Minot, ND – On the eve of the USBC Masters wrapping up in New Jersey, North Dakota bowlers gathered at North Hill Bowl in Minot for the 20th annual Hemi Bowl where Ryan Selk put together a masterful performance of his own. Formerly known as the Bud Bowl, the tournament was renamed a couple years ago to the Hemi Bowl in honor of the late Kris Hemstad, former pro shop operator at North Hill Bowl.
The tournament offers a format that is a little different from many of the events held this season. All bowlers were divided randomly into 2 conferences and 3 divisions in each conference. Each bowler would bowl 8 games and the division winners, along with the next 3 best scores in each conference, would advance to the playoffs. The 2 highest division winners in each conference would be awarded first round byes. The different format allows for some bowlers to not bowl so great and win their division, while others could be bowling very well but are stuck in a division with several bowlers bowling well.
45 bowlers entered the event, meaning each division had 7 or 8 bowlers in them. The lane pattern of choice for the event was Kegels’ Beat’n Path. Once the 8 game qualifyer was complete, the playoff bracket was determined and 12 bowlers were lucky enough to advance. Among those 12 bowlers was Ryan Selk, who was surprised he even qualified for the playoffs. Selk began the journey with a match against Joe Scott of Minot, ND. Selk found a groove early on and advanced passed Scott. With the win, Selk advanced to face Duane Sandvick. The match remained close early, but aside from a stone 8, Selk didn’t miss much in this game and defeated Sandvick. Gaining momentum, Selk advanced to the conference final against the 2013 Bowling Classic Champion, Adam Peters. Peters Struggled to find a decent look early in the match and Selk took advantage to seal the deal, 246-220. With the win, Selk advanced to the Hemi Bowl Title game against the 2012 King of the Hill Champion, Tad Schmidt. Selk began the game with a string of strikes that was too much for Schmidt to overcome and claimed the title with a 235-207 victory. The win gives Selk his first win of the season. Nice bowling Ryan!
Thank you for everyone who made the trip to Minot today, and thank you for everyone at North Hill Bowl for hosting the event. This tournament honors the late Kris Hemstad and reminds us all to appreciate the time we have with our friends and family and the time we have on the lanes while we still have it. I am pretty sure Kris is also celebrating the victory by Ryan, as both are well known figures in North Hill Bowl history.
Congratulations to Ryan Selk for winning the 20th annual Hemi Bowl and thank you for visiting NDBowling.com! Final results of the Hemi-Bowl will be posted later this week.