Killian Kilpatrick claims his first Times-News Open bowling title. How did he do it?
Killian Kilpatrick said he "badly" wanted to win the Times-News Open championship after breezing to the qualifying title last weekend.
The 21-year-old, two-handed power bowler got his wish.
Jumping to the top of the leaderboard after Game 2 of the 16-bowler, 16-game match-play finals at Eastland Bowl on Saturday, Kilpatrick never surrendered the lead the rest of the way, and waltzed to a 171-pin victory over runner-up Mike Machuga to capture his first-ever championship of the Times-News Open, which concluded at Rolling Meadow Lanes on Sunday.
“I’ve been wanting this for years,” Kilpatrick said after the 61st annual tournament’s conclusion. “It means a lot to me to win it, particularly here at Rolling Meadow, where I grew up.”
Kilpatrick finished with a match-play record of 12-4 in the finals, and averaged 234.8, with 14 of his 16 games 214 or higher. On Sunday he posted high games of 268 and 266, and he maintained an almost insurmountable 323-pin lead after Game 10. He was never threatened the rest of the way.
Winning his long-desired championship put an end to years of frustration for Kilpatrick, who finished second three times and third once, and made the finals in all five of his previous TN-Opens.
“The first year I ever bowled this tournament (2018) I felt I had a chance to win it, and then I had that string of three-straight runner-ups (2020-22), and then the one I lost by nine pins (to Machuga, 2021), that was especially rough," Kilpatrick said. "I missed (participating) last year, but wanted to bowl in this tournament again, and I knew that if there was going to be a year that I’d win it, it would be this year.”
'Absolute domination'
Although five-time T-N Open champion Machuga ended up finishing 171 pins out of the lead, he beat Kilpatrick twice in match play, 258-229 in Game 1 at Eastland Bowl on Saturday, and 278-192 in the Game 16 positional round at Rolling Meadow on Sunday, long after things had been decided. He finished a finals-best 13-3 in match-play.
“The level of proud that I am of Killian, I can’t emphasize enough,” said Machuga, who has been Kilpatrick’s mentor since an early age. “He’s learning strategy, lane play, ball selection, all of those things he’s really starting to excel at, and he’s learning not to miss his opportunities. He pretty much dominated every round of this tournament. It was absolute domination.”
Machuga’s downfall came in the middle games of the first round at Eastland on Saturday, where he had consecutive games of 199, 158 and 175. He rebounded with no less than 213 in all eight of his games on Sunday, including highs of 278 and 258, but Kilpatrick had him and the others virtually buried after Saturday, where he averaged 242.9.
“I felt pretty good this weekend,” Machuga, 47, said, “but for some reason I just couldn’t get my ball to go to the pins the right way. When I tried to experiment, I got into big trouble, especially those low games at Eastland on Saturday. The lanes weren’t that difficult, but when I saw Killian averaging 240, I tried to make something happen, and went fishing for something that wasn’t there.”
“The lanes were definitely speed sensitive (Sunday),” Kilpatrick, a lefty, said. “I cycled between three urethane balls, and I just tried to play the same part of the lane all day, and the only thing I was altering all day was my speed.”
Despite winning big, Kilpatrick was only “mostly pleased” by the way he bowled.
“I could have bowled better,” he said. “I missed a lot of makeable spares in the finals, I had a lot of bad shots, got lucky a few times, but had a lot of bad breaks too.”
Hayden Stippich, another powerful two-handed bowler and Kilpatrick’s close friend, was in attendance on Sunday to cheer him on. Kilpatrick had 4,106 in the qualifier to break Stippich’s record of 4,087, set in 2019.
“I knew Killian would be the only one to break my record, so it was cool to see him do it,” said Stippich, 23, who had to miss this year’s tournament because of commitments to Team USA. “I’m hoping to bowl in this next year, so we’ll be going at it."
Rest of the top 10
In third place was 2018 champion T.J. Mitchell, at 3,836, who finished 281 pins behind Kilpatrick. Mitchell was in second much of the day on Sunday, but Machuga caught him in Game 14.
“I don’t bowl much anymore, so it feels good to finish this high,” Mitchell, 32, said. As for Kilpatrick winning, he said, “Can’t beat him. He’s fun to watch.”
In fourth through sixth, respectively, were Dan Francis (3,716), Nick Kightlinger (3,707) and Tyler Barnes (3,705).
Finishing seventh was Paul Marnella, at 3,692. Marnella bowled a 300 game in Game 14, just the second in the tournament, the other belonging to Dave Bille in the qualifier.
“I was pretty solid for the most part, but I got lucky on the 11th shot, which I pulled a lot,” Marnella, 41, said. “I shot 298 in the tournament a few years back, and it felt pretty good getting a 300 today.”
Rounding out the top 10 were Dave Warren (3,690), Brandon Jenkins (3,601) and Jeff Prue (3,580).
Thirty bonus points were awarded for each match-play victory.
Final results
Final results of the 179-bowler, 32-game tournament that concluded Sunday at Rolling Meadow Lanes with total pinfall, match-play record and earnings.
FINALISTS
1. *Killian Kilpatrick (1st championship) 4,117, 12-4-0, $1,500
2. **Mike Machuga 3,946, 13-3-0, $1,000
3. T.J. Mitchell 3,836, 12-4-0, $800
4. Dan Francis 3,716, 9-7-0, $700
5. Nick Kightlinger 3,707, 7-8-1, $600
6. Tyler Barnes 3,705, 9-7-0, $550
7. Paul Marnella 3,692, 8-8-0, $500
8. Dave Warren 3,690, 7-8-1, $450
9. Brandon Jenkins 3,601, 9-7-0, $400
10. Jeff Prue 3,580, 7-8-1, $350
11. Matt Ballard 3,488, 8-8-0, $300
12. Garrett Clark 3,351, 7-9-0, $280
13. Chris Jannazzo 3,311, 5-11-0, $250
14. Matt Hinterberger 3,280, 5-10-1, $220
15. Ned Bent 3,173, 4-12-0, $200
16. Kurt Cohick 3,131, 4-12-0, $180
*Kilpatrick won an additional $200 for winning the qualifying championship (4,106).
**Machuga won an additional $100 for being the No. 2 qualifier (3,660).
ALSO CASHING
(Two 5-game rounds and 6-game semifinal totals)
17. David E. Johnson 3,495, $160
18. Frank Cole 3,470, $150
19. Paul Karpik Jr. 3,468, $140
20. Michael Thompson 3,464, $130
21. Dalton Kaliszewski 3,463, $120
22. Philip Harris Jr. 3,454, $120
23. Cody Jacobs 3,445, $120
24. Mike Sirak 3,442, $120
25. Taylor Kretz 3,441, $120
26. Jacob Griffith 3,428, $110
27. Bob Kane Jr. 3,415, $110
28. Tommy Lytle 3,412, $110
28. Mike Dunkle 3,412, $110
30. Linden Hoover 3,402, $110
31. Corey Rapela 3,378, $100
32. Dan Newcomer 3,361, $100
33. Mark Wattle 3,316, $100
34. Nathan Ross 3,286, $100
35. Dean Bartlett 3,247, $100
36. Larry Klick 3,244, $100
300 games: Dave Bille, Paul Marnella.
Online: Results for bowlers 37 through 179 can be found at tnopen.org.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Times-News Open bowling: Kilpatrick claims first crown in Erie event
