Please indulge me bragging on my good buddy Lennie “Skyn” Boresch Jr. — and my own predicting skills.
Last week in my preview of the 2012 PBA Senior Tour I wrote this:
“PBA Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli and Bob Learn Jr. are the biggest new names eligible to compete as the 2012 PBA Senior Tour prepares to kick off, but I'm predicting that Kenosha's Lennie Boresch Jr. is going to make a big impact this year.
Perhaps not as big as Ron Mohr and Gene Stus — Senior Tour standouts who never competed full time on the PBA Tour because they worked full time.
But expect Boresch, who turned 50 on Thursday, to be a force, as he still wins PBA Regionals on a regular basis and earned an exemption on Tour just a couple of years ago.”
I fully expected Lennie to win a Senior Tour title, or at least come close this season.
But I didn’t expect he would do it in his first Senior Tour tournament!
It’s almost too good a story to believe: Great guy wins first Senior Tour tournament just two days before he is to be inducted into the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame.
The killer is that there was no TV or Xtra Fame coverage of the tournament so all his family and friends back in Wisconsin could see him win.
Lennie beat 2011 Senior Tour Rookie of the Year 278-266 in the title match of the PBA Senior Sun Bowl In The Villages presented by Storm, after beating four-time Senior Player of the Year Tom Baker in the semifinals 238-227.
Coincidentally, Baker also is being inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame on Thursday night.
“This is a dream week and kind of weird the way it’s all playing out,” Boresch, who turned 50 on April 19, said in this PBA news release. “I can’t believe it’s happening all so fast. “I was really hoping to just make the cut and get my feet wet out here. I still feel I can be competitive at a high level but never thought I’d win right out of the box on the Senior Tour.”
Beck had the first nine strikes but left a pocket 7-10 in the 10th frame when he needed 9-spare and strike or better to lock out Boresch.
“If he strikes on the first ball in the 10th it’s over but when he didn’t, I thought to myself, well, here’s my chance,” Boresch said in the release.
More quotes and details are in the release.
Madison Bowling Association Hall of Famer Joel Carlson lost in the Round of 16, after defeating Cedarburg's Dale Traber in the Round of 24.
The next PBA Senior Tour event is the PBA Senior Don Carter Memorial Open presented by Ebonite Saturday through next Wednesday at Carter Family Bowl in Winter Garden, Fla. Boresch is not competing, but will be bowling most of the rest of thjis year's Senior Tour schedule.
PBA SENIOR SUN BOWL IN THE VILLAGES PRESENTED BY STORM
Spanish Springs Lanes, The Villages, Fla., Tuesday
Final Results
Championship Match
Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis. ($7,500) def. Ricky Beck, Box Elder, S.D. ($4,000), 278-266.
Semifinal Round
(one-game matches, losers earn $2,700)
Beck def. Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 258-257.
Boresch Jr. def. Tom Baker, King, N.C., 238-227.
Round of 8
(best-of-three games, losers eliminated, $1,700 each)
W.R. Willams def. Ron Mohr, Eagle River, Alaska, 2-1.
Beck def. Dale Eagle, Tavares, Fla., 2-0.
Boresch Jr. def. Tom Carter, Rockford, Ill., 2-1.
Baker def. Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 2-1.
Round of 16
(best-of-five games, losers eliminated, $1,300 each)
Mohr def. Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 3-2.
W.R. Williams def. Johnny Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 3-1.
Eagle def. Gary Hiday, Indianapolis, 3-1.
Beck def. Fred Kaczmarczyk, Martinez, Calif., 3-0.
Carter def. Peter Knopp, Germany, 3-1.
Boresch Jr. def. Randy Shewmake, Fort Worth, Texas, 3-0.
Kenny Parks def. Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 3-1.
Baker def. Joel Carlson, Omaha, Neb., 3-1.
Round of 24
(best-of-five games, losers eliminated, $1,150 each)
Learn def. Randy Robertson, Evansville, Ind., 3-2.
W.R. Williams def. Darryl Bower, Middletown, Pa., 3-2.
Eagle def. Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 3-1.
Beck def. Paul McCordic, Sugarland, Texas, 3-2.
Knopp def. Brian Brazeau, Ocala, Fla., 3-1.
Shewmake def. Amletto Monacelli, Venezuela, 3-2.
Sullins def. Kent Wagner, Palmetto, Fla., 3-2.
Carlson def. Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 3-2.
Round of 32
(best-of-five games, losers eliminated, $1,025 each)
Robertson def. Brodowski, Hyde Park, N.Y., 3-1.
W.R. Williams def. Emilio Mora, Defiance, Ohio 3-2.
Eagle def. Chuck Richardson, The Villages, Fla., 3-1.
McCordic def. Neff, Homosassa Springs, Fla., 3-1.
Knopp def. Keith Sharp, Orlando, 3-0.
Monacelli def. Dave Sill, Titusville, Fla., 3-2.
Wagner def. Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 3-2.
Traber def. Bruce Hall, Los Altos Hills, Calif., 3-2.
