Posts Tagged Bowling Tournament
Tavern League Captures Super Bowl All-Star Tournament
Posted by superbowlsluggers in Bowling League, Bowling Tournament, General on December 21st, 2010
The Tavern League All-Stars fortified there league prize fund in convincing fashion by finishing at 774 over in the Inaugural Super Bowl All-Star Tournament held on December 19th at the Super Bowl in Appleton.
The tournament was the idea of Super Bowl General Manager, Erik Gialdella. For the past few seasons, the Super Bowl hosted an in-house singles tournament. Bowlers could purchase an entry and use their night’s league score for qualification. With participation waning, Gialdella needed to change things up a bit.
“I have had the idea for the past few years; however I just never got around to getting it up and going. I think the idea just came to me based on a few things, one: I didn’t really like the current In-House format.” explained Gialdella. “We always allowed individuals to pay for a chance to qualify for the In-House finals and over the years the entries continued to drop and the same few bowlers continued to enter. I wanted something fresh and my thought was that if Super Bowl was going to donate $1400 to an In-House tournament I wanted more than just 1 or 2 of the league bowlers to share in it. Every sport has an All-Star event in some way, shape, or form and that is basically where the idea came from.”
Gialdella added, “All the certified leagues at Super Bowl participated with the exception of the Fellowship League. There were a total of six leagues that were not able to participate due to not having five certified bowlers in their league or not having five bowlers that were able to make the tournament.”
The event was handicapped based on 100% of 225. Each team would bowl three games. After each game, the bowlers moved two pairs to their right. Standings were based on team series with the winner garnering $600 for its league’s prize fund. Second was awarded $400 with the third and fourth place teams receiving $200 each. Members of the top four teams also received trophies. There was also a Best of the Rest Award for High Bowler who did not cash. The tournament MVP received a beautiful mantle c
Tavern League All-Star Team from left to right: Adam Bondy, Greg Van Domelen, Phil Louden, Wes Steffen, & Eric Pitsch
lock. All of the awards were provided courtesy of J & B Trophy in Appleton. By holding the tournament during a slow time in the season, Gialdella hoped to draw more interest. Keith and A.J. Koch were on hand to run brackets.
Twenty-two teams took to the lanes to take their shot. The concourse was filled with spectators from the various leagues to cheer on their team. The tournament was held on Super Bowl’s league pattern. While scoring was respectable in the first game, the Tavern League made a statement in the second game. The team made up of Eric Pitsch, Adam Bondy, Greg Van Domelen, Wes Steffen and Phil Louden put together a 1,325 scratch game. The concourse behind lanes 7 and 8 was buzzing as the strikes mounted. Van Domelen authored his third career perfect game, his second of the season. Not to be outdone, Louden closed the deal on his third perfecto in the team’s anchor spot.
Rounding out the tournament’s top finishers were the State Couples at plus 704. The ladies from the Super Jets League anchored by Sandy Hielsberg’s 725 series came in at 655. The Bowlers Edge PBA Experience League came home at 624 over bolstered by Rick Babler’s 795 aggregate.
A surprised and humbled Van Domelen was chosen as the Tournament MVP for his 797 set, 755 scratch. When asked about his team’s second game Van Domelen replied, “I honestly wasn’t thinking about both of us having 300.” Reacting to hearing his name announced as the MVP, “I felt out of my league; like the (MVP) podium wasn’t mine to stand on. I appreciated everyone’s accolades.” Scott Sova of the Tri-City Men’s was the Best of the Rest with a 788 handicapped series.
Many participants enjoyed the social nature of the tournament. Some even thought that the odd lanes should rotate right and the even lanes rotate left so the bowlers could interact with different teams. Gialdella has received numerous comments about the event and all have been positive. Said Gialdella, “I was very nervous at how it would be received and was delighted to hear all the positive feedback!”
Sincere Thanks to Mike Van Domelen for authoring this post!
