Everyone loved it and everyone had a good time so, so we鈥檙e going to do this every year from now on.
鈥� Kristy Schafer,
Tournament Director
For the first time in a quarter of a century the Yorkton Bowl Arena played host to a cash bowling tournament, as 58 of Saskatchewan and Manitoba鈥檚 top five-pin bowlers, including 11 locals, made their way to Yorkton for the two-day event.
The 58 bowlers was an unanticipated 鈥� but welcome - amount, as tournament directory Kristy Schafer told Yorkton This Week they were expecting far less. 鈥淲e were anticipating around 40 bowlers and we had 58 entries so it was awesome and it was nice to have so people come out,鈥� mentioned Schafer, who, along with Jennifer Kostiuk, put together the entire Yorkton competition. 鈥淏owlers love to get together but we wanted something that caters to everyone, not just elite bowlers so we thought the 60 dollar entry fee was low enough so that anyone could come out and give it a try in a competitive setting with the chance to win money if they were one of the final eight bowlers on Sunday.鈥�
In totally just over five grand in prize money was doled out, including $1,300.00 to the top bowler and $700.00 to the runner up, with third and fourth both taking home $230.00 and fifth through eighth bringing in double their registration fee at $120.00.
Over the course of the weekend eight bowlers separated themselves from the field to advance to Sunday鈥檚 match play competition, with Regina鈥檚 Nelson Frank earning the coveted first seed, averaging a score of 301 over five games.
Amy Pilon sat second after five games with an average of 288 points per game, while Shawn Langlois and Jim Norkus rounded out the top four with 281 and 278 points per game respectively.
Only two points separated fifth through eighth after the five qualifying games, as Randy Ostlund (273), Trent Aichele (272), Danny Baer (272) and Dennis Zacher (271) all qualified for the final round with nearly identical scores.
In the tournament playoff round, Frank edged Zacher 842-832, Norkus got past Ostlund 854-669, while the seventh seeded Baer upset the second ranked Pilon 862-761 and Langlois knocked off Aichele 695-617.
The semi-finals saw Frank hammer Norkus 928-744 while Baer continued his strong stretch of bowling, knocking off the third-ranked Langlois 732-602 to set up an all-Regina final between himself and Frank.
The top-seeded Frank bowled his weakest game of the day in the final, scoring just 780, however it proved to be enough as Baer faded toward the end to lose 780-713.
For the 19-year-old Frank, the tournament win was his first such victory in a cash event. 鈥淲hat a great experience,鈥� said Frank following the conclusion of the tournament. 鈥淭his is my first cash tournament win and it feels great, really great.鈥�
Frank went on to say that amateur bowlers are always looking for smaller cash tournament such as the one in Yorkton, adding that 鈥榠t was great to be a part of it and even better to win it鈥�.
As for the tournament, Schafer says due to the popularity of the event this year, she sees no reason why it wouldn鈥檛 be back next year. 鈥淲e think it will be an annual event now,鈥� mentioned Schafer. 鈥淓veryone loved it and everyone had a good time, so we鈥檙e going to do this every year from now on.鈥�
