The 2018 NDBowling.com Classic was held this past weekend at Sunset Lanes in Moorhead, MN. With an impending snowstorm on the horizon, the tournament took a hit as far as entries goes, but the competition level was just as high as every other Classic in years past.
51 bowlers entered Saturday’s Qualifying round on the tournament pattern Autobahn. All bowlers would bowl 8 games with the top 16 advancing to match play on Sunday. Leading the way was the defending NDBowling.com Classic Champion, Andy Mills. Mills finished the 8 game block with a 1845 total. The cut to the top 16 was Tad Schmidt at 1636.
Following the qualifying round, prizes and side pots were awarded. Andy Mills claimed the NDBowling.com Challenge with a record 2 points after qualifying first at both the Morris Anderson Memorial Shootout and the NDBowling.com Classic.
On Sunday, the 16 qualifiers were split into two groups of 8 for round robin match play. Mills lead for most of the match play round until Clayton Mohr took over the lead by 1 pin following a victory over Mills in the position round.
While the top 2 seeds for the NDBowlTV show were essentially a lock, the other 3 spots were up for grabs.
2016 champion Nick Heilman defeated Thomas Wolf by 2 pins in the 5/6 match to earn his spot on the show as the 4 seed.
In the 7/8 position round match, Justin Coste struck out in the tenth to tie Mike Larson at 247 and claim half of the 30 bonus pins. A few moments later, Mike Allen left a split in the tenth to finish with a 199 in the 3/4 match against Tad Schmidt. As a result, Schmidt claimed the #3 spot and Coste snuck into the final spot on the NDBowlTV show over Allen by a mere 3 pins.
NDBowlTV Results:
Coste def. Heilman 259-212
Schmidt def. Coste 222-214
Schmidt def. Mills 210-182
Schmidt def. Mohr 224-214
You can watch the entire NDBowlTV show HERE.
Congratulations to the 2018 NDBowling.com Classic Champion, Tad Schmidt! Tad has overcome a few obstacles the last couple seasons to return to championship form. Last year, his local bowling center in Devils Lake, ND shut down. As a result, Schmidt has been making the 90 mile drive to Grand Forks, ND to bowl in his free time. Tad has also been nursing a right elbow injury that has kept him out of a few tournaments in the past year, so the victory in Moorhead was bitter sweet for the 2-time Major winner. (2016 KFYR TV Bowling Classic)
Shout out to Darin Sundstrum and the entire staff at Sunset Lanes for hosting the Classic for the 25th consecutive year. Also, a big thank you goes out to all bowlers who made the trip to Fargo this past weekend to compete. We greatly appreciate your continued support of NDBowling.com and the High Plains Bowling Network.
Be sure to mark your calendars for next years event to be held March 2nd and 3rd, 2019.