-224; Rob Sample d. Brandon Leggett 216-203
Semifinals
(Losers each receive $200)
Kaczynski d. Herdlick 246-173; Sample d. Zeigler 249-200
Championship
(Winner receives $500; loser receives $300)
Kaczynski d. Sample 257-226
Other cashers
(with four-game qualifying totals; each receives $65)
9, Cooper Smith 939; 10, Tony Wagner 919; 11, Jesse Gonzales 913; 12, John Price 911.
