ABC Tournament ends with a host of new winners

By PHIL GULICK

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 23, 2000

A one-pin win by Finland's Mika Koivuniemi over American professional Pete Weber in the ABC Masters tournament came a day before the 97th annual ABC Championships Tournament ended Sunday at the convention center in Albuquerque, N.M.

More than four months after it started, the ABC event crowned a host of new winners and some repeaters. They came from eight states, most from west of the Mississippi River and nearly half from the West Coast alone.

It was the largest ABC tournament outside Nevada, with 53,400 competitors on 10,688 teams. The tournament returns to the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., next year and entries already are being taken.

The Regular Team winner was Team 8 Ball from Medford, Ore., with the second-highest score in tournament history, 3,513. They will split the $20,000 payoff. The nearest Florida team was Dave's Pro Shop from Key Largo in 45th at 3,204.

Team Superior of Arvada, Colo., won the Classified Team title with a 2,888, beating Mark's Snowmobile II of Gunnison, Colo., by 25 pins and earning $5,000. The Shoal River Rats from Crestview finished fourth at 2,829 and Burrowes Enterprises from Leesburg was 19th at 2,765.

Billy Seprodi and Jim O'Connor of Indiana won the Regular Doubles with a record 1,543 pinfall and collected $8,000. The previous mark was 1,508 set at the 1996 Salt Lake City event. Jerry Davis Sr. and John Moten Sr. of Jacksonville finished fourth with a 1,459.

The Classified Doubles title went to Gary Dominquez and Tim Sievert of Grove, Okla., with a 1,285 worth $2,000. William Herald and Terry Chancey of Sarasota were 33rd at 1,181.

Garran Hein of Brea, Calif., rolled the fourth 800 series of the tournament to win the Regular Singles title with an 811, collecting $4,000. The Classified Singles title went to Frank Jilek of Burbank, Calif., with a 722 worth $1,000. Charles Marion of Ocala was 23rd in Classified with a 653 series.

The Regular All-Events crown and $4,500 went to Roy Daniels of El Paso, Texas, with a 2,181 nine-game total. Dan Pero of Tacoma, Wash., won the Classified All-Events and $1,500 with a 1,911 pinfall. Chancey was third at 1,900 in the Classified division.

A squad of past ABC champions won the team all-events trophy (no money) with a 45-game, 10,058 total. Dale Traber of Cedarburg, Wis.; Steven Brinkman of Milwaukee and Gus Yannaras of West Allis, Wis., are previous winners, and Gary Daroszewski of Milwaukee is a three-time ABC winner.

The tournament featured 38 300 games, seven 800 series and 15 299 games.

The top 100 in each division are listed on the ABC Web site at www.bowl.com.

WIBC NEARS FINISH: Only two more weeks remain until the WIBC Championship Tournament ends July 8 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev.

There were no leader changes last week and the women pros continued to dominate the standings. The High Rollers of Cherry Hill, N.J., and Henderson, Nev., led the Classic Teams division with a 3,234 pinfall, followed by two Kegel Training Center teams from Sebring and Boynton Beach.

Jane Cathcart of Fruitland Park and Chris Kall of Leesburg are tied for fourth in Division I doubles at 1,198, and Lorraine Albeke of Hallandale is fourth in singles with a 652 series.

Marty's Angels of Panama City are tied for third in the Division II team competition with a 2,476, and Linda Brooks of Cedar Key is fifth in Division III all-events with a 1,610.

WHO'S COUNTING: Another national survey rates bowling seventh on the list of participation sports, contradicting several earlier surveys that showed the sport on top.

According to the National Sporting Goods Association (NSBA), bowling ranks seventh with 41.6-million people age 7 or older bowling at least once a year. And, contrary to popular belief in the industry, that's a 3.9 percent increase from the 1998 survey.

The ABC and WIBC, which govern men's and women's bowling respectively, continue to show steady declines in membership. Obviously, a large percentage of open bowlers were counted in the survey.

The NSBA survey indicates that exercise walking tops the list with more than 80-million participants. Swimming, camping, exercising with equipment, fishing and bicycle riding follow in that order. Billiards, basketball and golf followed bowling to round out the top 10.

DAVIS A WINNER: St. Petersburg's Vince Davis won his ninth NABI tournament and $430 Sunday at Rainbow Lanes, defeating Dale Barber of St. Petersburg 208-205. Largo's Richard Porter was third, followed by Bradenton's Betty Rice and Pinellas Park's Sean MacKintosh. Barber won the Platinum Division title and $175.

NABI bowlers are at Liberty Lanes this weekend with the first squad on the boards at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

AROUND THE LANES: Matt Correa rolled a 300-747 and Tony Arceri fired a 300-688 at Seminole Lanes. Other high scorers were Jeff Cole, John Smith and John Hendry with 300s; Bill Wilder Sr. a 299, Rich Correa an 813 and Gordon Kowalczyk a 290-825 at Liberty Lanes; Bret Muldner a 299-695 at Countryside Lanes; Tim Woodall a 299 at Largo Lanes, and Larry Roesler a 289-813 at Rainbow Lanes. ... The University of Illinois-Urbana takes on Western Illinois University in a semifinal match of TNN's Rockin' Bowl TV show at 11 p.m. today.

Phil Gulick can be reached at Xerxes6@aol.com or Xerxes6@Juno.com.

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