NDBowling.com traveled to Winnipeg, Manitoba this weekend for the first of many exciting tournaments this month. The tournament also marks the first leg in the Can-Am Challenge presented by NDBowling.com. The action started on Saturday at Chateau Lanes where 91 bowlers entered for a chance at the incredible prize fund put together by Melody Savage and her staff. Having 91 entries meant that 30 bowlers would be lucky enough to advance to the second round of bowling on Sunday.
All bowlers bowled 10 games across the 30 lane center on Saturday. Defending champion Mike Schmidt started his title defense by qualifying first overall with a 2360 ten game total. The qualifying leader also claimed a cash prize from the tournament along with an early lead in the Can-Am Challenge. The day one cut to advance to Sundays’ second round was +45.
Also headlining the Saturday qualifying round stories was Matt McNiel. The 900 Global staffer fired a 300 during the 5th game of qualifying to claim the $900 perfect game jackpot. McNiel did so using a 900 Global Black Eagle. A video of the final shot is posted on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BowlND).
The second round on Sunday began at 9 AM. The 30 qualifiers were separated into 3 groups of ten. Each group would bowl round robin matches within the group. The winners of each match would claim 20 bonus pins. At the end of 10 games, the 5 bowlers with the highest pin total would enter into a stepladder final. The lanes played slightly different on Sunday, but the talented field of 30 bowlers made the proper adjustments and posted some impressive scores. Leading the Sunday charge was Eric Parvey of Fargo, ND. Parvey had a look reminiscent of his 2010 victory at the Morris Anderson Memorial Shootout. The left hander averaged over 230 to claim the top spot in the stepladder finals. As the tournament leader, Parvey would have to be defeated twice in order for a challenger to claim the title. 
Joining Parvey in the stepladder finals was Matt McNiel, Michael Schmidt, Felicia Wong, and Clayton Mohr.
Matt McNiel squared off with defending champion Mike Schmidt in the opening match. Schmidt was able to string a few strikes together to top McNiel 218-188. Schmidt moved on to face Clayton Mohr in the Second Match. Mohr used a late string of strikes to capitalize on a key open by Schmidt to win 192-183. Mohr advanced to the quarterfinals to face one of two females to qualify for the second round, Felicia Wong. This match remained close the entire way, and Mohr prevailed with a clutch tenth frame to move on 216-215. The Alexandria, MN native would then advance to the championship match against Eric Parvey. Parvey wasted no time and missed once in the first 8 frames to seal the deal and claim his first Manitoba Open Championship 236-216. Nice Bowling Eric! With the win, Parvey joins Daron Hansen & Jeff Smith as the only 3 bowlers to win both the Morris Anderson Memorial Shootout and the Manitoba Open.
Thank you to all who bowled this event, and a big thanks to Melody Savage and the entire staff at the Manitoba Open for putting on such an amazing event. Final Results will be posted at a later time. Current Can-Am Challenge standings will be posted under the “NDBowling.com Challenge” tab.
The excitement continues next weekend in Minot, ND where North Hill Bowl will play host to the 10th Annual Morris Anderson Memorial Shootout. NDBowling.com will be there to provide live updates as they become available. Once again, congratulations to Eric Parvey on the victory and thank you for visiting NDBowling.com!
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