Fond du Lac Bowling Association

Al Abitz finally had the breakout performance he was looking for during men’s league action last Thursday at Karl Ray Lanes.

Abitz shook off his season-long slump as he rolled games of 300, 267, and 223 for a career-best 790 series.

Abitz wasted little time in warm-ups finding a comfortable line to the pocket.

“I always try the same line in practice as I do in league,” he said. “I was playing straight up the eighth board with my Robo Rule. I had great ball reaction. I knew that I could have a big night if I could consistently hit my mark.”

Abitz started the first game with seven consecutive strikes. He caught a huge break in the eighth frame that kept his perfect game alive.

“I pitched that shot out farther than I wanted to,” he said. “I turned around immediately and started walking off the approach. I was thinking washout all the way. I was amazed when I turned around that all the pins were down.

“The ball apparently must’ve caught the dry part and dove back to the pocket.”

Abitz struck on his next three balls, setting up the pivotal last shot.

“It was almost a snapshot of the eighth frame,” he said. “This time though I watch it roared back to the pocket.”

Abitz had a huge smile on his face when he turned around and his son, Brian, was the first to congratulate him.

“It was a very special moment,” he said. “There are not too many times during your bowling career that you have the opportunity to share something like this with one of your children.”

With 567 going into the last game, surprisingly Abitz wasn’t thinking about the possibility of rolling an 800 series.

“It never dawned on me until a teammate told me in the sixth frame that I needed to run the sheet for 800,” he said. “I stoned an eight pin on the next shot.”

Abitz struck on his last six shots of the night as he eclipsed his previous career-high 787, which he bowled at Dan’s Village Bowl in the early 1990’s.

Abitz didn’t hesitate when asked to mention his favorite moments of his long bowling career.

“Watching my son roll several national honor scores,” he said. “My team also won the Thursday night league at Karl Ray Lanes in consecutive years. It is very hard to defend a league title, and it felt good when we did it.”

Abitz enjoys the summer breaks between long bowling seasons.

“I look forward to going camping as much as I can during the summer,” he said. “It is nice to get away and spend some time with my wife and our grandchildren.”

Abitz was elected to the Fond du Lac Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 2000 in the Meritorious category.

Abitz, a past president of the FBA, has seven career perfect games to his credit.

Phyllis Mertins, Kathy Scharping and Karen May Martin won Divisions I through III, respectively, in the 18th annual Women’s Singles Scratch Tournament held Saturday and Sunday at Karl Ray Lanes in Fond du Lac.

Mertins rolled a 679 series and won Division I, which is for bowlers with an average of 190 or higher. Scharping won Division II with a 640 and Martin won Division III with 520.

The tournament, which attracted 96 bowlers, also had a doubles feature as well as a pre-tournament attraction. Holly Manteufel won the Division I pre-tournament attraction, while Kathy Dobrinski won the Division III attraction.

2009 Women’s Singles Scratch Tournament

Division I
First — Phyllis Mertins 679; Second — Wanda Sternat 675; Third — Netti Schmitz 668.
High game — Amber Loberger 254. Pins over average/second game winner — Loberger 216 avg., 254 game, 38 pins
Division II
First — Kathy Scharping 640; Second — Becky Frane 593; Third — Mary Blumke 569.
High game — Scharping 237. Pins over average/second game winner — Marie Gruenberger 167 avg., 213 game, 46 pins
Division III
First — Karen May Martin 520; Second — Donna Freund 515; Third — Liz Suprenand 508.
High game — Freund 208. Pins over average/second game winner — Freund 152 avg, 208 game, 56 pins
Doubles
Division I
First — Amber Loberger/Wanda Sternat 1,330; Second — Amber Loberger/Nettie Schmitz 1,323; Third — Lori Muentner/Sternat 1,318
Division II
First — Debbie Law-Weigel/Carol Wetzel, 1,148; Second — Phyllis Mertins/Maria Kennedy 1,143; Third — Sternat/Cathy Hefter 1,132
Division III
First — Becky Frane/Tina Kaiser 986; Second — Donna Freund/Kelly Schmitz 977; Third — Karen May Martin/Vicki Steinhardt 971.
Honor scores
Phyllis A. Mertins 211-234-234-679; Wanda Sternat 248-247-675; Nettie Schmitz 225-208-235-668; Amber Loberger 254-223-655; Janis Birschbach 243-220-649; Lori Muentner 226-236-643; Holly Manteufel 215-223-204-642; Kathy Scharping 209-237-640; Debbie Law-Weigel 203-244-632; Lidna Bard 234-627; Vickie Nett 237-205-623; Paula Suemnicht 245-207-623.

Rusch and Tobey went undefeated through match play as they took home the first place prize of $500. The champions advanced to the title match with a 480-384 win over Steve Kocos and Dave Wightman.
The tournament runner-ups advanced to the championship match by defeating Kocos and Wightman, 440-407, in a match that went down to the wire.
Bard and Barker took home the second place prize of $375 while Kocos and Wightman finished in third and received $275 for their effort. Nettie Schmitz and Janis Birschbach finished in fourth place.
The tournament champions, seeded second in match play, where never really threatened as they won their four matches by an average of 79 pins.
“We really bowled well,” said Tobey. “The whole day we stayed out of trouble. It always seemed that if someone made a bad shot, the other one picked the team up with a strike the next frame. It was definitely a team effort the entire tournament.”
The tournament runner-ups got knocked into the loser’s bracket early, but came up with some clutch shots when needed as they rolled all the way back to the title match. “We just ran into a hotter team,” Barker said. “We lost earlier in the match play to them also. We battled our way back to the final match but we just ran into a better team. Their anchor bowler (Rusch) struck on every shot in the championship match.”
The tournament used Baker system play, where teammates switched off bowling every other frame. Baker play was used for both qualifying and match play. The top sixteen teams advanced to a double elimination match play bracket. Match play consisted of a two-game team total with the highest score being declared the winner.
Rusch and Tobey became the fourth different team to win the Holiday Classic. Tournament Directors, Tony Demos and Tim Pickart won the inaugural tournament in 2005. Mark Clinton and Scott Dietrich won the title in 2006.
Last season, Team Somewhere won the title, 501-445, over Bob Hopp Jr. and Tony Jagdfeld.
The cut line was 1,300 to advance to match play competition.
Jesse Parentau and Craig Hull led the six-game qualifying block with a score of 1,438. Rusch and Tobey qualified second with a 1,410, while Norb Wetzel and Beth Blanck rounded out the top three qualifiers with a 1,396.
The tournament was a success this year as a record 48 participated in the event. The tournament directors thanked those involved with the annual event held each year at Parkway Lanes.
“We felt it was a good tournament,” Demos said. “All we are looking for is that it was a fun-based tournament and everybody from the scratch bowlers to the handicap bowlers will have fun doing it.
“I would like to thank Holiday Automotive for being the major sponsor of this tournament for the third consecutive year,” Pickart said. “I would also like to thank all the other fine businesses in the Fond du Lac area for making our tournament a huge success each year. Without their support, we wouldn’t be able to offer the amount of prize money we do for this tournament.”

Jeremy Larson, of Sheboygan, and Curt Coenen, of Sheboygan Falls, won their respective divisions in the Second Annual Budweiser Tri-County Classic Bowling Tournament on Saturday at Ledgeview Lanes.

The tournament became a reality last season as members of the Sheboygan, Ozaukee, and Fond du Lac Bowling Associations joined forces to form a competitive tournament that would unite the three local associations once a year.

The tournament had two divisions for bowlers to compete. The Scratch Division consisted of bowlers with averages of 210 and higher, and the Handicap Division placed bowlers with averages of 209 and below.

The Tri-County tournament drew 91 participants to Ledgeview Lanes. The tournament format included four games of qualifying across eight lanes. The top eight bowlers in each division then advanced to a two-game combined total, single elimination tournament.

The top eight qualifiers in the Scratch Division were: Darryl Traber (Ozaukee) 1,086; Scott Wieck (Sheboygan) 1,060; Craig Hull (Waupun) 1,022; Tony Koeck (Fond du Lac) 1,013; Larson 996; Richard Koeller (Sheboygan) 970; Carey Slater (Fond du Lac) 955; and Todd Filter (Ozaukee) 954.

The top eight qualifiers in the Handicap Division were: Patrick Pentek (Sheboygan) 998; Coenen 991; Jeff Andrews (Fond du Lac) 951; Mark Clinton (Fond du Lac) 950; Tim Wieland (Fond du Lac) 936; Brett Fowler (Fond du Lac) 933; Colin Reinehr (Beaver Dam) 926; and Brian Miller (Fond du Lac) 919.

The lower division of the tournament had handicap included in their qualifying and match play scores. Handicap for the lower tier was based on 100 percent of the top average of 209.

Larson defeated Traber, 497-482, in the championship match of the Scratch Division, while Coenen beat Pentek, 402-389, in the title match of the Handicap Division.

The tournament was highlighted by back-to-back 300 games in the Scratch Division during qualifying by Traber. Koeck also had a chance at a perfect game, but he settled for a 297 during qualifying.

Pentek rolled the highest scratch game during qualifying in the Handicap Division as he rolled an impressive 279 game.

Larson averaged an impressive 248.5 during his championship run while Coenen averaged 231.4 with handicap in taking home the lower division crown.

The Tri-County Classic Bowling Tournament will be held in Ozaukee in 2010 and in Sheboygan in 2011 as the tournament will rotate on a yearly basis.

The winners of the Tri-County Tournament received cash, a traveling trophy, and an embroidered championship shirt.

Chris Groesbeck took his frustration out on the pins Tuesday night at Parkway Lanes in the L&R Construction League.

He came home from work that afternoon and found that his dogs had a Christmas party while he was gone.

Groesbeck didn’t let a little fun and cleanup at his household bother him, though, as he rolled games of 300, 226, and 245 for a 771 series.

Groesbeck made a quick adjustment that night in practice, and it turned out to be a good one.

“I was struggling in warm-ups with my Brunswick Twisted Fury,” he said. “I was having problems getting the ball to finish hard, so I pulled out my Brunswick Fury. The ball had better reaction on the back ends, so I decided to go with it.”

Groesbeck made the right decision as he started his night with 12 consecutive strikes, and he recorded his ninth career perfect game in the Fond du Lac Bowling Association.

“It was a great way to start the night,” he said. “I caught a break late when I tugged one down the middle. The ball held and kicked the seven-pin out late. I think that helped settle me down and make great shots the rest of the game.”

Groesbeck didn’t miss the pocket the first two games as he had 526 going into the last game. The thought of rolling his eighth career 800 series was in the back of his mind.

“I knew I had to have a big game for an 800,” he said. “I was the only lefthander on the pair, and the lanes pretty much were holding up. I knew if I kept rolling the ball like I did the first two games, that I had a chance.”

After starting the last game with a strike, Groesbeck tossed his only errant shot of the night.

“I tugged the shot in the second frame way inside,” he said. “The ball dove right through the head pin leaving the Big Four. It was not a very good effort on my part.”

Groesbeck ran the table with the exception of a spare in the eighth frame. Afterward, he was still upset with his effort in the second frame.

“I knew I had room for one spare the last game,” he said. “Unfortunately, I made a horrible effort in the second frame, and it came back to haunt me. If I strike on that shot, it still would’ve kept my 800 alive.”

Groesbeck is like the majority of the bowlers and doesn’t set goals for himself for the season.

“I just go out and try my best each night,” he said. “If I don’t bowl well, I hope the team still wins. It all comes down to having a good time with your friends.”

Groesbeck has had a lot of good times on the lanes.

“My favorite moments were when I bowled my first 300 game and first 800 series,” he said. “The perfect game was back in 2001, and the 800 was in 2003. They both were on Thursday night at Ledgeview Lanes.”

Groesbeck rolled a career best 842 series on Feb. 17, 2005 at Ledgeview Lanes. He averaged a career best 231 during the 2004-05 season at Ledgeview Lanes in the Uecker-Witt Businessmen’s League.