Inaugural MBA Senior Masters in the Books
Not to be outdone by the 10th frame drama of the inaugural MBA “Regular” Masters, the first Senior Masters provided plenty of its own.
The tournament drew only 19 competitors but that took nothing away from the competition. The event was contested on a challenging condition, the Kegel Middle Road pattern. This pattern kept typical runaway league scoring in check, and provided a fair condition.
The first round cut for the top five bowlers was +55 and ended with a tie for the fifth spot. A 9th and 10th frame roll-off was conducted between Mark Recknagel and Dave Shaw. Recknagel began the roll-off with a spare, Shaw followed with a strike. In the tenth, Recknagel filled the first two strikes, then a nine count for a 49 – forcing Shaw to double in his 10th to advance. Shaw threw three strikes and won the roll-off 60-49.
The top five advancing to the second segment of the tournament were:
Gene Mlsna +130
Dave Rasmussen +117
Scott LaCoursiere +99
Bob Holzbauer +90
Dave Shaw +55
In the second segment of the tournament, two additional games were bowled with first round qualifying pins carrying over. Shaw quickly moved back into the hunt with a fifth game 259. After six games, LaCoursiere had moved into the one seed with a pair of 230’s. Shaw added his own 230 to become the second seed. Mlsna, Rasmussen, and Holzbauer struggled with 180’s in game six – Holzbauer’s costing him a seed in the stepladder finals. After six games:
Scott LaCoursiere +170
Dave Shaw +150
Gene Mlsna +127
Dave Rasmussen +117
Bob Holzbauer +90 $50.00
The first stepladder match was relatively uneventful. Rasmussen never really got back on track and Mlsna cruised to a 212-182 win. Rasmussen earned $83.00 for fourth place.
Mlsna then advanced to the second match to face the red-hot Shaw. The match was very close with Mlsna holding a small lead through eight frames. In the ninth, though, he chopped the six pin off a 6-10 spare conversion attempt – opening the door for Shaw. Mlsna did force Shaw to mark in the tenth, which he did – but only after a late rolling messenger cleared the 10 pin out of a 7-10 split. The match ended 207-200 and Mlsna won $111.00.
The title match also came down to the tenth frame even though LaCoursiere had struck in seven of the first eight frames. Shaw had all but given up hope with two frames to go. Following a spare in the ninth frame, LaCoursiere left the 10th frame open with a 4-10 split. Shooting for a posted 235, Shaw had to have the first two strikes in the tenth for the win. His first two shots were near mirror images, but the second left a ringing 10 pin. Shaw finished with 227, second place, and $139.00. LaCoursiere wins the Senior Masters, the nice trophy and $222.00.
Congratulations Scott LaCoursiere – 2009-10 MBA Senior Masters champion.
Thanks to Ten Pin Alley for their assistance with the tournament and lane conditioning. A big thanks to Bob Holzbauer for his relentless promotion of this first Senior Masters. The MBA looks forward to continuing this top level competition and hopes to see more faces at the event in the future.
Prize List
| Prize | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Scott LaCoursiere | $222.00 |
| 2. | Dave Shaw | $139.00 |
| 3. | Gene Mlsna | $110.00 |
| 4. | Dave Rasmussen | $83.00 |
| 5. | Bob Holzbauer | $50.00 |
Stepladder Finals
Match 1: #3 Mlsna def. #4 Rasmussen 212 – 182
Match 2: #2 Shaw def. #3 Mlsna 207 – 200
Match 3: #1 LaCoursiere def. #2 Shaw 235 – 227
Qualifying Round 2
| Round 1 | 5 | 6 | Round 2 | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Scott LaCoursiere | 899 | 237 | 234 | 471 | 1370 |
| 2. | Dave Shaw | 855 | 259 | 236 | 495 | 1350 |
| 3. | Gene Mlsna | 930 | 213 | 184 | 397 | 1327 |
| 4. | Dave Rasmussen | 914 | 223 | 180 | 403 | 1317 |
| 5. | Bob Holzbauer | 882 | 227 | 181 | 408 | 1290 |
Qualifying Round 1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Gene Mlsna | 228 | 246 | 242 | 214 | 930 |
| 2. | Dave Rasmussen | 235 | 211 | 213 | 255 | 914 |
| 3. | Scott LaCoursiere | 215 | 205 | 236 | 243 | 899 |
| 4. | Bob Holzbauer | 161 | 259 | 216 | 246 | 882 |
| 5. | Dave Shaw | 214 | 181 | 213 | 247 | 855 |
| 6. | Mark Recknagel | 182 | 238 | 245 | 190 | 855 |
| 7. | Jim Fosdick | 227 | 206 | 220 | 201 | 854 |
| 8. | Terry Walker | 205 | 197 | 244 | 204 | 850 |
| 9. | Don Grossen | 160 | 244 | 217 | 223 | 844 |
| 10. | Bill Kreitzman | 176 | 225 | 203 | 190 | 794 |
| 11. | Tim Sullivan | 224 | 224 | 173 | 157 | 778 |
| 12. | Bud Frye | 155 | 206 | 186 | 223 | 770 |
| 13. | Mark Henry | 177 | 190 | 179 | 214 | 760 |
| 14. | Dan Seppa | 158 | 181 | 189 | 215 | 743 |
| 15. | Bob Ruhland | 193 | 180 | 170 | 193 | 736 |
| 16. | Bob Eveland | 200 | 184 | 182 | 169 | 735 |
| 17. | Rollie Truehl | 202 | 167 | 190 | 173 | 732 |
| 18. | Mark Habich | 214 | 189 | 157 | 157 | 717 |
| 19. | Scott Starks | 164 | 171 | 180 | 168 | 683 |