CANTON — Senior players ruled the day during Saturday’s College Bowl Tournaments singles event at Bowlero Hall of Fame Lanes.
Rob Sample, a 51-year-old Green right-hander, defeated 64-year-old Green right-hander Bobby Moyers 276-189 to claim the win in the 44-player field.
Sample, who placed fifth in the John Klonowski Memorial at Eastbury in February, defeated No. 3 seed Branden Ball (219-212) and No. 2 seed Tony Wagner (257-223) en route to the title match.
Moyers, the No. 8 seed, topped No. 1 seed Brian Ball (224-180) and No. 5 seed Matt Zitnik (266-165) to earn the matchup with Sample.
Brian Ball was the top qualifier with 1,022 total pinfall for four games, an average of 255.5 and 44 pins ahead of Wagner.
Moyers was the cut line for match play with 934, just one pin ahead of Josh Haddad (933), the Klonowski champion who captured the January College Bowl Tournaments doubles event with J.D. Jones.
NOTEBOOK: Thirty players finished even or plus in the field. The last cash spot was at 919 in 12th place. … Massillon’s Mandi Testa was the high woman, finishing in a tie for 12th with 919, eight pins ahead of her husband, Frank. … Alex Lincoln posted the high game of 289 in Game 1. … The next College Bowl Tournaments tourney is a doubles event at 10 a.m. April 13 at Park Centre Lanes. Entry fee is $130 per team, with teams bowling four qualifying games. See College Bowl Tournaments’ Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1732438633645945 or contact Jeff DiMarzio. This is the final event before the group’s year-end singles May 11 at Eastbury Bowling Center. To participate in the finale, players must have bowled in at least four of the group’s eight events.
COLLEGE BOWL TOURNAMENTS SINGLES
(Saturday, at Bowlero Hall of Fame Lanes, Canton)
Round of eight
(Losers each receive $130)
Bobby Moyers d. Brian Ball 224-180; Matt Zitnik d. Tucker Robbins 268-223; Tony Wagner d. Jim Fellows 258-248; Rob Sample d. Branden Ball 219-212.
Semifinals
(Losers each receive $220)
Moyers d. Zitnik 266-165; Sample d. Wagner 257-223
Championship
(Winner receives $555; loser receives $330)
Sample d. Moyers 276-189
Other cashers
(Each receives $70, with four-game pitfalls)
9, Josh Haddad 933; 10, Bob Eckenrode 926; 11, Ryan Suter 922; 12 (tie) Derrick Simon, Mandi Testa 919.
SPINS BOWL SWEEPER
AKRON — Vinny Bellar and Tyler Meredith claimed the win during Sunday’s Spins Bowl Akron scratch doubles sweeper.
Bellar and Meredith, the No 1 seeds following the four-game qualifier with 2,011 total pinfall, defeated No. 4 seed DJ Assaff and Tim Voytko in the title match to earn $844 in the 26-team field.
Assaff and Voytko defeated No. 3 seed Jeff Alfred and Troy Wilt in their opening match, and then stopped No. 2 seed Kyle Kalinowki and Oscar Krofcheck in the semifinals to advance to the title match.
Frank Testa, who teamed with Brandon Clifford to finish fifth, shot 300 in Game 1 of qualifying. Wilt posted the high individual series with 1,057 as only three players shot over 1,000.
The cut to reach the top four for match play was at 1,854, with six teams cashing. The last cash spot was at 1,727.
SPINS BOWL DOUBLES SWEEPER
(Sunday, at Spins Bowl, Akron)
(Match totals unavailable)
Match 1: DJ Assaff-Tim Voytko d. Jeff Alfred-Troy Wilt; Alfred-Wilt wins $220
Match 2: Assaff-Voytko d. Kyle Kalinowski-Oscar Krofcheck; Kalinowski-Krofcheck win $300
Championship: Vinny Bellar-Tyler Meredith d. Assaff-Voytko; Bellar-Meredith win $844, Voytko-Assaff win $500
Other cashers
(With four-game pinfalls)
5, Frank Testa-Brandon Clifford 1,839, $180; 6, Jesse Gonzales-Cooper Smith 1,727, $140.
PBA CENTRAL REGION DOUBLES
CUYAHOGA FALLS — The team of Michael Haggitt and Graham Fach earned the title during Sunday’s PBA-PBA50 Doubles-Clutch Lanes Central Open at Clutch Lanes and Sports Center.
Haggitt and Fach, the No. 1 seeds following the eight-game Saturday qualifying round with 3,842 total pinfall, swept past the father-son duo of Eugene McCune and Kevin McCune in the best-of-five Baker System finals.
During match play, each player threw five frames per game in Baker style.
Haggitt and Fach had games of 214, 247 and 247 to the McCunes’ 179, 238 and 214 to earn the $4,000 top prize.
Haggitt and Fach had to go five games in the semifinals to stop Parker Bohn III and Anthony Pepe, winning Game 5 209-204. The McCunes stopped Brian Kretzer and JT Cherpeski in a three-game sweep to advance.
The cut to the top 12 for match play for Saturday’s combined squads was at 3,447, with Jack Juke and Kevin Bienko gaining the final spot. There were 47 teams in the field.
The final cash spot went to Bob Bures Sr. and Dean Vargo with 3,372 in 15th place to earn $900.
Fach was the top individual during qualifying with 2,063, an average of 257.88. Mike Clark Jr., who teamed with Jason Johnson to finish eighth overall, led the senior players with 1,878, an average of 234.75.
The next area PBA regional event will be May 3 through 5 at Wabash Lanes in New Philadelphia for the third PBA Member-Non-Member event. The event also serves as a fund-raiser for area high school bowling teams.
For information on how to get involved, contact Wabash Lanes at (330) 602-0300.
See final results from the Clutch Lanes event here: