Laughland Capitalizes at Metro Bowl In Lansing

LIVONIA, Michigan -- What a great turnout! Sixty players showed up to test their skills, and when the smoke cleared, these were the results:

Scotty Laughland of Windsor, Ontario, defeated Al Bilhimer of Essexville to win the Lansing Open and the$750 winner's check. Bilhimer took home the $375 runner-up's share.

Laughland was the No. 1 qualifier with 1436, just beating out B.J. Galloway of Alpena with 1425 and Jack Getzen of Lansing with 1403. High games of the qualifying round went to Dan Mayer of Waterford with 290, Dick Beattie of Dearborn and Getzen each with 279. Two notable three-game scores were posted by Mayer, with 791, and Laughland, with 779.

The award for "What the heck just happened here?" has to go to Gary Haxer of Roseville. Making it to the finals is tough enough, and you have to feel good about that. But Haxer's first match was against Galloway, who bowled a 299. One would think, "Hey, it's only one game in this double elimination format, so who am I up against next?" Derek Smith of Hicksville, Ohio, that's who-and he bowled a 297. Gary, we're sure the bowling gods will be kinder to you next time. On with the show!

Laughland never wavered on his trip to the winner's circle. Staying in the winners bracket all the way, he first met Ron Antes of Lansing and won 255 to 180. His next three challengers wouldn't be as easy, but he defeated Tom Lis of Deford, 250 to 226; Mayer, 268 to 248; and Bilhimer, 246 to 238.

Eleventh-seeded Bilhimer would take the long way to get to the finals. His first encounter was against Glenn Kurtz of Toledo, Ohio, and it was a close one, 194 to 190. Bilhimer found the next two matches more to his liking as he got by Roy Biggs of Canton, 236 to 191, and Hurston Wallace of Lake Orion, 266 to 237. After his loss to Laughland, Bilhimer moved to the "L bracket" where he met Galloway, who had just come off a one-pin victory over Smith (225 to 224), and in another nail-biter Bilhimer prevailed, 228 to 226. His last obstacle would be Ed Austreng of Waterford; Bilhimer stood the test one more time and won 231 to 196.

The finals were now set. As the two finalists moved to lanes 15 & 16 for the championship match, two questions came to mind. Could Bilhimer put his first game with Laughland behind him? Did Laughland lose any momentum after sitting out two games? These questions were quickly answered: maybe and no. Bilhimer came out a little slow but finished very strong. In the meantime, Laughland was putting together his own string of strikes and came away the champion with a 258-to-224 victory.

The next GLSBA tournament is Nov. 10, 2001 at the AMF Town & Country Lanes, Flint. For information on this or any other tournament call 734-522-9315.

Upcoming GLSBA Tournaments;

Nov. 10, 2001: AMF Town & Country Lanes, Flint

Dec. 8, 2002: Championship tournament (Invitational only) Sunnybrook Lanes, Sterling Heights

Jan. 12, 2002: Vision Lanes, Westland

GLSBA Tournament Results

October 13 - Metro Bowl, Lansing, Michigan

place name* payout

1 ss Scotty Laughland, Windsor, Ontario (1 - 1436) $750

2 Al Bilhimer, Essexville, Michigan (11 - 1362) $375

3 Ed Austreng, Waterford, Michigan (13 - 1361) $300

4 B. J. Galloway, Alpena, Michigan (2 - 1425) $225

5 ss Hurston Wallace, Lake Orion, Michigan (7 - 1381) $225

6 Derek Smith, Hicksville, Ohio (10 - 1363) $175

7 Dan Mayer, Waterford, Michigan (14 - 1350) $175

8 Thomas Lis, Deford, Michigan (5 - 1392) $175

9 Ken O'Brien, Troy, Michigan (9 - 1364) $140

10 Jack Getzen, Lansing, Michigan (3 - 1403) $140

11 Glenn Kurtz, Toledo, Ohio (6 - 1384) $140

12 Roy Biggs, Canton, Michigan (12 - 1361) $140

13 Ron Antes, Lansing, Michigan (16 - 1341) $125

14 Mark Lefebvre, Horton, Michigan (8 - 1371) $125

15 Gary Haxer, Roseville, Michigan (15 - 1349) $125

16 Ed Malinowski, Livonia, Michigan (4 - 1394) $125

17 Jerry Owczarski, South Lyon, Michigan (17 - 1333) $80

Super Seniors out of the money

Richard Beattie, Dearborn, Michigan (31 - 1292) $80

Lou Matassa, Windsor, Ontario (32 - 1275) $80

*Numbers in parentheses denote qualifying position and total pinfall.

ss denotes Super Senior.