Cashers' Round | Match Play

LAS VEGAS – For the second consecutive year at Sam’s Town Bowling Center, Jack Jurek of Lackawanna, New York, finds himself as the top seed for the stepladder finals at the Super Senior Classic.

The 61-year-old right-hander led Group A after six games of match play Saturday, posting a 3-3 record. Jurek’s 5,877 overall total for 24 games, including 30 bonus pins for each victory, allowed him to outdistance Group B’s top qualifier – Skip Pavone of San Jose, California – by 22 pins. Pavone earned the No. 2 seed for Sunday’s stepladder finals with a 5,855 total.

The 204-player field at the 2024 Super Senior Classic was down to 52 players to start competition Saturday, and after a six-game cashers’ round, the top 12 bowlers (based on pinfall for 18 games) advanced to match play.

Competitors were placed into one of two match-play groups. Group A consisted of the qualifiers who placed as an odd seed after the cashers’ round (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11), while Group B featured the even seeds (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12).

Each participant in match play bowled six head-to-head games, including a final position round.

While Jurek and Pavone secured their spots in the finals, six other competitors remain in contention for the title at the 2024 Super Senior Classic.

The second-, third- and fourth-place finisher in each match-play group advanced to a group stepladder, which will begin Sunday at noon Eastern at Sam’s Town.

The bowlers in the third and fourth position in each group will face each other in a single-elimination match, with the winner advancing to take on the competitor in the second position. The winners of the final match in the group stepladder will advance to Sunday’s main stepladder and face each other in the opening match, starting at 2 p.m. Eastern.

Canada’s Michael Snow (third – 5,779) will face James Campbell of Loudon, Tennessee (fourth – 5,733), in the opening match of the group stepladder for Group A. The winner will go against Professional Bowlers Association and United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Lennie Boresch Jr. of Kenosha, Wisconsin (second – 5,861). Boresch was the runner-up at the 2022 Super Senior Classic and finished third in 2023.

In Group B, Pete McCordic of Katy, Texas (third – 5,733), will take on John Conroy of Mahopac, New York (fourth – 5,599). The winner of that match will battle 2018 USBC Senior Masters champion Chris Warren of Plano, Texas (second – 5,794), for the chance to advance to the main stepladder.

Jurek, a two-time winner on both the PBA and PBA50 Tour, averaged more than 241 across his 24 games on his way to the top seed, but he found himself in second for his group heading into the final position round to Boresch, who started match play with games of 258, 290, 267, 248 and 247 to post a 4-1 record.

Jurek won the position-round match, 227-196, to reclaim the top spot in Group A.

“I never make it easy, that’s for sure,” Jurek said. “Fortunately, over the last couple of senior tour stops, my game has started to round back into shape. And, for some reason, I’ve had a lot of luck at this bowling center. There’s something about this building and the comfort level I have here. When you get the combination of feeling comfortable and having a nice scoring atmosphere, your swing gets loose and things usually fall a little better.”

At the 2023 Super Senior Classic, Jurek fell to St. Louis’ John Marsala in the title match, 244-168.

Although things didn’t go his way in that match, there’s always something to take away from the experience.

“Every time you get there, it’s another chance to learn,” Jurek said. “Last year, the championship pair was just challenging for me. Even today, I hit it again and shot 170 something. Fortunately, when I bowled Lennie (in Game 5 of match play), I changed my strategy and tried to go a little straighter and firmer, and fortunately, I bowled a really good game. I have some thinking to do for tomorrow. I’ll pay attention to what’s going on in the first couple of matches and hopefully during warmup, my ball reaction will be a little better. Knowing I’m going to have a chance at the title again is all you can ask for.”

Marsala advanced to the cashers' round in his title defense, finishing in 26th place.

For Pavone, a 68-year-old left-hander, he noticed a kink in his approach early in qualifying Thursday, which resulted in a 153 score in Game 2. After making the adjustment, he didn’t have a game under 227 for the rest of qualifying and rolled a 300 in Round 2. He went undefeated in match play to earn the top spot in Group B.

“I shot 150 the second game and noticed my mechanics were off,” Pavone said. “I opened my shoulders up a little bit, and I don’t think I shot under 220 in qualifying after that. Today, I just kept doing the same thing.

“I tweaked my knee yesterday, so I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to bowl today, but I didn’t have any problem throwing the ball. I’m happy, though. I’ve been working hard to get back after taking off for 15 months due to the pandemic.”

Pavone will make his first main stepladder appearance at the Super Senior Classic after advancing to the group stepladders in 2018 and 2023.

“This is my first time to the final stepladder, so it’s a big relief,” Pavone said. “It was a goal, but there’s a lot of competition out there. I got to keep striking, and it’s not going to be easy.”

Qualifying at the 2024 Super Senior Classic took place Thursday and Friday at Sam’s Town, with two six-game blocks determining the 52 bowlers advancing to the cashers’ round.

Jurek took the overall lead after Round 2 of qualifying, and he was able to maintain the top spot after the cashers’ round, finishing with a 4,317 total (239.8 average). Robert Wiley of Sun City West, Arizona, earned the final spot in match play, posting a 4,132 total for a 229.5 average.

After the conclusion of the Super Senior Classic, the top bowlers age 50 and older will take to the lanes at Sam’s Town for the 2024 USBC Senior Masters.

The Senior Masters is the first major championship on the 2024 PBA50 Tour schedule and will be held from June 3-9.

BowlTV.com is providing livestream coverage of both events.