November 14, 2011
Good Afternoon,
Mike Peters survived the most difficult day of scoring conditions the Iowa Open has seen to win the title in dramatic fashion yesterday. Mike entered the position round match in 3rd place behind Shannon Buchan & Bryan Tippett. He trailed Shannon by 49 pins, and Shannon was 15 pins ahead of Bryan going in to the final game. Mike put the pressure on early with strikes in the first four frames. Shannon responded by starting with a double before a split in the 3rd frame, but came right back with another double. Bryan was hanging close by making spares in the first 6 frames. Bryan came through with a turkey in the 7th, 8th, & 9th which gave him a chance to lock up the title if he could have struck out in the 10th. He threw a great shot on his first ball in the 10th only to leave a ringing 10 pin. He made the spare and struck for a 212 game. Mike followed his 4 bagger start with two spares and then struck again in the 7th, 8th, 9th, and the first ball in the 10th closing out his game with a 256. It all came down to Shannon finishing in the 10th with a chance to double and win the title. He threw a solid shot, but the 4 pin stood giving Mike a thrilling come from behind victory. The win was worth $500.00 plus a paid entry to the U.S. Open, and $530.00 for the bet you win pot since we had $300.00 carryover on the line in this tournament.
The pattern played the most difficult it has ever played yesterday with only 4 bowlers averaging 200 in qualifying, and only Bryan Tippett averaging 200 in the finals. It took a score of 1563 to make the 10 bowler finals, and only a 187 average to get the last check. We had 63 bowlers and paid 18 spots. The finishers following Mike, Bryan, and Shannon were Duane Kilts & Jacob Bedard in a tie for 4th, Gordy Kilpatrick 6th, Don Breeden 7th, Jason Rook 8th, Kenny Calkins III 9th, and Stefan Sheffield in 10th.
The final results are available to view HERE.
October 31, 2011
Good Afternoon,
Congratulations to Keith Watson who won his first Greater Iowa Bowling Association title and the $1000.00 top prize over the weekend by topping a field of 65 bowlers in the annual Big Gun Shootout at Totem Bowl in Marshalltown, Iowa. The tournament was contested on a ‘house’ pattern with the major obstacle being finding a way to carry the corner pins. The tournament featured a 12 game sweeper format, and after starting slowly with a 195 first game, Keith found the right formula to average 244 for the 12 game block. He was amazingly consistent after that slow start with his low game being 212 and a high game of 279.
Following Watson in the standings were a couple of young bowlers from the Waterloo area. Jacob Bedard and Troy Fuller were both extremely consistent in finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. Jacob’s low game was a 205 as he averaged 241, and Troy’s low was 227 as he averaged 239. The remaining bowlers in the top 10 were defending champion Scott Rains in 4th, Joe Roseman 5th, Scott Wohlwend 6th, Brett Lobdell 7th, Richard Kidd 8th, Derek Sapp 9th, and Jeff Rausch 10th. The tournament paid 19 places with a total prize fund of $6840.00.
We are only a couple of weeks away from the Iowa Open on November 13th at May City Bowl in Cedar Rapids. We only have room for 90 bowlers, and I already have the field more than half full so let me know right away if you want to reserve a spot. We will be using the U.S. Open pattern for this tournament, and it always proves to be a challenge for the bowlers. We will have a very nice carryover amount of $300.00 in the bet you win pot for the Iowa Open since the winner of the Tier 2 category at Premiere as well as the winner of the Big Gun were not in the bet you win pots. 80% of those amounts are being carried over to the Iowa Open bet you win side pot.
The final results are available to view HERE.
October 11, 2011
Good Afternoon,
Congratulations to Matt Smith on winning another GIBA title in our tournament last Sunday at Premiere Lanes. Matt topped a full field of 72 bowlers on a pattern that tested everyone. We paid 20 spots and it took a score of 1626 for the 8 games to cash. High qualifier was Jeff Rausch, and he suffered from a slow start in the championship match with two opens. Jeff came back to make it a close match with Matt coming out on top 198 to 184. Other top finishers in what was a strong group of finalists were Shannon Buchan in 3rd, Mike Peters 4th, and Dave Dentlinger in 5th. Following the finalists were Troy Fuller who tied 5th and lost the rolloff for the final stepladder spot, Tom Hess in 7th, Rob Aimers 8th, Burke Risetter 9th, and Bryan Roth 10th. It was great to have strong support from the Omaha area and to have our second tournament in a row featuring a full field.
The final results are available to view HERE.
We have a couple more featured events coming up in the next month. The annual Big Gun tournament will be held October 29th at Totem Bowl in Marshalltown. I already have the field more than half full for that one since we can only handle 60 bowlers so let me know right away if you plan on bowling that event. On November 13th, we will travel to May City Bowl in Cedar Rapids for the Iowa Open. This event has been a major draw the past number of years with over 80 entries each of the past 3 seasons. We can handle up to 90 bowlers for that one so reserve your spots early.
I need to pass along an update for the 50/50 Doubles tournament weekend which is December 10th & 11th this year with the 4 person 50/50 Team tournament on Saturday & the 50/50 Doubles on Sunday. As of yesterday, there are 42 doubles teams already entered and paid so we still have 33 spots available. There have been some rumors going around that it is already full, but you can see that is not the case. There is a spread sheet showing the bowlers currently entered so if you have sent in your entry and your name is not on this sheet, let me know right away so I can get in contact with John Brinker. The spread sheet is available HERE
September 19, 2011
Good Afternoon,
Congratulations go out to Matt McNiel on his victory in the 1st annual Fusion Realtors Open this past weekend. It is hard for me to celebrate the weekend after the death of long time GIBA member Blake Lobdell yesterday afternoon, but as tournament administrator I need to get this out to our members. It was truly an amazing weekend with 127 bowlers competing for a total prize fund that ended up being $25,610.00 thanks in large part to our title sponsor, Zach Beschorner of Fusion Realtors, the Waterloo Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, Beck’s Sports Brewery, Waterloo Implement, Fahr Beverage/Budweiser, Rydell Chevrolet, Brunswick, Dr. DJ, and Denny Marquart. In addition, the GIBA was able to donate almost $1000.00 to the prize funds thanks to all the bracket players who bowled the tournament.
Other top finishers included Andy Loose who made an amazing run through the finals field only to lose the final match to Matt 279 to 223. Along the way, Andy beat Lennie Boresch who finished 3rd, Bryan Tippett, 4th, and Dale Traber 5th in the stepladder matches. Rounding out the top ten were Mike Steil, Tom Hess, Jason Queen, AJ Chapman, and Matt Smith. A total of 56 bowlers made the cut to bowl the 2nd round on Sunday with all of them cashing and the last place cashing for $210.00. The cut score ended up at -27 with 29 bowlers making the cut from squad one of qualifying and 27 from squad two.
The final results are available to view HERE.
January 25, 2011
Congratulations to Duane Kilts on his victory in the Fort Dodge Ford/Calisesi Chiropractic Clinic Open in Fort Dodge on January 8th. We had a total of 78 bowlers and 7 re-entries for 85 participants. Duane beat Tom Hess in the final match for the win, and they were followed by Jeremiah McKeever in 3rd, Matt Smith 4th, Rob Aimers 5th, Mike Peters 6th, Joe Roseman 7th, Jason Poli 9th, Brett Lobdell 10th, Roger Taylor Jr. 11th, and Dennis Detmering 12th. I am attaching the final standings list to this note.
We have an extremely close race in the point list with Mike Peters leading Duane Kilts by 2 points and Don Breeden by 14 points with two point tournament to go. With the final point tournament at Cherry Lanes being double points, any of the top 5 bowlers in the standings could have a chance to win the paid entry to next season’s USBC Masters tournament. A huge thanks to Brunswick and Jason Guest for providing even more prizes for our point list winners this season. We will have 8 bowling balls and 4 three ball roller bags from Brunswick for prizes so my intent is to award prizes to the top 12 on the point list.
The final two point list tournament will be held February 5 & 6 with the GIBA Doubles on the 5th at Cherry Lanes in Dubuque and the final point tournament on the 6th also at Cherry Lanes. We are limited to 39 doubles teams on the 5th and I currently have about half of those spots filled. If you plan on bowling the doubles, be sure to let me know so I can reserve your spot. Remember also, the requirements for bowling the final point tournament. You must have bowled at least 4 of our prior qualifying tournaments this season in order to pay the regular entry fee, or you may pay an additional $25.00 entry fee if you have bowled 3 tournaments. You can prepay the entry fee for the Triple Elimination tournament coming up on February 20th and count that as a qualifying tournament for the final. You can also prepay for the rescheduled Premiere Lanes tournament on March 27th and count that one as well. We will have more than $2000.00 in added prize money for the final point tournament so be sure you are qualified and reserve your spot in order to have a shot at winning some of that extra money. You must also have paid the $10.00 membership fee in order to bowl the final point tournament. If you look at the point list, you should be able to tell how many tournaments you have bowled. If you bowled, there will either be a point value in the column for that tournament, or a X in the column in the case of the 50/50 team tournament since that was not a points event. Please look that over and let me know if I missed a tournament or if you have questions about the points.
I also need to point out some changes in starting times and the schedule since our original schedule was posted. First, the team tournament on January 29th is full with 26 teams, and the starting time will be 11:00 AM which is a change. Second, the starting time for the doubles on February 5th will be 11:00 AM which is also a change. Third, the Triple Elimination tournament in Moline has been switched from February 27th to February 20th so please note that change on the schedule and your calendars. The final item is the rescheduling of the Premiere Lanes tournament that was snowed out back in December. It will be held on March 27th so mark that on your calendars as well.
November 26, 2010
Our latest tournament of the year is in the books with Don Breeden coming away with the victory. Breeden fought through a field of 72 players, and bowled 18 games en route to another GIBA victory. Other top finishers were Duane Kilts (2nd), Sean Rangel (3rd), Shannon Buchan (4th), A.J. Chapman (5th), Blake Lobdell (6th), Joe Engelkes (7th), Tom Hess (8th), Bob Hochrein (9th) and Scott Carpenter (10th). To view the complete results click HERE.
November 05, 2010
The 50/50 Doubles tournament is now full! If you haven't gotten your entry in, you can still send it in to get on the waiting list. Remember that there is the 50/50 Team tournament the day before the doubles event on December 18th.
Congratulations to Scott Rains for winning last weekend’s Big Gun tournament in Marshalltown. Scott averaged 245 for the 12 games to take home the title and the $1000.00 first prize. Brett Lobdell was 2nd, followed by Bob Hochrein in 3rd, Mark Van Wyk 4th, Jeremiah McKeever 5th, Mike Peters 6th, Scott Wohlwend 7th, Drew Balta 8th, Curt Blankenburg 9th, and Rob Aimers rounded out the top ten. We had a total of 49 bowlers so it was a decent turnout. There were lots of brackets so that allowed us to pay 15 spots for this tournament. The final results can be found HERE.
We have a very busy schedule coming up over the next couple of months. The Iowa Open is next up for the GIBA on November 21st at Maple Lanes in Waterloo. Remember, this tournament starts at 9:00 AM due to the longer finals format. We have a decent number of bowlers who already reserved spots so let me know if you plan on bowling. We will be using the U.S. Open pattern for this tournament.
October 15, 2010
The entry blank for the 50/50 Doubles and Team tournament are now up on the schedule page. You can download and print the Doubles entry by clicking here. The 4 man 50/50 team tournament entry is also available on the schedule page, or you can click here.
The Iowa Open flyer has also been added to the schedule page with all the information regarding the tournament included. You can see this flyer here, or on by navigating to the schedule page.
October 05, 2010
The second tournament of the GIBA season is in the books with Tom Hess coming out on top. Hess came out on top at this years Rick Eighme Memorial Sweeper, which consisted of a 10 game sweeper format. The tournament was close, and came down to Hess needing to cover a 10 pin and get good count to overtake Matt Smith. Hess struck on his last ball to seal the victory. The final results are on the Schedule page as well as on the Archive page.
You can also see the results by clicking HERE.
August 27, 2010
The 2010-2011 season is here and with it comes the 39th year of the Greater Iowa Bowling Association. We will offer a total of 12 tournaments this season. The schedule has a couple less events than the last few years, mainly due to the discontinuance of the Mid-Iowa Bowling Association this season. The 12 tournaments will offer a variety of formats with some being held on Saturday and others on Sunday. We will start the season off with a return to Pla Mor Lanes in Muscatine on Sept. 19th. The fourth annual Rick Eighme Memorial 10 game sweeper at Cadillac Lanes in Waterloo will follow on Sunday, Oct. 3rd. Our season will end on February 27th with a Chuck Schuette’s annual Bob Neff Memorial Triple Elimination tournament. In between those we will feature the Big Gun 12 game sweeper, the Iowa Open, the annual 50/50 doubles tournament as well as the 50/50 4 person team tournament, the Frontier Ford/Calisesi Chiropractic tournament, our 3rd 5 man team tournament, and a doubles event the day prior to our final tournament. A complete schedule is included with this letter.
Members must bowl at least 4 of the first 10 tournaments and be a member of the GIBA in order to qualify for the final points event at the regular entry fee, members who bowl 3 tournaments will be allowed to enter the final points event by paying an additional $25.00 with their entry fee. Since we will have one tournament following the final points event this season, a bowler may prepay a non-refundable entry fee for the Triple Elimination tournament and have it count toward qualification for the final points event. A huge thanks to Brunswick for their continued support as a sponsor once again this season. Once again this season, we will feature various formats for our tournaments. It seems the special format tournaments have drawn the most entries over the past few seasons. We will keep our starting time of 10:00 for regular tournaments. The membership fee will remain $10.00.
Other sponsors have stepped up to help us out and we need to support them as a group. The Budweiser distributors in our area have been kind enough to make up schedule posters and distribute them to the bowling centers in their areas. In addition, Fahr Beverage here in Waterloo continues to donate added prize money for our tournaments in Waterloo. We also receive support from Zach Beschorner, realtor, Waterloo Implement, Inc., Bob’s Business & Bowling Supply, Fran’s Pro Shop, KR Manufacturing, and all the bowling centers who host our tournaments. Thanks to every one of them and any others I may have inadvertently missed.
*Here are some of the other changes we have decided on for this season:*
The point system will be the same as last season. Every tournament with the exception of the 5 man team event and the 50/50 4 person team event, will be a point event. The top point earner for the season will receive a paid entry to the 2009 USBC Masters or their choice of $400.00 cash. Points will be awarded as follows – 20 points for bowling a tournament, points for your place of finish in the tournament (ex. 50 entries, 1st place 50 points, 2nd 49, etc.), bonus points for top 5 finish (1st 50 – 2nd 40 – 3rd 30 – 4th 25 – 5th 20), 10 points for cashing in the major prize fund, and both the Iowa Open and final tournament will earn double points. Our intent is to award prizes to at least the top 8 on the points list this season. This is made possible through the generous support of Brunswick as our major sponsor!!
It becomes increasingly difficult to schedule tournaments. We moved the Iowa Open back to Maple Lanes in Waterloo this season due to a conflict with November dates at May City in Cedar Rapids. We had a great run at May City with participation in the Iowa Open growing significantly over the past three years. Hopefully, we will continue receiving the great support from our Cedar Rapids members in spite of having to move the tournament this year.
We have used a multi-tiered entry fee for some of our regular tournaments, and it has been well received. We will once again offer this option for some of our tournaments. This concept helped attract some players who want to test their ability without risking a great deal of money. If you have questions concerning how the multi-tier entry works, please ask and I will be happy to provide an explanation. I am hopeful it will continue attracting new members to the GIBA.
We will continue offering a ‘bet you win pot’ ($10.00) option for each tournament. We will pay out 100% of the amount in the pot to the winner provided he/she is entered in the pot. If the winner is not entered, 80% will carry over to the next tournament and 20% will go to the final tournament.
I want to thank the membership and our board of directors for all the input and suggestions. I am hopeful we have made some changes that will make our tournament series stand out in some way that will attract more entries. I believe these are all very positive changes.
The GIBA tournament series has survived during a time when many tournaments have been discontinued. This is due to the loyal support of our members. As administrator, I have been extremely fortunate to receive the support of my family in running the tournaments, and they will be working with me again this season to provide you with events that go as smoothly as possible.
It is up to our members to make the tournaments a success. We need your support and participation. We also ask for your continued input as we attempt to make the tournament better. We will do our best to provide an opportunity to compete with some of the best bowlers in the Midwest. Talk it up with your friends and let’s continue the growing trend in entries as we begin the new season.
Joe Engelkes
Tournament Administrator