Midway Lanes played host to the NDBPA State Scratch Singles Tournament this past weekend. For many years, the Scratch Singles tournament had been combined with Scratch Doubles as a side event. This season, it was brought back as its own tournament as a one day event.
The format was simple, a 9-game qualifying block followed by a top 5 stepladder final. Bowlers would compete on the 40 foot Don Johnson pattern that featured a volume over 32 mls and a ratio of 2.74-1.
Early on, the pattern showed it’s teeth as bowlers struggled to navigate an over-under ball reaction. As the pattern broke down, players were able migrate toward the middle of the lane and the scores started to go up. Leading the way in qualifying was a group of guys who bowled together all day long. Joel Galle, Ryan Selk, and Tayler Wallstrum paced the field while trading the lead multiple times throughout the day. When the dust settled, Galle claimed the top overall seed on NDBowlTV followed by Ryan Selk as the 2 and Tayler Wallstrum as the 3.
The last two spots, however, were not as set in stone. Late in game 9, Thomas Wolf converted a 4-9 and followed that up with the back 4 strikes to secure his spot as the number 4 seed. On the immediate pair to the right, Mike Larson had an opportunity to claim the 5th spot, but an open in the tenth would end up costing him a spot in the finals. Taking that 5th and final spot was Darin Sundstrom with a 1848 total, 6 pins ahead of Larson.
NDBowlTV Finals:
Wolf def. Sundstrom 196-150
Wallstrum def. Wolf 188-182
Wallstrum def. Selk 176-167
Galle def. Wallstrum 178-160
You can watch the entire tournament HERE
The stepladder final featured several close matches and low scores on a pretty beat up 40 foot condition. The title match was decided by a double in the 8th and 9th frames by Galle that Wallstrum was unable to answer.
Galle adds a State Scratch Singles Title to an already impressive career resume that includes a State Scratch All Events Title and a NDBowling.com Major Title (2010 Classic). I have no doubt that Joel will ultimately land in the ND USBC HOF in the next few years as he is deserving of the honor. Great bowling, Joel!
Thank you to Bryan Goehring and the staff at Midway Lanes for hosting the tournament and providing everything needed to live stream the event on NDBowlTV. Tune in Thursday for a complete recap from State Scratch Doubles.