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O’Grady again on top at Hubbard Open
Defending champ is ready to roll
By Greg Gulas
HUBBARD
Three-time defending champion Matt O’Grady sits in a familiar position — atop the leaderboard for the 9th Hubbard Central Open.
The Rahway, N.J., bowler posted an eight game, 1,745 pinfall during Saturday’s opening session at Bell Wick Bowl to secure the top spot, He did it despite suffering a cut thumb.
“My roll today was good, but I felt that my middle games were when I got most of my points,” O’Grady said. “I can attribute that to my physical training because my body wasn’t tired and mind still sharp.”
O’Grady averaged 218.13 and finished 43 pins ahead of second-place qualifier, Patrick Dombrowski of Parma.
“I was surprised that the scores were as low as they were,” O’Grady said. “I felt like you needed a lot more angle on your ball, but some chose to play straight.
“I’m just happy that I identified the lane play strategy correctly.”
Today’s round robin match play (12 games) is set to begin at 9 a.m. with the top four players qualifying set for the stepladder roll-off.
O’Grady said today’s field will be very competitive.
“Sunday is a different beast,” O’Grady said. “Players will be playing the lanes like I did so my observation moving from lane to lane will need to be keen.
“I’ll have to think much faster, but that’s what happens when you play better players.”
Dombrowski has bowled in all nine Hubbard Central Open events, finishing third in 2015.
He finished with a 1,702 pinfall and averaged 212.75.
“There’s enough of an oil pattern out there that I can keep my ball right,” Dombrowski said. “It’s really unique here.”
Liberty’s Jim Bryant, who is credited with founding the tourney in 2011, posted 1,687 to finish third, his best overall finish.
“I knew the lanes would be really hard and the scores low, so the goal was to stay even as far as plus/minus the 200 average,” Bryant said. “I’ve struggled lately, so I started working on my game and after changing some things, needed to get back to my strength which is play straight and pick up spares. That worked to my advantage today.”
Urbana native Graham Fach finished fourth after posting 1,635.
“Bell Wick Bowl is always a challenge because there aren’t a lot of strikes. Spares are critical,” he said. “Today, I was proud of the spares that I picked up and strikes that I threw in certain games because that boosted my total.
“I don’t typically like this pattern, I like to see my ball strike and it doesn’t do it that much here. The key Sunday will be to focus on all 12 games without any mental or physical mistakes.”
Jonathan Kleer of Crescent, Pa., finished sixth with 1,607. The other amateur to make the final cut is J.R. Martino of Pittsburgh, who finished 10th with 1,591,.
“It’s fun to bowl with the pros,” Kleer said. “The wood lanes were difficult, but I managed to do alright. I had some buddies come down to the event and that made me comfortable.”
Brian Robinson of Morgantown, W. Va., placed seventh with a 1,601.
“It was a grind today because the conditions were very demanding pair to pair. Just very tough,” Robinson said.
Those finishing 13-19 cashed in with 19th place guaranteed a minimum $400.