For the last tournament of the 05-06 season we were at the Mohegan Sun Casino for the Dexter Tournament of Champions. The players drew for opponents on Thursday night and I drew Patrick Allen. Most of the matches were 2 per pair except for 2 matches. The tournament was bowled on portable lanes which had very good carry. There was a pretty good shot to the pocket which led to very high scores. The other match on our pair was Wes Malott and Sean Rash. I had a decent reaction playing outside, so I opted to play out so that I didn't have to worry about moving inside and trying to hook it with Wes and Sean. After a bad first frame I threw 10 great shots to shoot 276 and squeaked out a win over Patrick who bowled a great 259. In the 2nd game I got all of the good breaks as I tripped out the 3-6-10 and 4-7-10 for strikes on the left lane while Patrick kept getting tapped. I won the 2nd game easily.

In the 3rd game I was bowling very well. In the 10th frame I had a chance to lock up the game and the match, but threw a bad 2nd shot leaving the 6-10 which I spared. Patrick gave me a little bit of reprieve by leaving a weak 7 on his 2nd shot and we tied with 246. After a couple of strikes in the over time roll off I left a 4 pin and Patrick won the game when he struck for the 3rd time. Patrick then went into overdrive as he shot 280 in game 4. I started to lose my reaction and had a couple of splits moving several boards left to find a better reaction. I started the match going very straight up 3 and in the last game I was swinging 9 out to about 6. I bowled a pretty good last game, but threw a wide shot in the 4th frame leaving a 2 pin. Patrick kept striking and so did I. Unfortunately, Patrick managed to get the first 10 strikes which locked up the game and match for him. I ended up shooting 277 to Patrick's 289. Patrick bowled a great match hitting the pocket more times than I. I felt fortunate to have won the first two games and had the opportunity to win in the 3rd game and didn't perform. Hopefully I saved a few strikes for next weeks event!

Patrick Allen summary
253.4 (1267 for 5)
X % 75 (43/57)
Poc % 93 (53/57)
Poc X % 81 (43/53)
Spares made: 5 6's, 5 7's, 2-4, 10
Splits missed: 4-6-7, 4-6-7-10

WR's summary
246.4 (1232 for 5)
X % 74 (42/57)
Poc % 81 (46/57)
Poc X % 87 (40/46) I tripped the 3-6-10 in the 5th frame of game 2 and the 4-7-10 in the 7th frame of game 3