George Mottern, Brian Soto, John Conroy,Chris Ziesig and JoAnn, Mgr N.Levittown Lanes
November 8, 2009
N. Levittown, NY: The LIGBT hosted its second event of its second season and crowned two new champions; Chris Ziesig of Hicksville, NY won the scratch title and $1,000 while Robert Bader of Holtsville, NY won the 210 & under handicap title and $500. A total of 99 bowlers competed for more than $8,000 in prize money.
It was pretty evident early on that Chris Ziesig was going to have a good day. Chris started with a 279 first game and never looked back. He was the 49 & under squad leader which seeded Chris directly into the Championship Shootout. In his only game in the finals Chris rolled a 257 and beat out the Senior Champion, George Mottern ($600) of Riverhead by 3 pins. Chris doubled in the tenth frame to force George to do the same but a split on his second ball gave Chris the title.
The Championship Shootout was filled with great shot making and high scores. Three out of the four bowlers in the shootout had a chance to win the title going into the later frames. Finishing third was Brian Soto of Kew Gardens who rolled a 247 game which earned him $400. Rounding out the shootout and finishing fourth was John Conroy of Mahopac who stumbled with a 187 earning him $300.
The 210 and under final shootout was fun to watch with an unlikely outcome. Two of the finalists were former LIGBT Champions (Preston Cheeks and Cary Fishman) going against Robert Bader who had yet to win an LIGBT event. That didn’t seem to bother Robert as he crushed the two former champions by over 30 pins, with a 238 game, to take the title and the championship trophy. Preston Cheeks (207) of Brooklyn earned $300 for his second place finish and Cary Fishman of Manhattan (203) earn $200 for third place.
The next LIGBT event is the Tour’s first “Major” which will be held at AMF Babylon over Thanksgiving Weekend. Top prizes are guaranteed at $3,000 for the scratch event and $1,500 for the handicap tournament. There will be 5 qualifying squads to choose from and multiple cashing is allowed. As always, 1 in 4 bowlers per squad will cash in both events. For more information on the LIGBT, and complete results of the North Levittown event, please visit our website at
www.ligbtour.com or call the tournament office at 1.877.900.6464.