The 30th annual KFYR TV Bowling Classic was held this past weekend at Midway Lanes in Mandan, ND. A full field of 120 bowlers entered for a chance at a coveted Major title and the $2000 top prize.
The tournament began on Saturday where all bowlers bowled 8 games of qualifying to determine the final 30 bowlers to advance to the match play round on Sunday. The lane pattern of choice was a 2.91-1 ratio oil pattern that allowed bowlers to attack the lanes from multiple angles. Leading the way on Sunday was Thomas Wolf. Wolf raced out to an early lead after posting scores of 259-266-257-296 the first 4 games. With a lead of over 100 pins at the half way mark, Wolf coasted to the finish line posting an 8 game total of 1921 which was good enough for the top qualifying spot and a shiny new TV which was awarded to the qualifying leader. The cut to the top 30 was Emily Peterson and Blake Wallstrum at +46. The qualifying round also determined a winner for the NDBowling.com Challenge. Matt Smallin came away with the $150 top prize and free bowling ball with 13 total points in the challenge. Congratulations Matt! Look for a few changes in next seasons NDBowling.com Challenge.
Sundays match play round started bright and early for the top 30 bowlers. With the live TV show on KFYR (local NBC station) at noon, the match play round had to start at 7 am in order to have the final 5 determined in time. Much of the match play round consisted of a wide range of scores that resulted in a constantly changing leader board throughout the day. Fueled by a 258 in game 9, Brad Nordick entered the position round with the lead and defeated Thomas Wolf 224-169 to secure the top spot on the TV Show. In the 3-4 position round match, Michael Schmidt defeated Matt Smallin in a rematch of the 2011 CMA Memorial Shootout title game 223-203 to grab the #2 spot on the show. In the always important 5-6 matchup, Antonio Tejeda defeated Travis Hersrud 216-201 to also claim a spot on the show. Attention then turned to the 7-8 match as Tad Schmidt defeated Chris Charles 269-209. With the extra bonus pins, Schmidt was able to vault himself into the #3 spot on the show and, as a result, left defending champion Matt Smallin on the outside looking in finishing in 6th. Final 5 entering the TV Show: 1 – Brad Nordick, 2 – Michael Schmidt, 3 – Tad Schmidt, 4 – Thomas Wolf, 5 – Antonio Tejeda.
TV Show Results:
Tejeda def. Wolf
T. Schmidt def. Tejeda
T. Schmidt def. M. Schmidt
T. Schmidt def. Nordick
Congratulations to Team NDBowling.com member Tad Schmidt on winning this season’s KFYR TV Bowling Classic! The win gives Schmidt his first Major title.
I (Daren Seney) would like to thank Jim Mellon, Bryan Goehring, Jack Nelson, Darin Helbling and the entire staff at Midway Lanes for hosting another great event. I would also like to congratulate friend and NDBowling.com Teammate Tad Schmidt on a great win. I know how much this win means to you and I am happy that your passion for the game of bowling is part of the great team we have at NDBowling.com.
There is only one Major left this season, the NDBowling.com Classic. Who will walk away with the Glen Hains Memorial Trophy in the season’s final Major? You can watch it all live on NDBowlTV on March 6th. Stay connected to NDBowling.com on social media for updates from the NDBowling.com Classic and other events this season.
Complete Results:
Day 1 Page 1
Day 1 Page 2
Day 2
