The NDBowling.com Player of the Year Race kicked off this past weekend at The Coors Light Fall Shootout. Strike Zone in Williston welcomed a talented field of bowlers to town all looking to claim a piece of the prize fund that included over $10,000 in added money.
The qualifying rounds on Saturday were held at 9am, 1pm, and 5pm. Each qualifying round was a 6 game block with the winner of the squad receiving a $500 bonus. Re-entries were allowed, so the weekend had the possibility of becoming a marathon event for some players.
Leading the way on the 9am squad was Matt Smallin. Smallin would post a 6 game total of 1302 to not only claim the $500 squad bonus, but would also end as the highest qualifying total by 40 pins. The 1pm squad was lead by Jamey Kragh with a 1262 total and the final squad was claimed by Josh Link with a 1224.
Following the 3 qualifying rounds, the top 23 players plus the idiot would advance to Sunday. I know what you are thinking, the idiot? Yes, the idiot. The Fall Shootout has what is called the idiot rule. The idiot rule states that whoever has the highest 2-block total (12 games) out of all the players who didn’t finish in the top 23 will be the 24th and final bowler into the cut. Claiming the title of the idiot this season was Michael Neibauer with a 2-block total of 2209.
On Sunday, scores reset to zero and all bowlers returned to bowl 3 games. Bowlers would then be seeded 1 through 24 in a single elimination bracket with the top 8 receiving a first round bye. All matches would be a race to 2 points, and a 9th and 10th frame roll off would determine all matches that resulted in a 1-1 tie after 2 games.
Defending champion Dawson Unrath had a rather pedestrian start to the day finishing as the 13 seed following the 3-game round Sunday morning. However, needing to take the longer road to the title didn’t bother the high school junior. Unrath took down Rodney Holm in the first round and Michael Neibauer in the second round which set up a match with 3-time NDBowling.com Player of the Year, Jeremiah Smith. By this time, the 39-foot pattern had transitioned to a point where most players were playing left of 4th arrow. Unrath overpowered Smith in two games, and followed it up with a 2-0 victory over Gary Scaggs in the semi-finals.
The championship match featured Unrath vs Ryan Krabbenhoft. Both players would record a win and the match would head to a 9th and 10th frame roll of for the title. Needing a strike on the final ball of the roll off to win, Unrath sent 10 back to take home the Coors Light Fall Shootout for the second season in a row. Great bowling, Dawson! (As a junior bowler, all prizes won are applied to his USBC Smart account)
We would like to thank Brad Peterson, Jese Sickler and the entire staff at Strike Zone in Williston for hosting the event. The facility looks great following all the upgrades this past Summer. Many bowlers would agree that this event has become a favorite and contains one of the best prize funds we see all season long.
Next event: NDBowlTV Masters at North Hill Bowl in Minot | October 28-29
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