Dave Martinich rolled games of 257, 258 and 236 to dominate the stepladder finals and captured his 3rd championship, at the 31st annual Bill Meagor Peterson Point Scratch Bowling Classic, held recently at the Kingpin and Star Lanes.
Martinich now trails only Mark Hodges for number of victories at this event. Hodges, a recent addition to the Butte
Bowling Hall of Fame, has won 4 times, and finished 12th at this years tournament.
Martinich's victory overshadowed a fine performance by the tournament leader going into the stepladder, Todd Edelen. Edelen averaged 230 and won 10 of 12 games. He also rolled the tournament high game of 289, and a sizzling 760 for the high series.
Edelen, who won the tournament in 2007, lost the title match to Martinich 236-186, to claim runner-up status for the second consecutive year.
Also in the stepladder were Barry Butori, who soldiered through back problems and still managed to finish 3rd, losing to Martinich 258-205. Finishing next was Dave's son, Denton Martinich, who lost to his father 257-192. 18 year old Denton shot his first ever 700 series during the tournament, rolling a 705, and his 4th place was the highest finish in the history of the tournament by someone 18 or younger. Finishing in 5th place was the truly remarkable Bill Meagor, the man that the tournament is named after. Competing at the age of 72, he became the oldest bowler ever to make the top 5. Meagor lost to Denton Martinich 174-172, in the final's closest match.
Thirty-six of Butte's top bowlers participated in this years tournament, with the top eighteen finishing in the money.
The remaining Sunday-morning tourney qualifiers and their Peterson point totals follow:
6. Patrick O'Rourke Jr, 55.43;
7. Ryley Bosch, 55.33;
8. Jim McKenzie, 55.22;
9. Austin Brug, 55.05;
10. Brenda Rathbun, 54.44;
11. Mike Krankowski, 54.38;
12. Mark Hodges, 54.22;
13. Laurie Tripp, 53.41;
14. Dan Grundhauser, 53.10;
15. Debbie Martinich, 52.23;
16. Bob Shaw, 51.03;
17. Bill Kingston, 50.25;
18. Walt Parrett, 48.21;
Tourney Sidelights - This years Domino's Pizza skins game was very competitive as all 4 participants picked up skins. Jack Hocking ended up the winner of this years competition, with Brenda Rathbun finishing in 2nd, Dan Newton 3rd, and Jesse Tracy finishing 4th.
This years edition of the Countdown-Countup challenge sponsored by Butori Collision was also a cliff-hanger as Denton Martinich edged Patrick O'Rourke Jr, 11-9, to capture the title. The consolation was shared by Frank Butori Jr., Kim Fortune, Leo Levengood and Joe Martinich. Butori, this years only junior bowler entered in the tournament, received his prize in the form of a scholarship.
— Submitted by tourney manager Walt Parrett.