The annual Morris Anderson Memorial Shootout was held this past weekend at North Hill Bowl in Minot. 108 bowlers entered for a shot at the coveted NDBowling.com Major Title.
Saturdays qualifying round was held on a custom 2.18 – 1 pattern that has been used the past few years. With scores being low, a premium was put on spare shooting in order to advance to the match play round on Sunday. Setting the pace in the qualifying round was Thomas Wolf. Wolf turned in an 8 game total of 1794 (224.25 ave). Wolf will receive a free entry into next seasons Shootout as a result of being the top qualifier.
The qualifying round concluded with a bit of drama. Tayler Wallstrum got up in the tenth frame of game 8 working on 9 consecutive strikes. Wallstrum was unable to finish off the perfect game, but was able to vault himself into the cut following a 288 game. The perfect game pot of $2700 went unclaimed once again this season. Another $300 will be added to the pot next season.
The cut for the 30th position was -61. Ben Goede and Jeremiah Smith were tied for the final spot and would roll off on Sunday morning to break the tie. Jeremiah Smith would go on to defeat Ben Goede to advance. Goede would become the alternate.
The match play round was dominated early on by urethane. Brady Stearns and Russ Oviatt separated themselves from the field earning the 1 and 2 spots on NDBowlTV respectively. Joining them on the show was NDBowlTV Masters winner Thomas Wolf, 2016 Shootout winner Andy Mills, and the defending champion Josh Link.
NDBowlTV Results:
Mills def. Link 240-222
Mills def. Wolf 222-178
Mills def. Oviatt 193-193 (60-39) *9th & 10th frame roll off*
Mills def. Stearns 204-172
Andy Mills took home his 2nd Shootout title after winning 4 consecutive matches using the Brunswick Prism Hybrid. You can watch the entire show by clicking HERE. The win gives Mills his 5th NDBowling.com Major Title joining him with Dave Schick, Jeff Smith, and Michael Schmidt as the only bowlers with 5 or more Major titles. Congratulations Andy!
Shoutout to Rory Selk, Jeff Kragh, Rene Shirley and the entire staff at North Hill Bowl for running a great event once again. North Hill Bowl put in extra money to ensure 30 players would advance to Sunday.
Tune in Thursday as we preview the 35th annual KFYR TV Bowling Classic!