Pictured From left to right are: Gary Kresse, Barry Gilitiuk, La donna Woodworth, and Scott Woodworth.
Mesa Metro Summer/Fall Recap 2024
Editors note - - - La donna Woodworth, Scott Woodworth, Barry Gilitiuk, and Gary Kresse. Have only been bowling together as a team now for two years. But in the last two years, they have won two team championships. They all have a great attitude towards bowling. They say winning is not always everything. But the way you have fun and support each other while on the lanes bowling is.
By Theee Michael 'Chip' Begg
Managing Editor - thetenpinexpress.com
Director Mesa Metro Association
Gilbert - - - There are not many of us in the game of bowling, who could say the following. That they entered a tournament, and ended up winning the tournament they were bowling in.
Now La donna Woodworth, Scott Woodworth, Barry Gilitiuk, and Gary Kresse, can say they have and done the above. The event this foursome has won together, may not have been the: USBC Open, The Arizona State Open, or the Mesa Metro Open. But it was the MMA Champion of Champions. For the last 55 years, starting in 1969, this fun event has been hosted by the MMA. It is a team tournament that features league champions who have won their respective league championship from the season that just concluded. In this case, it was the 2023-24 season.
"We have been bowling together for about two years. We enjoyed winning of course. But we had a lot of fun bowling it together," said Ladonna Woodworth, on bowling in the Champion of Champions event. "We are all competitive and enjoy winning, but winning is not everything. Enjoying bowling together and having fun and supporting each other is."
The league in which these four qualified for the Champion of Champions event this past summer was the Club 50+ league at Bowlero Mesa. The league bowls on Thursday mornings. Their team's name is 'Wait for It.' This year, through eight weeks, they are sitting in second place with 51 points. Lace em Up is ahead of them in first place with 51 points.
Club 50 + is a very competitive senior league. Averages range from as low as 90, to as high as 210. High games this year for the men so far belong to: Larry Ressa, 300,10/17/24. Gary Kresse, 299, 10/24/2024. And Jim Rowland, 279, 9/12/2024. On the women's side. Donna Pickard owns the high game currently with a 251. Followed by Rhonda Sigsworth, 246, and Pam York, 240.
Average wise, Gilltiuk currently has the high average for men in the league at 210. Followed by Tim Borrow, 209. And Mike Matosich, 205. All three are also in the Mesa Metro Hall of Fame.
For the girls. Rhonda Sigsworth, currently is on top with a 188. Donna Pickard at 185, and Pamela York, 183.
Prior to the COC event, they had never bowled together as a team at Bowlero Gilbert either. So, they had to figure out how the lanes were going to react on the fly as well.
"No, we have not bowled at Bowlero Gilbert in the past. We had to figure out the lanes and bowl the best we could to win. Again, we supported each other and had fun," she said, of bowling at Bowlero Gilbert for the first time. "Bowlero Mesa is definitely the harder house, but we also know that we help each other. You take your practice shots to figure out the lanes, but it could take a bit longer if you are not throwing the right ball. However, again, we always know we can ask each other for help."
For never bowling before as a team at Bowlero Gilbert, they did just fine and probably did ask each other for help during the course of the event.
They competed in the 4 Person Team, 4 Person Mixed Handicapped division. Their team score of 2,795 came out on top. Rounding out the top five in the division were: Off Constantly Too 2,746, Mesa; Blue Moon Bandits 2,742, Gilbert; Pin Hunters 2,670, Apache Junction. And Hate League 2,656, Mesa.
"You never know until the end of the event. However, we know that if all of us bowl our average or a bit better, we are hard to beat. We always think we have a chance to win," she said, of winning their division. "We all have great attitudes about the sport of bowling. And after bowling we always go to lunch and chat about how fun it was. But also, what we could have done better and still understand we did the best we could."
By winning the Champion of Champions event this past summer, they received jackets from the MMA recently to commemorate their tournament win. They will be back to defend their title in July of 2025. This is the second title they won as a team in the two years they have been bowling together. They did in fact, win an AZ State event last year at Bowlero Mesa.
"We are excited for sure. We always put our best effort into winning and always know we have a chance to win," she said, of winning the CoC. " It is always fun to be the Champions for a year and represent our team next year. Good luck to everyone bowling against us next year."
The other team event they have won, is an Arizona State USBC Open team title. They won this event at the AZ State USBC Open at Bowlero Kyrene.
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Below is a recap of the final standings from the 55th Annual Champion of Champions Tournament that took place on July 14-15, 2024 at Bowlero Gilbert.
55th Champion of Champions Tournament OFFICIAL Standings Mesa Metropolitan USBC Association.
5 Person Team, 5 Person Mixed, Handicapped Place Team Name Entry Score From 1You Want Our Meat 38 3,460 Gilbert, AZ 2Deez Nuts 25 3,450 Mesa, AZ 3Bowlerx.com (Returning Champs 50 3,387 Chandler, AZ 4Avengers 36 3,287 Gilbert, AZ 5Traveshamockery 46 3,264 San Tan Valley, AZ 6Misfits 14 3,211 Mesa, AZ 7A Team 15 3,153 Mesa, AZ 8Team #8 26 3,138 Mesa, AZ 9Too Legit To Split 49 3,097 Gilbert, AZ 10Awesome Sauce 59 3,054 Gilbert, AZ 11All Pins Matter 1 3,052 Apache Junction, AZ 12Dime On The Line 40 3,011 Chandler, AZ 13Collatoral Damage 39 2,998 Mesa, AZ 14Mountainview Family Dental 24 2,948 Gilbert, AZ 15Almost 20 2,907 Mesa, AZ.
4 Person Team, 4 Person Men, Handicapped Place Team Name Entry Score From 1Johnson Kroman (Returning Cham 62 2,837 Queen Creek, AZ 2Monsta Mode 5 2,720 Gilbert, AZ 3BCD 53 2,617 Florence, AZ 4Ballz Deep 61 2,613 Gilbert, AZ 5Tampa Bay 13 2,573 Chandler, AZ 6Cambo Rambo 57 2,547 Chandler, AZ 7Split Lickers 60 2,472 Gilbert, AZ 83 Fingers Deep 41 2,465 Gilbert, AZ 9Union Bowlers 2 2,404 Chandler, AZ 10Roll-Drink-Repeat 42 2,382 Gilbert, AZ 11F'n Ten Pin 47 2,252 Mesa, AZ.
4 Person Team, 4 Person Mixed, Handicapped Place Team Name Entry Score From 1Wait For It 54 2,795 Mesa, AZ 2Off Constantly Too 44 2,746 Mesa, AZ 3Blue Moon Bandits 43 2,742 Gilbert, AZ 4Pin Hunters 30 2,670 Apache Junction, AZ 5I Hate League 7 2,656 Mesa, AZ 6Dumpster Fire 10 2,605 Mesa, AZ 7New Balls Who Dis? 31 2,588 Gilbert, AZ 8Help Wanted 4 2,577 Mesa, AZ 9Pin Droppers 29 2,570 Mesa, AZ 10We've Been Framed 28 2,549 San Tan Valley, AZ.
4 Person Team, 4 Person Women, Handicapped Place Team Name Entry Score From 1Shawn's Angels 37 2,667 Mesa, AZ 2Need A Fatter Ball 48 2,627 Phoenix, AZ 3No Bowl Sheet #2 11 2,610 Gilbert, AZ 4Still Friends 23 2,602 Mesa, AZ 5VIIM 22 2,537 Mesa, AZ 6Should Have Been 17 2,529 Tempe, AZ 7Swing Roll And Repeat 8 2,492 Mesa, AZ 8Wash Outs 16 2,467 Tempe, AZ 9Ladies of the Mornin (Returnin 21 2,456 Mesa, AZ 10Bowling Queens 56 2,440 Mesa, AZ 11Ya Never Know 9 2,331 Apache Junction, AZ 12Dangerous Dames 52 2,321 Phoenix, AZ 13Sperms 35 2,250 Mesa, AZ.