John Conroy - Scratch Champion
March 7, 2010
Babylon, NY: The LIGBT, sponsored by Columbia 300, crowned two new champions while breaking a one-day handicap entry record for the club at AMF Babylon. A total of 162 bowlers competed, 107 in the handicap event, and when the day was done John Conroy, Mahopac, NY earned $1,000 and his first LIGBT scratch title. The handicap title, with its $650 top prize, went to Lou Medina, of West Babylon, NY.
For the Garden City event the Kegel Broadway 37 foot pattern was put down and the scoring was playable with a perfect righty-lefty balance. It took a 213 average in the 49 & under scratch division to advance while a 200 average in the senior division got you into the finals. The scoring pace definitely picked up in the finals.
John Conroy has had several second place finishes in the LIGBT. But John was determined to break through to the winners circle and he did it in grand style. In the finals John shot games of 252, 300, and 289 (841 series) to blow the field away. John’s closest competitor in the final shootout was recent LI Masters Champion Alex Cavagnaro of Lindenhurst, NY who rolled a 236 and earned $600 for second. Rounding out the top 4 was the qualifying leader, Scott Santos, Ledyard, CT who shot a 225 and earned $400 and senior winner, Mike Dioguardo of Patchogue, NY – who rolled a 212 and won $300.
The 210 and under handicap event had a second consecutive record turnout. After attracting 101 bowlers last month at AMF Garden City the entry record was broken again at AMF Babylon as 107 bowlers packed the handicap division. With the LIGBT advancing 1 in 4 to the finals 26 bowlers had a chance for the $650 top prize in the finals.
It took 4 rounds in a beat half-the-field elimination finals to crown Lou Medina the new LIGBT handicap champion. Lou started his day finishing 19th in qualifying with a 664 series including handicap and bonus pins (Lou shot a 475 scratch series). That meant to earn the title Lou had to go through 4 final rounds to complete his mission. Ironically, the high handicap qualifier was Michael Conroy, the son of the scratch champion John Conroy, who earned a spot in the final shootout with a 722 series (635 scratch).
Lou took care of business early and finished with a 277 handicap game, 45 pins more than second place finisher Ken Harrison of Queens, NY. Ken’s 232 game earn him $350 while third place finisher Steve Vastola (226) of Shirley, NY earned $300 and fourth place finisher Michael Conroy of Mahopac took home $210 with a 163 game.
The LIGBT has two more events scheduled in March; Cozy Bowl (Queens) on Sunday, March 14
th (2pm) and AMF Sayville on Sunday, March 21
st (2pm). For more information on the LIGBT, and complete results of the AMF Babylon event, please visit our website at
www.ligbtour.com or call the tournament office at 1.877.900.6464.