Adam Jablonski (Sterling Heights, MI) bested the conditions and the rest of the field in the third annual Alro Steel – MJMA Taylor Open at Taylor Lanes on March 28th and 29th to earn his third title this season and take a big lead in the Bowler-of-the-Year race.

Jablonski led the field through the eight game qualifying round on Saturday and held the top spot after the match play portion to earn the number one seed for the step ladder finals. However, there were four other bowlers who were looking to take the title and the scholarship money that went with it.

Aaron Lorincz (Belleville, MI) was leading the Rookie-of-the-Year points race and was first up in the stepladders facing long-time member Paul Benedict (Wyandotte, MI). The match was even through seven frames but when Benedict opened in the tenth Lorincz needed a strike to advance but could muster only spares in the ninth and tenth to allow Benedict to win the match 184-175.

Benedict then faced Eric Bracken (Brighton, MI) in the next match. Both Bracken and Benedict were throwing strikes but spares were at a premium and because of that the match was up for grabs going into the tenth. Benedict set up the tenth with a strike in the ninth but another split in the tenth created an opening for Bracken who threw the strike he needed to advance to the semi-final match 191-175 to face his friend Jon Schiller (Milford, MI).

Bracken did not treat his friend too well in the match however as he found his strike stroke throwing six strikes in the first seven frames while Schiller was finding a splitting headache with four splits in the first nine frames and Bracken coasted to a 213-135 win. Jablonski was waiting and ready for Bracken though as he threw an early 4-bagger and rolled out a clean game to win the title 227-203.

The girl’s finals saw a similar pattern to the boy’s as Samantha Hesley (West Palm Beach, FL) led the qualifying and was still atop the standings after the match play portion. Aleksandra Hudak (Taylor, MI) who won our last event in Chesterfield was looking to make it two in a row in her home house and started her climb against Brianne Schmansky (Westland, MI). Schmansky had a tough time carrying in the match but Hudak strung six strikes in the middle of the game to advance to the semi-finals with a 216-171 win.

Hudak next faced Tori Ferris (Kalamazoo, MI) who has won two titles this season already. IN what started out as a war of attrition, neither lady was able to throw a strike in the first six frames but Ferris was making a couple more spares and when the dust settled it was Ferris taking out the hometown girl with a 170-146 victory to set up the championship match against Hesley.

Both ladies started the match with doubles but after five frames Ferris had opened a 23 pin lead thanks to a split by Hesley in the third frame but things were about to change as Hesley found a three bagger and opened a 10pin lead going into the 8th frame and when Hesley struck out in the tenth, she had earned her first Alro Steel – MJMA title with a 219-208 win.

The field was the largest of the season with 138 bowlers from all around the Midwest and as a result the scholarship totals jumped as we were able to award $6,000.00 in total to the bowlers who made the match play portion of the event. Junior Gold spots were also handed out with Cheyenne Long (Saline, MI), Jeffery Johnson (Cheboygan, MI) and Rolan Thomas (Linwood, MI) all received their tickets to the national event in Indianapolis in July.

The next Alro Steel – MJMA event will be the annual “Beat the Otter” event at Galaxy Lanes in Grand Blanc, Michigan on April 25th and 26th. Ken Hochstein and the rest of the staff at Galaxy Lanes have been long-time hosts for the Alro Steel – MJMA and this year we again will be challenging the kids to not only beat the conditions but take out this years “Otter”. This event was a favorite of Dan (Otter) Ottman as he gave the kids the chance to earn bragging rights and a t-shirt if they could best a single game score that he would shoot on the same lane conditions that they were bowling on.

We will again have our honorary “Otter” bowl four games and that persons high score will need to be bested by the junior bowlers to earn those bragging rights. As always, the “Otter” will be a secret until just before the tournament and will be introduce to the field during the paddock prior to bowling. I just hope the “Otter” bowls better than last year when we gave away a large number of those coveted t-shirts.

The field for the event will be limited to the first 120 bowlers so entry forms need to be early to make sure you get your chance to Beat the Otter and earn scholarship money and a chance for an Alro Steel – MJMA title. Entry forms can be found HERE and should you have any questions, please contact Jerry Tarabek by EMAIL or you can call 616-780-2095.

We look forward to seeing everyone in Grand Blanc on April 25-26, 2009.