The 38th installment of the KFYR-TV Bowling Classic took place at Midway Lanes in Mandan, ND this past weekend. The tournament once again produced a full field of 120 bowlers looking to take home the $2,000 top prize and a Major title.
The action started on Saturday with an 8-game qualifying block on a custom 44 foot pattern. The pattern featured over 32 mls of oil which gave some players problems early on. As the block progressed, the migration towards the middle of the lane took place and the scores went up as well. Leading the qualifying round was 2004 KFYR Champion, Travis Hersrud. Hersrud turned in a 1910 block which was 115 pins clear of the field. For his efforts, Hersrud received a TV as the qualifying leader. Rounding out the top 30 was Justin Bankers at 1630.
QUALIFYING SCORES: Page 1 Page 2
Saturday evening featured the traditional meal, door prizes, and bracket payouts. Lee Timmerman of KFYR-TV spoke about the tournaments’ rich history and those who have been involved over the years. The top 30 were announced and a drawing was held for a Storm Bowling Ball given to a random non-casher before the activities commenced for the evening.
The top 30 bowlers returned to Midway Lanes bright and early Sunday morning for 10 games of match play. The pattern played much more difficult on day 2 and most of the players in the field struggled as they moved throughout the house.
Brady Stearns and Chad Nelson ran out to an early lead and separated themselves from the field. By the time match play reached the position round, Stearns had cemented himself in the top spot for the KFYR-TV Finals. Nelson, however, found himself in a battle with Thomas Wolf for the 2-seed, ultimately holding off the Bismarck native by 31 pins. Joining them in the finals was Ryan Engel and Jamey Kragh. Kragh held off the 2020 KFYR winner, Blake Wallstrum, by 2 pins for the 5th and final spot on the KFYR-TV show.
MATCH PLAY SCORES: Page 1
KFYR TV Finals:
Engel def. Kragh 186-159
Wolf def. Engel 182-158
Wolf def Nelson 203-189
Stearns def. Wolf 224-189
Stearns camped out on the gutter with a Storm Pitch Black and was able to put together a 9-1 record in match play to claim the top spot on the show. Keeping with the process, Stearns turned in an impressive 224 game on a pretty rough TV pair to take down Wolf in the finals.
The win gives Stearns his 2nd KFYR TV Bowling Classic Title and 4th career NDBowling.com Major Championship. Stearns becomes just the 9th player to have won 4 or more Majors. Stearns also becomes the 3rd bowler to have won a NDBowling.com Major in 3 consecutive seasons (John Juba – 1988-1990, Daron Hansen 2005-2007)
Since 2022, Stearns has bowled in the championship match in 6 of the 8 Majors he has entered.
2022 CMA Shootout – 11th
2022 KFYR Classic – Champion
2022 NDBowling.com – 2nd
2023 CMA Shootout – Champion
2023 KFYR Classic – 2nd
2023 NDBowling.com – 13th
2024 CMA Shootout – 2nd
2024 KFYR Classic – Champion
Great bowling, Brady!
Big thank you to Bryan Goehring and the entire staff at Midway Lanes for hosting another great tournament. Shout out to the folks at KFYR for producing the live tv show and thank you to McQuade Distributing for sponsoring the event.