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Shea Bittenbender wins 11thFrame.com sweeper that draws 54 players

JEFF RICHGELS | Posted: Friday, August 11, 2017 10:00 pm

The first Friday night sweeper with the GIBA 11thFrame.com Open was a resounding success, drawing 54 players to Cherry Lanes at the Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque, Iowa.

The sweeper was set up to max out at 52 players with four on a pair on the 26 lanes in the main bay at Cherry Lanes, which also has four more lanes in a separate party room.

GIBA administrator Joe Engelkes ended up putting five bowlers on two pairs to accommodate all 54 players.

Shea Bittenbender, a non-PBA member from the St. Louis area who has one PBA Regional title, had the most success in the sweeper, totaling 1,198 for five games to take the $400 top prize.

Brad Miller, a full-time rising young PBA player and Regional champion who also is from the St. Louis area, was second at 1,164, earning $330.

Luke Fisher was third with 1,147 for $290.

Jarad Prescott and Nick Pate tied for fourth with 1,145, winning $245 each.

The sweeper had $1,000 in added money from the Dubuque Regional Sports Commission and paid 14 spots. The entry fee was $40.

Other cashers were Steven Brinkman 1,127 for $200, Josh Johnson 1,120 for $180, Dakota Vostry 1,119 for $160, Sean Rangel 1,107 for $140, Jacob Boresch 1,103 for $120, Jacob Green 1,102 for $100, Brenden Sramek and Karl Kampa 1,095 for $75 each, and Jay Watts 1,091 for $60.

Cherry Lanes general manager Bob Hochrein and myself and Engelkes decided to use the same lane pattern as last year — the 2015 U.S. Open pattern modified for Brunswick equipment — for the sweeper to see how it played with the different oil Cherry is using this year.

Scores were higher but not excessively so and we decided to go with the same pattern for the 11thFrame.com Open, rather than trying to tweak it.