APRIL 2014 -
3
TOURNAMENTS
Printed with permission from Stars & Strikes
“Van Daniker –
Not to be Denied”
For the second year in a row the win-
ner emerged from the “Loser’s” bracket
as Eddie Van Daniker defeated Nick
Smith (winner of the winner’s bracket)
twice to claim the title and first place
guaranteed prize of $3,000. Eddie start-
ing off winning four consecutive
matches before being sent to the
Loser’s bracket by Nick in a rather low
scoring affair -431 to 407. If Eddie
wanted another crack at Nick he would
first have to face Dennis Horan to have
that opportunity. Dennis just completed
sending home the last opponent in the
loser’s bracket - Rick Bates, convinc-
ingly 513 to 399.
Dennis was not too concerned who he
was going to face in his next match as
he was averaging 260.7 for his last 5
matches since dropping into the loser’s
bracket. So bring on Eddie or Nick.
Whoever lost the semi-final match in
the winner’s bracket Dennis had the
answer – just continue averaging his
260.7 in the loser’s bracket and then he
would have a shot at the title.
Now, Eddie was in a similar position
two years ago at Yosemite Lanes and
had to settle for fourth. He did not want
that situation to repeat itself but would
have to face a red-hot and the remain-
ing lefty in the field – Dennis Horan.
Eddie did not care what Dennis had
averaged so far because earlier in
match play on lanes 5 and 6, Eddie
won his match with a 510 and Dennis
won his match with a 423. So the
match was set and Eddie clearly did not
want to be denied again and defeated
Dennis 467 to 429.
Now it was time to battle the winner of
the winner’s bracket - Nick Smith. Nick
had smooth sailing to this point, having
received a first round bye for being in
the top 8 and winning four consecutive
matches in the winner’s bracket. Nick
was rolling the ball great and also knew
Eddie had to defeat him twice to win
the title. As I mentioned earlier, Eddie
wasn’t to be denied again. He defeated
Nick in their first match in a low scoring
affair 415 to 393. One more match win
for Eddie and he could gain some re-
demption from two years ago. He suc-
ceeded, defeating Nick in a higher scor-
ing match 515 to 461 and emerged the
winner of the first place prize of
$3,110.00 and the 18
th
Annual Bruns-
wick Modesto Masters champion.
This tournament is co-sponsored by
Cal-West Roofing, Bowling Outfitters,
McHenry Bowl, Yosemite Lanes and
the Modesto USBC Association.
Our high qualifier this year was Austin
Kircher from Orangevale with 1831 or a
261.5 average. This year’s winner –
Eddie from Chatsworth qualified 16
th
with 1703 or a 243.2 average. Nick
Smith from Lincoln qualified 6
th
with
1737 or a 248.1 average and received
a total of $1,620 for his 2
nd
place ef-
forts. Dennis Horan from Oakley was
our second high qualifier with 1772 or a
253.1 average and finished 3
rd
for
$980. Rounding out the top four was
Rick Bates from Manteca qualifying
with 1681 or a 240.1 average and
earned a respectable $700.
The last spot (23
rd
and 24
th
) of match
play was a tie between Bob Neuerburg
from Ceres and Dan Long from Bakers-
field with 1661 or a 237.2 average. It
took a seven game score of 1636 or a
233.7 average to receive the final
check from the main prize fund. Local
bowlers grabbed 10 of the 32 checks.
Hats off and kudos to Bob (78 years
young and can still play with the big
boys) who went out in the round of 9 -
12 and received $390 for his super
senior antics.
(Continued Page 10)
S U R
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