Nuzzo, Haefke win Youngstown Masters

Joe Nuzzo and Teri Haefke were winners of the 26th Youngstown Masters Tournament that concluded last week at Wedgewood Lanes.

Nuzzo beat 32 other entries in the open division while Haefke was the best of 10 in the women’s division in the tournament which was presented by the Greater Youngstown Bowling Association.

The first five qualifying games were bowled at Bell Wick, the next five at Holiday Bowl and another five games at Amron Lanes.

All qualifying games were bowled on sport-oil patterns, with the leading qualifier choosing which sport pattern they wanted for the final day.

Danny Guerrieri and Haefke were the leaders after the 15 qualifying games.

The top eight bowlers in the open division and top four women advanced to the finals, where match play games were bowled against all other finalists. Then a stepladder format was used to determine the champs.

The top eight in the open division were — in qualifying order: Guerrieri, Nuzzo, Pat Desjardins, Bruce Boyd, defending open division champion Adam Barta, Rich Skelton, Butch Solarz and Jim Dodge.

After eight match play games, the top five advanced to the stepladder finals. In the first game, Boyd beat Solarz, 224-200; Barta defeated both Boyd, 248-234; and Guerrieri, 224-221, in matches that both came down to the 10th frame.

In Barta’s championship match against Nuzzo, the bowlers never missed the pocket, but Nuzzo’s 280 topped Barta’s 266 to win the title.

Women facing off on the final day were Susan (Mineo) Carter, Haefke, Kelly Mineo and defending champion Rachael Lepor.

After the initial match play games, the stepladder portion saw Kelly Mineo beat Lepor, 230-132, and Haefke beat Kelly Mineo in the next match, 202-197.

In the championship match, which came down to the 10th frame, Carter failed to carry the first strike in the 10th and fell short as Haefke prevailed, 221-200.

Both Nuzzo and Haefke will be honored at the GYBA’s awards dinner where they will be presented with an engraved crystal bowling pin.

Shopinsky

Condolences to the family of Jim “Lefty” Shopinsky, an area bowler who passed away on Nov. 17.