From left: Scott Williams, owner of Skores Unlimited Pro Shop; Greg Maurer, tournament winner; Harold Scales, high qualifier for the tournament; and Cass Swidersky, MSMA director, get together after the Mid-States Masters' Skores Unlimited Pro Shop Classic.
By Darrin Hill / Special to The Detroit News
After hosting its PBA Tour event, and being torched game after game by hard-throwing touring professionals, Taylor Lanes turned next to members of the 215 division of the Mid-States Masters Association. This past Sunday, Greg Maurer of Warren beat Bob Rozycki of Allen Park to win the Skores Unlimited Pro Shop Classic. This was Naurer's first MSMA championship.
The phrase, "It's better to be lucky than good," was Maurer's motto going into the match-play competition. He barely made the cut, placing 50th out of 54 available spots. Then he won all five of his matches enroute to his match against Rozycki in the finals. Rozycki had qualified seventh and received a first round bye. In the finals, Rozycki lost to Maurer, 221-200. Maurer received a $2,300 first place check and a trophy from Skores Unlimited owner Scott Williams. Rozycki, trying to win his second MSMA championship, received the second place award of $1,150. One hunded and fifty-three participated in this event. The next 215 division tournament is Sunday, November 18, at Sunnybrook Lanes in Sterling Heights.
In the 198 division, Kevin Nedziek of Howell defeated Fred Schimmel of Clarkston 234-161 to win the RJ's Pro Shop Classic at Town & Country Lanes in Flint. This was Nedziek's first MSMA championship. A third-place finish some years ago was previously his best. He received a first place check of only $700, due in part to the lowest turnout for a MSMA event in 11 years. Schimmel, who qualified 16th, had to settle for a second place check of $350. The next 198 division tournament is Sunday, Nov. 11, at the Continental Lanes in Roseville.
PBA Tour news
Tuesday night's live broadcast of the PBA Greater Detroit Open from Taylor yielded the PBA Tour its highest Nielsen rating point of 2001, a 1.16 according to ESPN. The Battle at Little Creek tournament, at Virginia Beach, Va., previously held the high mark for 2001 at a 1.1 rating.
American Bowling Congress news
The City of Detroit continues to reign supreme as the bowling capital of the world, according to numbers released by the American Bowling Congress. Detroit again had the most sanctioned bowlers, with 112,070 (60,159 American Bowling Congress, 40,472 Women's International Bowling Congress and 11,439 Young American Bowling Alliance).
Once again, Michigan led all states in overall sanctioned bowlers with 318,058 members (157,108 ABC, 130,969 WIBC and 29,981 YABA). Ohio was second, with 252,217 members (127,056 ABC, 95,277 WIBC and 29,884 YABA) and New York third with 251,470 (129,457 ABC, 88,108 WIBC, 33,905 YABA). Michigan had the most ABC and WIBC members of any state while New York was No. 1 for YABA. Nationwide membership reached 3,553,409 in the 2000-01 season, which ended July 31.
The number of bowling centers and lanes in Michigan trails behind other states, however. Pennsylvania held onto its No. 1 position with 429 centers. New York remained next with 416. Wisconsin was third with 394. New York remained atop in lanes with 9,129. Michigan was No. 2 with 8,670. Ohio was third with 8,619.
Darrin Hill is a freelance writer. He can be contacted at motorcitybowling@hotmail.com.
