Batavian Jim Pursel enjoyed a profitable weekend, teaming with Oakfield resident Robin Blaun to capture the T.F. Brown’s King & Queen mixed doubles handicap tournament at Mancuso Bowling Center on Saturday and then joining forces with nine fellow league bowlers to cash twice at the Bob Bertram Memorial handicap no-tap tournament at Mount Morris Lanes on Sunday.
At the King & Queen event, Pursel and Blaun outlasted 62 other couples – defeating Curtis Foss of Medina and Brianna Larson of North Tonawanda, 492-483, in the title match – to pocket the $500 top prize.
"Robin was phenomenal ... she carried us," said Pursel, crediting Blaun for averaging 185 for the tournament -- 22 pins over her average.
But Pursel was being humble in his assessment as he put up high scores all day, including a 269 in the championship match.
"It was fun in the final game, bowling against Curits and his partner and matching him bomb for bomb," he said.
Blaun chipped in with 189 and, with their 34 pins handicap, edged Foss and Larson, who posted 258 and 225, respectively.
Pursel and Blaun registered 1,316 in the three-game qualifier to finish in the seventh position. The top 16 teams advanced to match play, led by Mark Brown of Attica and Traci Spanitz of Rochester, who had 1,432. Foss and Larson were the second-high qualifiers with 1,415.
In match play, Pursel and Blaun posted victories over Naomi and Mickey Hyde of Le Roy (with Blaun posting a 226 game), Kai Clark and Mary Jo Brenner of Rochester (with Pursel rolling 266), and Steve Dorobiala and Holly Johnson of Buffalo, before facing Foss and Larson.
Foss and Larson split $300 for placing second, while Dorobiala and Johnson, and Mario and Kara Mangiola of Rochester each split $200 for finishing third/fourth.
Other local cashers were Fred Gravanda of Batavia (with Sarah Germano of Rochester), Chris Bardol and Caycee Landers of Brockport, Mike and Heather Johnson of Batavia, Dean Cadieux Jr. and Kristin Thompson of Oakfield, and Rich Wagner of Batavia and Darleen Balduf of Byron.
At the 19th annual Bob Bertram Memorial, the Pursel group comprised of members of the North Pole League on Thursday nights at Mancuso’s formed two teams, with each bowling twice, and walked away with the $1,000 first prize and $300 third prize.
Members of the first-place team were Mike Johnson, Tom Baker, Matt Balduf, Mark Brown and Denny Rogers, and members of the third-place team were Joe Trigilio, Rob Stefani, Jason Quilliam, Mike Lambert and Pursel.
LOCAL BOWLERS BATTLE TOUGH CONDITIONS AT NYS MASTERS
While none of the eight Genesee Region bowlers advanced to the match play portion of the NYS Masters Championship on March 3 at Allie Brandt Lanes in Lockport, all of them deserve credit for taking on the challenging Sport lane condition and battling against the best of the best in New York State.
Medina residents Curtis Foss and Scott Allis were stopped by one sub-par game out of their five qualifying games, each missing the cut on the first squad by about 50 pins.
On the second squad, Gray Jr. also was thwarted by one low game and missed the cut by just 30 pins.
To illustrate the oil pattern’s difficulty, it took a score of 966 – a 193 average -- on the second squad (out of 71 bowlers) to advance.
Also competing in the tournament were Jim Foss and Aaron Verheyn of Medina, Kevin Gray Sr. of Honeoye Falls, Jared Allen of Oakfield and Frank Jarkiewicz of Byron.
Kristina Szczerbinski of North Tonawanda became the first woman NYS Masters champion, defeating PBA standout Brad Angelo of Lockport in the final match for the $2,000 first prize.
PERRY, MOUNT MORRIS, BERGEN YOUTHS TRIUMPH
Dennis Van Duser and Matt Hurlburt of Perry Bowling Center combined for a 1,350 score with handicap to each win $100 scholarships and trophies at the GRUSBC Association Youth Doubles Tournament at Scopano's Lanes in Oakfield last weekend.
The winning duo in Division A topped second-place Ryleigh Culver and Ethan Cramer of Medina Lanes by 115 pins. Culver and Cramer and third-place Aaron Leone and Samantha Hyde of Le Roy Legion Lanes also won trophies.
In Division B, Brad June and Alexis Patterson of Mount Morris Lanes placed first with 1,314 (winning $100 scholarships and trophies), while Paige Snook and Matt Baker of Albion, and Brooke Jurek and Van Duser of Perry placed second and third, respectively.
In Division C, Brendan Pimm and Megan Jarkiewicz of Bergen took first with 1,261 (winning $100 scholarships and trophies), and were followed by Dominic LaPiana and Hanna McKenzie of Mount Morris, and Josh and Tony Sprague of Batavia.
ROSE GARDEN TEAM HOLDS BIG LEAD IN GR YOUTH TRAVEL
The Rose Garden I team upended Batavia Strike Force, 13-6, last week at Scopano’s Lanes in Oakfield to move comfortably ahead with two weeks remaining in the Genesee Region Youth Travel League.
The team of Devon Zinter, Madelynn Pimm, Brooke Jarkiewicz and Michael Sardou is 19.5 points up on Oak Orchard I and Batavia X-Factor with only sessions on March 25 at Mancuso Bowling Center and April 8 (position round) at Oak Orchard Bowl in Albion.
Individually, Dennis Van Duser of Perry led the boys with a 279 game and 660 series, while Haylee Thornley of Batavia X-Factor paced the girls with a 237 game and 554 series.
Other high series were by Matt Hurlburt of Perry, 654; Tony Sprague of Batavia X-Factor, 607; Samantha Hyde of Le Roy, 544, and Paige Snook of Oak Orchard I, 522.
ROCHESTER’S DAN VICK WINS SUPER BUD BOWL IN OSWEGO
More than 1,000 entrants tried their hand at the weeklong Super Bud Bowl at Lighthouse Lanes in Oswego last week and, when the smoke had cleared, Rochester left-hander Dan Vick – arguably the best bowler in the Flower City – drove home with the $5,500 first place check.
Vick, 31, defeated high qualifier Art Oliver Jr., 219-213, in the championship match. He did so in dramatic style, coming through with three strikes in the 10th frame to overtake the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada lefty, who had doubled in the 10th to put the pressure on Vick.
Oliver earned $2,800 for placing second.
Two Perry residents cashed on the extremely tough Sport condition: Matt Slocum, who rolled 821 for his four games and Brett Van Duser, who recorded 798.
GRUSBC ASSOCIATION TOURNEY STARTS THIS WEEKEND
Entries are being accepted for the 12th annual Genesee Region USBC Association Tournament taking place at Mount Morris Lanes (Team event) and Livingston Lanes in Geneseo (Doubles & Singles events) over the next two weekends.
Teams signed up for this weekend are as follows:
-- Friday, Jan King, Chris Bacon;
-- Saturday, Carolyn Appleby, Margaret Shepard, Gerry Barber, Casey Palmer, Amy Allis (3 teams);
-- Sunday, Rick Daniels, Gary Gilman, Terry Gilman, Linda Johnson, Reid Cole, Jeff Say.
The tournament features three divisions -- Open (men and women), Scratch (men and women) and Women. In the Open and Scratch divisions, teams are comprised of five players; in the Women's division, teams consist of four players.
To sign up, call 585-861-0404 or send an email to mikep@bowlgr.com. Entry forms can be downloaded at www.bowlgr.com.
BATAVIA-AREA BOWLERS HEADING FOR SYRACUSE
Two teams of Batavia-area bowlers are competing in the USBC Championships at the end of the month at the Oncenter in Syracuse.
Team members are Paul Spiotta, Gregg Wolff, Joe Mortellaro, Todd Mortellaro, and Joe Trigilio on one squad and Brian Green, Fred Gravanda, Geoff Harloff, Mark Brown, and Jim Pursel on the companion squad.
Their Team event is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 29 and their Doubles & Singles are set for 2 p.m. March 30.
By the way, this will be the 25th ABC/USBC Open Championships for Trigilio, a worthy accomplishment, and the 49th ABC/USBC Open Championships for Mortellaro, who is just one year away from a milestone that not many bowlers achieve.
