North Dakota’s greatest bowling tradition enters its 36th year this weekend at Midway Lanes in Mandan, ND. The 2022 KFYR TV Bowling Classic will once again feature a sold out field of 120 bowlers, all vying for a spot on the live TV show finals and a shot at the $2000 top prize. Here are some of the storylines going into the seasons 2nd Major.
Rare Repeat?
Only one bowler has successfully defended their title at the KFYR TV Bowling Classic. John Juba won the event in 1988 and was able to not only defend his title in 1989, but did so once again in 1990 for an unprecedented three-peat. This season, Jeremiah Smith will get the opportunity to win back to back KFYR TV Bowling Classic titles. Smith ran the ladder in 2021 en route to his first NDBowling.com Major title.
Consistent Lane Conditions
While we have yet to see the official lane pattern for the 2022 KFYR TV Bowling Classic, history gives us a little insight as to what we will see this weekend. Since 2013, cuts have ranged from -43 to +58. Lane patterns at the KFYR have always been fair, and I expect the same this weekend with a cut around even.
Top Seed Struggles
In the NDBowling.com era (Since 2012) only one person has won the KFYR TV Bowling Classic from the top spot on the show. Ryan Sandvick did so as the top seed in the 2014 KFYR TV Bowling Classic. How have the others fared? 7 of the last 10 titles have come from the 3,4, and 5 seeds.
Last 10 years – Winners by stepladder seed:
4/5 – 3 titles (Mann 2012, Smallin 2013, Smith 2021)
3 – 4 titles (Smallin 2015 & 2019, Schmidt 2016, Green 2017)
2 – 2 titles (Endersbe 2018, Wallstrum 2020)
1 – 1 title (Sandvick 2014)
NDBowling.com Player of the Year Race
The 2021-2022 NDBowling.com Player of the Year Race enters a critical turning point this weekend at the KFYR. Currently, the only past NDBowling.com Player of the Year in the top 10 is Eric Parvey.
Who will take control of the Player of the Year Race this weekend?
Current Season Top 10:
1 – Conner Allen 69.79
2 – Aaron Petrowitz 68.33
3 – Wade Scott 62.75
4 – Jamey Kragh 61.71
5 – Joshua Kragh 59.78
6 – Jon Breckel 59.44
7 – Eric Parvey 54.72
8 – Blake Wallstrum 53.04
9 – Ryan Selk 51.25
10 – Mike Morris 48.84
Bold Predictions
After a pretty rough week of bold predictions at the 2022 Morris Anderson Memorial Shootout, here are my bold predictions for the 2022 KFYR TV Bowling Classic without knowing the pattern or roster.
– Aaron Petrowitz
– Harold Holt
– Conner Allen
– Mike Larson
– Randy Peterson
The finals will be broadcast live on Western North Dakota NBC stations starting at 11:30 am on Sunday February 6th. We will post updates on the NDBowling.com Facebook page. Good luck to all entrants!
KFYR Past Champions:
1987 – Keith Feist
1988 – John Juba
1989 – John Juba
1990 – John Juba
1991 – Doug Kurtz
1992 – Jack Nelson
1993 – Ron Fettig
1994 – Larry Scott
1995 – Duane Sandvick
1996 – Jack Nelson
1997 – Brian Urbanec
1998 – Duane Sandvick
1999 – Dave Schick
2000 – Todd Baumgartner
2001 – Gary Bentley
2002 – Eric Kempel
2003 – Phil Mann
2004 – Travis Hersrud
2005 – Russ Meyer
2006 – Tim Pausch
2007 – Steve Flynn
2008 – Jack Nelson
2009 – Ryan Schleicher
2010 – Ricky Beck
2011 – Dave Schick
2012 – Phil Mann
2013 – Matt Smallin
2014 – Ryan Sandvick
2015 – Matt Smallin
2016 – Tad Schmidt
2017 – Mike Green
2018 – Scott Endersbe
2019 – Matt Smallin
2020 – Blake Wallstrum
2021 – Jeremiah Smith