By: Dennis Franz and Gary Winter
St. Paul Masters Chairpersons

Chad Nelson won the 39th Annual St. Paul Masters Tournament on Sunday, November 8th at Mermaid Bowl in St. Paul, Minnesota.

53 Bowlers participated in this year’s tournament. Each bowler bowled 8 games of qualifying on Saturday November 7th with the top 32 returning Sunday morning for 4 more games before arriving at the top 16 for the Match Play Competition.  To make the top 32 it was necessary to average 191.4.

The average to make the top 16 was 200.08 and the High Qualifier was David Langer with a 230.75 average for 12 games.  There was a rolloff for the 16th Position as there was a tie at 2401 between Jeff Anderson and Carl Poelzer.  Jeff Anderson prevailed in a 1 game rolloff and took part in the Match Play format.

A 2 game Double Elimination Match Play format proceeded after the 12 games of Qualifying.

Eric George defeated Matt McNiel 469-448 in the final of the losers Bracket to have a chance against Chad Nelson.  Chad was seeded 2nd in the Match-Game portion of the tournament but he cruised through the winners bracket defeating Eric George for the title with a 501-445 Score. Chad averaged 233.8 for 10 games in the Match Play Format after averaging 224.67 for the 12 games of qualifying. Eric George averaged 219.5 during his 12 games of Match Play and 217.92 for his 12 games of qualifying.

A Noteworthy achievement was a 278-276-247 for an 801 during the 5th, 6th 7th games of qualifying for David Langer.

For his efforts, Chad Nelson received a winner’s check for $380.00, a free entry into the USBC Masters Tournament this year, a plaque donated by Mike’s Pro Shop and a Champions Jacket.

Next year’s tournament will be held Saturday and Sunday November 6th and 7th 2010 at a site to be determined in the near future. The tournament is open to all St. Paul Sanctioned bowlers. Contact Matt Lang at the St. Paul USBC Bowling Association at 651-415-2828 for further information. Information is always helpful.

Please go to www.stpaulbowl.org to check on the status of where the St. Paul Masters or any other tournament to find out dates and results.