Brian Zeisig, Champion
December 19, 2010
Sayville, NY: The LIGBT visited AMF Sayville for a special 1 squad holiday tournament and 92 bowlers filled the center to compete for over $10,000 in prizes. Emerging victorious in the scratch event was Brian Ziesig of Levittown, NY and the handicap winner was Robert Bader Sr., Holtsville, NY. A total of 25 bowlers cashed for the day which means better than 1 in 4 bowlers earned money.
The scratch event was a 4 game qualifier that was bowled on Kegel’s 41 foot Beaten Path Pattern. The only bowler to average over 225 was Joe Stillman of Staten Island. Joe shot a 908 series to lead the day and earn a bye into the final match. The high senior for the day was Gary Shultis of Levittown, NY who rolled an 872 to earn a bye into round 2. It took an 832 series (208 average) to earn a spot on the prize list. Four bowlers earned spots into the LIUSBC Masters; Frank Spano, Joe Novara, Steve Chiarella, and Darren Barlow.
The final match in the scratch event put together two former LIGBT Champions. It was the powerful lefty (Joe) versus the accurate right hander (Brian.) Joe started with a spare and a triple to take an early lead. Brian finally started to string strikes from the 6th frame to his first ball in the tenth to shoot a 238 and defeated Joe by 16 pins. Brian earned $700 for his third LIGBT title while Joe took home $400 for second.
The handicap event had 67 bowlers with the top 16 series advancing to the finals. It took a 718 series with handicap and bonus pins to advance and be guaranteed at least a $100 payday. Leading qualifier was Chris DiDamo of Glenwood Landing, NY who rolled an 802 series (604 scratch) and he earned a bye directly into the final shootout.
The handicap final four shootout had some good scoring but none better than by Robert Bader Sr. Robert started with a strike, open, and spare his first three frames but struck out the rest of the way to shoot an incredible 289 handicap game (252 scratch.) His closest competitor, who also bowled great, was Ed Shacalo, Brooklyn, NY who shot a 246 (188 scratch). Robert earned $500 for his victory while Ed took home $300 for his runner-up position. Finishing third was So Young Chin of Whitestone, NY who rolled a 238 (202 scratch) to win $250 and fourth went to Chris DiDamo who bowled a 210 (159 scratch) to earn $200. So Young also won a Mini-Eliminator Mini Marathon entry with room with her 788 qualifying series.
The LIGBT’s next event is a handicap only tournament at AMF East Meadow on Sunday, January 9
th with squads at noon and 2pm. The next scratch and handicap event will be at AMF Plainview on Sunday, January 23rd. For more information on these events and complete results of the AMF Sayville tournament please visit
www.ligbtour.com or call the tournament office at 1.877.900.6464.