Long Island Summer Bowling Tour!

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"the 8-pin killed me. I do not know whether or not i would have closed him out after that, but i was feeling good up till that point. I needed that One hit. Killed me. Really did."

- Pete Bohleber, miller place -

Smithtown NY - June 27, 2003

The Long Island Summer Bowling Tour (LISBT) made its first ever stop at Smithtown Bowl this past Friday night and it was a very successful first time event! 65 bowlers participated in the very competitive field while nearly $2000.00 was paid out in the form of either scholarship money for junior bowlers or cash to adult participants. 4 champions were crowned this past friday night. one Champion a most recent Champion on the LISBT. In fact, for the second straight week! Two Champions of years past and one Champion broke into the winners circle for the very first time on the LISBT.

Chris Kieser, Northport, opened up with a 258 scratch in game 1 this past friday night that earned him the top spot in the 4-game qualifier at the conclusion of game 1 in the junior handicap divsion. He never looked back after that. The tall and lanky lefthander stayed above his 168 average for the rest of the night with games of 201,181 and 191 giving him a total of 831/1051 w/handicap for qualifying. his closest competitor, matt kingsepp, miller place actually had a higher scratch average for the qualifier at 210.75, however, kingsepp, entering the tournament at a 193 average finished at 842/974 w/handicap. candi d'angelo,Coram placing 3rd had an outstanding night as well. d'angelo, entering the tournament at 161, averaged 176.25 scratch for the evening. with handicap, d'angelo totaled 953 to earn a spot in the semifinals vs kingsepp. kieser would wait in the wings as the #1 seed.

Kingsepp and d'angelo would battle till the end of the semifinal game. However, kingsepp had just a little extra in the tank and would go on to defeat d'angelo, 227-201.

Momentum appeared to be leaning in the direction of Kingsepp as he and kieser squared off in the championship game. the two competitors looked sharp and kingsepp looked poised for a big game. however, kieser was the bowler on this particular night that was not to be denied. kieser threw strikes early and often and kept himself out of trouble the rest of the way and easily defeated kingsepp 290-235. Kieser had previously won back to back titles on the LISBT in the junior handicap division on June 15 and June 22, 2001. the win for kieser was nice. however, what is more important is that kieser is now back on the lanes. The young man has been rehabbing a rotator cuff injury that has slowed him down during the past year or so. must have felt good to be back on top once again. sure as heck beats the alternative.

Junior Handicap Division qualifying highlights (200+/800+): Chris Kieser, Northport 258-831, Matt Kingsepp, Miller Place 234-842, Ryan Wisnewski, East Northport, 253, Jerome Dietz, Mastic 214-800 and Jessica Allen, Bellmore 231

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in the junior scratch division, Mike wodzkinski, east meadow looked as though he had completely wiped clean the stunning defeat from his mind at the hands of jack castellano a week earlier at sayville bowl. afterall, wodzinski was eliminated during the shotgun round while rolling a 278 scratch. wodzinski, for the 4-game qualifier this past friday simply destroyed his competition. wodzinski rolled games of 278,247,211 and 277 that gave him a 1013 scratch easily distancing himself from the rest of the field. qualifying second was doug feldman, copiague at 906 and jack castellano, centereach in his second consecutive finals, held the 3 spot at 870. 20 pins back of the field was mike yammond, northport 850.

in the semifinal game, feldman caught fire. perhaps it was a line adjustment, perhaps it was an equipment change. whatever the reason, feldman would go on to defeat castellano 242-217 and earn his way into the finals vs wodzinski.

the 242 feldman shot in the semifinals turned out to be just a warmup. knowing full well he was bowling against a very determined wodzkinski had to help feldman focus on what needed to be done. not only did he looked focused, he looked as though he was in outer space not knowing he was really on planet earth. while wodzinski was throwing quality shot after quality shot, the east meadow youth was now having problems carrying. wodzinski was flawless converting his spares, however, he just couldnt carry his first shot. to win at the scratch level is not about converting easy spares. its about throwing strikes. and wodzinski simply was not accomplishing that. feldman on the other hand was not having problems with that particular issue. in fact, if not for a solid 10 pin in frame 8, feldman was simply perfect. the only other ball that feldman would leave pins standing after his first shot was his last ball of the night, a solid 7 pin. feldman would finish with a 278. wodzinski would finish with a 201.

keep this in mind about doug feldman and jack castellano during the period of the last two weeks. it has taken a collective 558 (280 for castellano at savyille june 20, 278 for feldman in this tournament) to send wodzinski packing for the night. however, keep THIS also in mind about mike wodzinski a/k/a "Wodzilla". during the period of the last two weeks.... he apparently has re-incarnated KING KONG as his opponent. Dont know whether that is good news or bad. Anybody know how the movie turned out?

Guess we will have to stay tuned to find out.    

Junior Scratch Division qualifying Highlights (200+/800+): Mike Wodzinski, East Meadow 278-1013, Doug Feldman, Copiague 251-906, Jack Castellano, Centereach 253-870, Mike Yammond, East Northport 248-850, RJ Gocinski, Coram 233-838, Louis Dalessio, Sound Beach 243-812, Scott Reed, Smithtown 231-811, Noel Ocasio, Patchogue 231-804, Tara mazur, Northport 220, Billy Shannon, Commack 227 and Jack Daniels, Commack 212

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Jennifer paxson, patchogue, had never bowled a sanctioned 600 series. not in league, not in tournament play. never. until this past friday night in the adult handicap division.

Paxson, a regular on the LISBT for the last two years, rolled an opening game of 234 in qualifying and followed up that game with a 170 and 216 in games 2 and 3 giving her a 620 scratch for her first 3 games. paxson had built such a strong lead after 3, it hardly mattered that her sub-par game 4 was 17 pins below her entering average. she finished the night in the #1 seed with a 740/1072, 67 pins ahead of warren newman, commack 865/1005. also advancing to the finals edward walsh, ronkonkoma 822/1002 and chris buckley sr, farmingville 821/1001. cashing but not advancing frank collins, holbrook 874/994 and paul casella, port jeff 779/991.

the shotgun round in the adult handicap division turned out to be a good one. while buckley sr was having problems gaining momentum for himself, walsh and newman were not. in fact, walsh and newman were outstanding to say the least. both bowlers were throwing strikes and both bowlers looked to be on top of their game. walsh finished the shotgun with a 245/285 while newman came in with a 225/260. it would come down to walsh vs paxson in the finals.  both bowlers primed for a high scoring showdown. well, perhaps on another night......

the championship game was anything but a high scoring affair. a combination of miscues, missed opportunities and bad luck seemed to torture both bowlers. by frame 9, it was evident this match now was a match of survival, somewhat like "X"ing off the calandar counting the days remaining till christmas. the match ended however with paxson edging out walsh 215-211 with handicap. it was the second career LISBT title for paxson. she previously won on july 26, 2002 at Westhampton.

Adult handicap Division qualifying Highlights (225+/825+): Jennifer Paxson, Patchogue 234, Warren Newman, Commack 256-865, Chris Buckley Sr, Farmingville 243, Frank Collins, Holbrook 268-874, Dominick Minneci, Shirley 257, Vinnie Zambito, Shirley 225, Peri Fairchild, Kings Park 277, Ricky Wrage Jr, Selden 226 and Rich Arcas, Plainview 256-826.

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heading into the final game of qualifying this past friday night in the adult scratch division, one thing was certain. there was alot of uncertainty.

heading into game 4, 5 bowlers were separated by 19 pins for the 4th and final spot in the shotgun. john scarulla, smithtown was in 4th at 669. following scarpulla in order were eryn cully, patchogue 661, bob feldman, copiague 656, kyle mazur, northport 653 and christine anania, smithtown 650. still in the hunt were bill gocinski, coram 641 and kevin rabich, ridge 640. scarpulla seemed to have things in order as he rolled a 257 in game 4. feldman was strong with a 233 while gocinski came in at 233. however, as is the case in the scratch divisions, its the one extra hit that seems to be the difference this summer as eryn cully, powered by a 274 in game 4 jumped over scarpulla into third place at 935. by jumping into third, cully dropped the 3rd seed after 3, matt traina, farmingdale at 927 into fourth that was one pin ahead of scarpulla and  926. joining culley and traina in the shotgun would be #2 seed pete bohleber, miller place at 952.

bohleber did not waste much time with cully and traina in the shotgun. he addressed things in a hurry. cully and traina both never gained any "juice" in the 1-game and out round and bohleber wasnt about to hang out and wait either. he quickly and efficiently defeated both bowlers 252-193 (Cully)-178 (Traina). on to the finals vs #1 seed and champion of one week earlier at sayville, frank kase, deer park.

kase was cruising along for the first two games of the tournament with 494 for two. however, kase found himself in a "get a grip, and get a grip NOW" mode for game 4 as he stuggled in game 3 with a 185. while kase was not in danger of dropping past the 4 spot in qualifying, he was in danger of having to bowl vs TWO bowlers in the shotgun if he were to go on and win his second consecutive title. sitting out as the #1 seed is the choice of most bowlers.

kase, as crafty and experienced as they come, displayed his poise and got things under control in a big way. kase managed a 287 in game 4 and jumped back into the #1 seed with a 966.

in the championship game, bohleber and kase became gladiators. both bowlers showing why they were bowling for the scratch championship on the LISBT. unlike the week before vs alex cavagnaro at sayville, kase was not bowling vs a bowler who was having trouble carrying. bohleber was strong and looked confident. however, so did kase. one thing that has come to the forefront about frank kase this summer, is the guy does not back down and really looks as though he doesnt seem to be bothered by who his opponent is OR what his opponent is doing on the lanes. kase looks focused on what HE has to do and lets the pins fall as they will. however strong bohleber was, kase was right there with him.

The deeper this match went, you just knew, as good as these two competitors were bowling, something was going to go one bowlers way, and something was not for the other. As bohleber made his approach in the 8th frame, as our headline at the top of this site indicates, you could almost hear ol' blue eyes serenading in the background.  "And now, the end is near..." curtain....."

bohleber up in the 8th and working, threw about as good as a shot a right-handed bowler can throw. results? Stone 8. bohleber converted the spare and then marked in frame 9. as the match concluded, bohleber would finish first on the right lane. still in the drivers seat if he could manage a double in the 10th frame, break #2 decided once again to favor kase. perhaps an even better shot this time around for bohleber on his first shot in the tenth, resulted this time in a solid 10. at this point in time, bohleber was starting to look frustrated. he marked and filled 9 on his last shot to give him a 236 for the game.

kase needed to throw 19 pins in the 10th frame to tie bohleber and 20 to win. on the first shot by kase in the 10th, the ball looked very high at the 50 foot mark. however, whether the ball hit a skid area on the lane or possibly kase himself knew what the ball reaction would be, kase tripped the 4-pin on his first shot to give him a strike. at that point in time, you heard additional lyrics in the background....."and so I face, the final curtain...." his second shot in the 10th however was flush to close bohleber out. kase finished the night with one more strike giving him a 247 and his second consecutive title on the LISBT.  And then The Final Words of the night, "I'll state my Kase, of which I'm certain...."

after the match, bohleber while not visibly rattled or upset by the outcome, did sound disappointed with the results of the last few frames. especially his hit, or non-hit we should say in the 8th. "The shot in the 10th was not as good a shot as the shot in the 8th. the 8-pin killed me. I dont know whether or not if i would have closed him out after that, but i was feeling good up till that point. i needed that one hit. killed me. it really did. the 10th frame though, i didnt hit that ball good. the 8th frame? ouch. not much more that i can say. honest".

whether pete bohleber knows this or whether pete bohleber even cares to know, he is part of an exclusive club that has formed on the LISBT of 2003. he is now a member of the "One hit short" club. it is the fastest growing club on long island. next meeting? Next friday, july 11, 2003 at shirley. new members added weekly. count on it.  

Adult Scratch Division qualifying Highlights (250+/850+): Frank Kase, Deer Park 287-966, Pete Bohleber, Miller Place 279-952, Eryn Cully, Medford 274-935, John Scarpulla, Smithtown 258-926, Bob Feldman, Copiague 889, Bill Gocinski, Coram 874, Joe Heggers, Port Jeff Station 269-874, Kyle Mazur, Northport 867, Brian Nielsen, Levittown 275-863 and Kevin Rabich, Ridge 266.

Recapping the action for Smithtown:

Adult Scratch Division:  

Semi Final game: Pete Bohleber, Miller Place 252 defeated Eryn Cully, Patchogue 193 And Matt Traina, Farmingdale 178

Championship game: Frank Kase, Deer Park defeated Bohleber 247-236               

Adult handicap division: 

Semi Final game: Edward Walsh, Ronkonkoma 285 defeated Warren Newman, Commack 260 and Chris Buckley Sr, Farmingville 206

Championship Game: Jennifer paxson, patchogue defeated Walsh 215-211

Junior hdcp division:

semi final game: Matt Kingsepp, Miller Place 227 Defeated Candi D'Angelo, Coram 201

Championship Game: Chris Kieser, Northport Defeated Kingsepp 290-235

Junior Scratch division:

Semi Final game: Doug Feldman, Copiague 242 defeated Jack Castellano, Centereach 217

Championship Game: Feldman Defeated Mike Wodzinski, East Meadow 278-201

a total of 65 Bowlers participated. 

Next Stop: SHIRLEY BOWL, 631-399-1800, July 11, 2003 7:45 PM!

(Register Here For SHIRLEY - CLICK!)

300 game incentives for SHIRLEY BOWL

Adults: $187.00 plus $1.00 per adult entry!

Juniors: $87.00 Plus $1.00 per junior entry!

Standings after Qualifying