The NDBowling.com Classic is celebrating 24 years in the Fargo-Moorhead area. While the Classic has always been a premier event for local bowlers, the tournament has had its fair share of growing pains since the departure of the WDAY/WDAZ news stations. Up until 2012, the NDBowling.com Classic was known as the WDAY/WDAZ Bowling Classic where bowlers would qualify at Sunset Lanes in Moorhead, MN or at what used to be known as Liberty Lanes in East Grand Forks, MN (Now East Grand Lanes). The Sunday match play round would then rotate between the two sites each year with the Finals being broadcast live on the local ABC station.
After 3 years of declining participation levels, the NDBowling.com Classic returned to a near full field last season with over 85 bowlers attending. With the finals on NDBowlTV and a much welcomed date change to the first weekend in March, bowlers have shown full support for the NDBowling.com Classic and, as a result, the tournament now features one of the strongest fields in its history. Here are some of the most intriguing story lines heading into the seasons’ final Major.
Player of The Year to be Determined
The 2016-2017 NDBowling.com Player of the year race has reached the final event. The race contains 8 prominent scratch tournaments from around the region and bowlers earn points based on their finish relative to how many bowlers enter the event. You can find the complete standings by clicking the “rankings” tab above.
This season, Eric Parvey has paced the field with over 137 points through 7 events. Here are the top 10 bowlers heading into the NDBowling.com Classic. Top point earner will be named player of the year and the top 5 will receive team of the year honors. Last season, Thomas Wolf was named Player of the Year with a 153.68 season total.
1 – Eric Parvey 137.01
2 – Jeremiah Smith 127.51
3 – Blake Wallstrum 106.06
4 – Jack Nelson 104.47
5 – Thomas Wolf 88.18
6 – Wade Scott 87.01
7 – Matt Smallin 86.94
8 – Mike Green 73.98
9 – Bob Vander Vorst 72.40
10 – Justin Schiffler 69.36
Bowlers can enter the rankings system at any time. Please contact Daren Seney (Seney1987@gmail.com) for more information.
Mike Morris Reigns Supreme at Sunset Lanes
4-time NDBowling.com Major Champion Mike Morris has oftentimes found success at Sunset Lanes. Morris has won the NDBowling.com Classic 3 times (2008, 2009, 2011) and has made the TV finals in 3 of the last 4. Coming off a top 10 finish at the CMA Memorial Shootout in Minot, Mike Morris has his sights set on another good showing at Sunset Lanes. A win would give Morris a record 4 NDBowling.com Classic titles. Morris and Dave Schick both currently have 3.
Major Breakthrough at the Seasons’ Final Major?
If you would have told me in October that, entering the NDBowling.com Classic, 2 of the first 3 Majors would be won by bowlers from Minot, ND not named Matt Smallin, I would have told you you’re crazy. Wade Scott and Mike Green have each claimed their first NDBowling.com Major Title this season and both would have likely said the same thing before the season started. Will we see another first time Major winner this weekend in Moorhead? There are quite a few bowlers out there who have notched multiple top 10 finishes in Majors but have yet to win one. Names like Brad Nordick, Thomas Wolf, Mike Larson, Jeremiah Smith, and Justin Schiffler are some of the first that come to mind. With the strong field of bowlers heading to Sunset Lanes this weekend, we could definitely see another first time Major winner hoist the Glen Hains Memorial Trophy on Sunday. Tune in to NDBowlTV on Sunday for the Finals of the Seasons’ Final Major.
NDBowling.com Bold Predictions
With the tournament pattern yet to be named, the task of predicting the final 5 is a difficult one. The only thing I know at this point is that the pattern will not be a USBC Open Championships pattern since they no longer release them, and there will be more oil than last seasons’ NDBowling.com Classic (over 25 mls). With a desired oil ratio in the area of 2.25\3 to 1, shot making will be important as well as quality spare shooting. With that being said, here is a definite shot in the dark for my final 5. (in no particular order)
– Thomas Wolf
– Eric Parvey
– Justin Schiffler
– Mike Larson
– Clayton Mohr
If you haven’t yet, please call Sunset Lanes (218-233-6153) to sign up for the NDBowling.com Classic! Limited to the first 96!
