O’Grady wins title No. 4

By BRIAN DZENIS

sports@vindy.com

HUBBARD

Matt O’Grady defeated Patrick Dombrowski, 215-209 on Sunday to capture the Hubbard Central Open championship at Bell Wick Bowl.

It was his fourth consecutive crown, turning the trick while facing four different oil patterns while this year’s title remained in doubt until the 10th and final frame.

“It’s a tremendous feeling. I definitely didn’t think that I was going to win that title match against a great bowler like Patrick,” said O’Grady, of Rahway, N.J. “When it came down to that 10th frame, he got a little amped up and missed the ball through the break point. I was fortunate enough to carry that trophy just once more.”

O’Grady pretty much led from pillar to post the entire weekend, earning the top seed with a 4474 pinfall after 20 games heading to the stepladder roll-off.

Dombrowski, who hails from Parma, has participated in all nine Central Opens at Bell Wick Bowl with his best finish a third-place effort in 2015, the year before O’Grady began his streak and placed a stranglehold on the trophy.

Dombrowski was the fourth seed (4292) heading to the roll-off with Chris Via (4329) finishing second and southpaw Graham Fach (4300) earning the No. 3 seed.

Dombrowski topped Fach in the first roll-off, 235-222 then eliminated Via 202-187 to advance to the title game.

“I should have taken a re-rack after the first strike in that 10th frame,” Dombrowski said. “I just think that I pushed it through my break point too much and didn’t get around it like I wanted to. This weekend was a lot of fun. Everyone played the same part of the lanes and everything just worked out for me.”

Dombrowski has six regional titles to his credit with Sunday’s runner-up finish his 11th overall.

O’Grady owns five regional championships and has a national title to his credit.

“I feel with how the old wood lanes are and how the ball breaks on these lanes, I have a lot of hand action and that helps my ball get so much length and create a lot of angle,” O’Grady said. “It’s a livelier ball than the other players who just roll it with their hand up the back.

“If there’s a tournament here next year, I’ll definitely be back to defend my championship.”

Via hails from Springfield, is in his first year as a professional and has two regional titles on his resume.

“Wood is definitely a challenge, but I grew up playing wood lanes in the Dayton area so it’s not as drastic a difference for me,” Via said. “This field is always competitive, and I would argue that the Central region is the best with its many [title winners].

“Spares and every pin matter and I can honestly say that this was a stressfully fun weekend.”

Fach, who is from Guelph, Ontario, Canada, but lives in Urbana, has five regional titles and a national title to his credit. He’ll use his fourth-place finish as a springboard for the upcoming Masters tournament, which will be held in Las Vegas beginning tomorrow.

“I mark these weekends off and attend as many as I can,” he said. “I got off to a quick start, Patrick stumbled early but then overcame me.”

Pittsburgh’s J.R. Martino was the highest amateur finisher, placing eighth with a 4138 pinfall.

“This was my first regional competition and wood lanes are definitely a little different,” Martino said. “Players at this level are so good, you cannot miss spares or leave any pins out there. This weekend, I left more pins out there than I care to count.”

For his effort, O’Grady earned the $2,500 top prize with Dombrowski taking home $1,300 as runner-up.

Via earned $1,150 for third-place with Fach pocketing $1,000 for finishing fourth.