Entries Down on 2005-2006 Grand Finals Tournament

Of the 56 SISBA members eligible to bowl in the Grand Finals tournament, 53 showed up to compete. And they found the competition stiff.

  Kevin Broderick of Harrisonville, Utah, set the pace by rolling a 279 in the first game, then ensured his first place standing by rolling a 289 in the fourth game. In that same game, Max Shellabarger of Roy, Utah, posted a 279 game and in the fifth game, another 279 was rolled by Terry Defa of West Jordan, Utah.

 Broderick maintained the top seed throughout the tournament by shooting a two-game series of 459 and a 224 in his one-game match. With the 212 he rolled against Bob Bywater of Rupert, Idaho for the championship, Broderick averaged 234.8 for the tournament. Pretty impressive!

  Jerry Caple of Elko, Nevada, was second in qualifying with 1187, but was first in the Non-Casher's Tournament with a score of 946 for four games. The Non-Casher's tournament is based on how much money an SISBA member won compared to how many tournaments he/she bowled during the season. The first four games of the five-game series is used to determine the winner. See Tournament Results.

  On Saturday, a three-person sweeper was held with 26 teams participating. First place winners were Den Fernandez of Taylorsville, Utah, John Bertolina of Henderson, Nevada, and Max Shellabarger of Roy, Utah. Their score was 1913 with a payoff of $1050. Second went to Brenda Roberts and Jason Parris, both of Blackfoot, Idaho, and Max Shellabarger - 1868/$690. Third was won by Jim Spoklie, Junior Lopez, and Ron Hendricks, of Pocatello, Idaho with 1865 for $450. Fourth place: Don Robinson of Boise, Idaho, Randy Millspaugh of Kuna, Idaho and Den Fernandez with 1959 for $270, and fifth place was won by Kelby Kingzio, Marc Nichol, and Mike Willard, all of Pocatello, Idaho with a 1842 for $150.

  At the SISBA Membership Meeting 

 There were quite a few subjects discussed at the SISBA annual meeting. The schedule was presented with the tournaments continuing to be held on the second weekend of each month. A letter from J.D. Merrill of Desert Paradise Lanes in Elko, Nevada. He stated that if SISBA returned to Desert Paradise Lanes next season (March 2007), we would no longer be able to bowl on Saturdays as he felt he lost too much money by not offering Saturday night Monte Carlo bowling. It was agreed among the membership to approach J.D. on changing the squads on Saturday to earlier times so as not to interfere with the Monte Carlo bowling as all the members enjoy going to Elko and because the Stockman's Hotel and Casino and the other sponsors who have contributed to this tournament have been great. 

  Brad Edelman of the High Rollers Tournament has agreed to continue to give one entry to the High Rollers Tournament to an individual over 50 years of age. Last year it was given to the high qualifier, but that ran into some difficulties. Next season the entry will go to winner of the tournament. If the winner does not qualify it will go down the winners list until someone does qualify and agrees to take the entry.

  A discussion concerning what is and what is not written in the SISBA rules included where the money for out of qualifying Super Seniors payoffs is obtained, what the format for the tournament is when there are less than 40 entries, why the women are classified with the Super Seniors, standardizing lane changes after each game (to skip or not to skip).

  The money for the Super Seniors out-of-the-money comes from the bowling ball raffles held at each tournament. That is why there is such a disparity in the payoff from tournament to tournament. The less entries in a tournament, the less people to buy the tickets, hence, the lower payoff. Sometimes there are two places paid in both game and series, sometimes only one each. The money does not come from the prize fund, and in some instances, any extra money collected on bowling ball raffles goes into the Grand Final fund and conversely, sometimes the payoff is supplemented from money collected from the brackets or from the expense fee.

  The format for less than 40 entries has always been the same, however, it was not listed in the current rules because it was never thought the tournament would have less than 40 entries. That was proven wrong in the early April tournament this year when there were only 36 entries. That format will be returned to the rules.

  A motion was made by Dave John of Pocatello, Idaho, that the women be allowed to compete in the Super Seniors category, being eligible for the out of qualifying money and to participate in the Super Senior brackets. Passed.

  Lane changes (to skip or not to skip) will be standardized and inserted into the rules. It will depend on the size of the bowling center on how the skip rule will read.

  A suggestion was made to hold a Tournament of Champions, maybe on the Saturday before the Grand Finals. This would include anyone who had won an SISBA tournament in the past.

  A motion was made by Max Shellabarger that during the match play games there be only one bowler on each lane instead of the present system of two bowlers on each lane. This would expedite tournament considerably. Passed.

  Den Fernandez motioned that during warmup for the qualifying round, participants could practice on lanes other the assigned lanes.  Passed.

  There will be no more divisional tournaments. It was an experiment that did not work out.

  Bob Garrison of Boise, Idaho, announced that there would be one entry awarded to the high finisher, over 50 years of age. of the Grand Finals Tournament for the PBA Regional West/Northwest Tournament which will be held at Westy's Lanes on May 6-7, 2006. 

  Bowlers of the Year 

  The competition was pretty stiff for this year's SISBA Bowler of the Year and Super Senior Bowler of the Year, as well as the high average, series and game in both categories:

   In the regular category: High game went to Don Winter of Kearns, Utah for his 297 game; High series was won by John Bertolina of Henderson, Nevada for a 1263 series; and high average was taken by Steve Bordley of Roy, Utah for his 216.9 average.

  Bowler of the Year was Max Shellabarger of Roy, Utah who averaged 227.3 for the season, had a high series of 1222 and a high game of 275. He was in the step-ladder finals two times during the season and won $1330 over the tournament.

  In the Super Senior category: High game went to Dave John for his 298 game; high series was won by Ron Hendricks of Fort Hall, Idaho for a 1275 series; and high average was Den Fernandez who rolled through the season for a final 217.8 average.

  Super Senior Bowler of the Year was Ed Strommen of Anaconda, Montana, who had a phenomenal year by averaging 210.4, having a series of 1112, high game of 299, being in the top five four times and taking home $2090 in prizes over the tournament season.

  SISBA would like to thank Pat Luras, Gary Call and Steve Young as well as the staff of Tough Guy Lanes. They always welcome the SISBA members and are great hosts for the tournament.

So! Who's Winning the Pots?