By BILL SNIER
CANTON — Matt Coffelt was dead tired, his knees were hurting and he was coming into the same bowling center where he just shot only 564 the night before.
It all added up to an unforgettable day.
Coffelt, a 57-year-old Canton right-hander, earned his first career bowling tournament title by rolling past Friday night teammate and friend Brian Ball 269-191 during the College Bowl Tournaments series opening singles event Saturday at Eastbury Bowling Center.
“Honestly, I believe this might be the first,” said Coffelt, who also finished in the top four during last weekend’s Ohio Matchplay Tournaments 50-and-older event in Columbus. “I had a couple of seconds when the Christmas Eve event was at Parkway (in Alliance) back then.”
Coffelt, who led Saturday’s event out of the gate with 289 in Game 1 of the four-game qualifying round, was one of five bowlers to shoot over 1,000, finishing with 1,011 (a 252.5 average) to earn the No. 5 seed for the eight-player, single-elimination match-play round.
Despite struggling Friday in the Liberty Vending league at Eastbury — a week after shooting 822 in the same league — Coffelt used what he learned during Saturday’s tourney.
“It played pretty much like it did last night, but I learned a little bit,” said Coffelt, who is employed by Hospitality Control Systems. “I just did a little change in my release, a change in my ball surface and it made a huge difference.”
But the big changes came late last season following a trip to the USBC Open Championships in Las Vegas.
“I changed my spans, pitches — especially my finger pitches — with a little more reverse so I’m not grabbing the ball as much. There was also work on my thumb pitches,” said Coffelt, whose equipment ironically is drilled by Ball. “I’m just getting out of the ball cleaner. And when you do that, you do less bad things.
“They were playing a lot tighter than they normally do. It took a different hand position and a different release, but I was able to get the ball through the pins better. That’s the key to bowling … getting the ball through the pins the right way or you just don’t carry.”
MATCH-PLAY ROUNDS
But something else also had to happen for Coffey to advance — luck.
“I tried to give away every match-play game, but somehow, I survived,” said Coffelt, who used the original Track Stealth and Global 900 Eternity during the event. “You need to have some luck, too.”
In his opening match against another friend, Perry Township right-hander Brett McCourry, Coffelt started with the front four strikes and had six of the first seven. But McCourry was unable to put together a string and left a 10-pin on a key shot in the 10th frame before falling 226-224.
Then, in the semifinal match against Akron right-hander Rob Sample, Coffelt started with three in a row but left a split in the fourth frame.
The key came in the ninth frame when Sample left a 4-9 split before a double in the 10th. Coffelt, needing a mark and count for the win, had a high crossover shot, but left only the 3-pin. He covered it to preserve a 206-201 win to reach the finals.
BALL’S RUN
Ball, the No. 6 seed after averaging 249.5 during qualifying, was making his first tournament appearance since winning last season’s College Bowl Tournaments singles finale in May also at Eastbury.
But during his quarterfinal match against No. 3 seed David McLaughiin, when he struck on six of his final seven shots en route to a 246-143 win, he tore the skin on the back side of his thumb.
“It’s pretty bad … I really meat-loafed it there,” said Ball, a 50-year-old Massillon right-hander who is employed by Carter Lumber. “I kept gluing it up during the two matches to get through it.”
Using a Track Stealth Hybrid and a Storm Ion Pearl, Ball struggled early in the semifinal match against 41-year-old former Massillon right-hander Frank Testa. He had four straight 9-counts, failing to convert a 10-pin in the fourth frame after making three spares.
“I thought I was done,” said Ball, who was making lunch plans via text. “After I missed the 10-pin and slapped myself in the head for doing it, I made a three (boards) and two move left and tried to curve it a bit.”
It was the first time all day Ball had opened up the lanes. The first shot resulted in a 4-6 split.
“I figured it was pretty much over then, so I made another three and two move off of that and hit the sheet,” said Ball, who had shot 692 Friday night at Eastbury and also owns an 806 this season there.
Ball finished with the final seven strikes in a row. Testa, with a strike up in the ninth frame, needed a strike to start the 10th to pull out the win. He left a solid 10-pin on the shot to fall 225-207.
The two friends and golfing buddies would then meet for the title.
TITLE MATCH
After opening with a double, Ball’s thumb became a serious problem. He was able to strike just twice more, leaving a 4-6-7 split in the fourth,. He almost walked away from the match in the eighth frame, but finished by just lobbing the ball down the lane the final three frames.
Meanwhile, after leaving a 2-4-8 spare in the first frame, Coffelt ran off the next six strikes in a row before leaving a 2-pin on a high hit in the eighth. He then struck out.
“I finished off qualifying on this pair, so I had a little bit of an idea of what it was going to do,” Coffelt said. “The first shot was just a bad pitch. But Brian sausaging his thumb didn’t hurt anything.”
Ball decided against doing any more work on the thumb as it got worse again in the title match.
“I threw the ball really well all day. But I was bowling against a buddy and we were splitting everything (dividing prize money),” said Ball. “If it was a different scenario, I would have kept gluing or found some tape or something. But there was no use ruining a month’s worth of bowling when you’re bowling a buddy and chopping everything anyway.”
But a tired Coffelt didn’t mind the help.
“I’m tired. I spent a couple of hours down on concrete playing plumber (Friday) and my knees are shot,” Coffelt said. “I couldn’t sit down today or I don’t know if I ever could have gotten back up.
“But I got through it. Power to the old people, baby.”
NOTEBOOK: The event drew a 43-player field, the best turnout for an opening event in the series’ seven-year history, according to tournament director Jeff DiMarzio. … Gonzales led qualifying with 1,037, an average of 259.5. … The cut for the top eight was at 919 (229.75), with Sample holding on despite a 209 his final game. He finished just six pins ahead of Bob Eckenrode (913), who had a split in the 10th frame of Game 4 to fall short. … Derrick Simon gained the final cash spot in 12th with 906, just three pins ahead of Steve Hlabse after rolling a 277 his final game … All four of the semifinalists were over 40, with three over 50. Testa was the youngest at 41. … Jordan Norris had the day’s lone 300 in Game 2, with Coffelt and McCourry each adding 289. … John Price was forced to withdraw due to a back injury. … Thirty-five player in the field averaged 200 or better on the house oil pattern. … The next College Bowl Tournaments series event is a 50-over/50-under doubles event, set for 10 a.m. Oct. 19 at Bowlero Canton (AMF Hall of Fame Lanes). Entry fee is $130 per team. … Our thanks to DiMarzio and Dawn Altimore-Eckenrode for their assistance with this report.
COLLEGE BOWL TOURNAMENTS SINGLES
(Saturday, at Eastbury Bowling Center, Canton)
Quarterfinals (single-game match play, losers receive $120; with seed): 8 Rob Sample d. 1 Jesse Gonzales 248-195; 7 Frank Testa d. No. 2 Jordan Norris 255-237; 6 Brian Ball d. 3 David McLaughlin 246-143; 5 Matt Coffelt d. 4 Brett McCourry 226-224
Semifinals (single-game match play; losers each receive $210): Ball d. Testa 225-207; Coffey d. Sample 206-201
Championship (single-game match play; winner receives $530, loser receives $315): Coffelt d. Ball 269-191
Other cashers (with four-game totals; all received $70): 9, Bob Eckenrode 913; 10, Mike Spitale Jr. 910; 11, Keith Zeigler 909; 12, Derrick Simon 906.
