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| PWPT Glen Burnie Champ, John Biederman |
Baltimore's John Biederman added his name to the 2009 list of champions in the Pop Whitten Pro Tour with a 137-121 victory over Crofton, Maryland's Jeff Pyles in the championship match. For Biederman, the win at Glen Burnie Bowl was a well-deserved victory after a lengthy period of holding the title of one of bowling's most underrated duckpinners.
After a highly entertaining semi-final round of head-to-head competition, the stepladder came to fruition and was a veritable Who's Who of the game's stars, past and present. The opening match featured College Park, Maryland's Buddy Turner set to face the 2009 Eastern Classic champion, Brian Styles. Brian had gotten the early jump on Buddy, but in the contest's waining moments, a triple-header from Turner erased Styles' lead, and catapulted Buddy to a 163-135 victory. The next match brought the multi-tour winner from the former Virginia pro tour circuit, Mike Weaver, into the mix. The match ensued, and Weaver had the early advantage, but Turner made up the deficit and forged ahead at the midway point. Buddy dug in and added to his lead in the 2nd half of the match to end with a 151-117 triumph.
Next up for Turner was the 8-time DPBA tour champion, Scott Wolgamuth. Although Buddy marked a couple of times in the first half of the contest, it seemed a little bit uneventful, as Scott put on an impressive offensive in the middle stage of the game. Scott added insurance in the 9th and 10th frames to close out a 162-121 victory. With Wolgamuth now taking the baton up the ladder, he was ready to carry his momentum into the semi-final against the 2nd seed, Jeff Pyles.
The match's billing promised to be a barn-burner, and it was. Scott opened the match with a double-header, followed by a 5-10 split, and then another double in the 4th and 5th frames. Pyles' opening shot included chopping out the middle on his first ball, but then subsequently converting the 2-3-6-9-10 for a spare. Jeff opened in the 2nd but marked the next 3 boxes to stay in the match at the halfway point, trailing by 19 pins. Wolgamuth was slowed down in the late frames with a couple of splits, and Jeff hung in with spares in the 8th and 9th frames, and took the lead with a dramatic double-header in the 10th. Scott finished last, and now needed a double-header to win the game. Wolgamuth was true on the first ball with a strike in the 10th, but ripped the middle on the payoff shot in the final frame, leaving Pyles eeking out a 172-168 victory.
Finally, the top seed, John Biederman's moment was at hand, as he stepped in to face the upbeat Pyles. John took the bull by the horns, and gained the early advantage, but Jeff came back and by the middle of the game, Biederman had a slim 2-pin lead after 6 frames. The two combatants traded marks in the 7th and 8th frames, and the foundation 9th frame was looming, and would be pivotal. Pyles left the 6-10 spare break in the 9th, but chopped the 6 off the 10 on his spare attempt, leading to a 10-box. Biederman spared in the 9th, and ironically left the same 6-10 spare break in the 10th, which he successfully converted for a spare, and applied enough count to force Pyles to double in the 10th to win the tournament. Jeff threw a worthy shot in the 10th but it wasn't meant to be, as he left the 5-7 split, and thus John Biederman had won his first Pop Whitten Pro Tour championship. Biederman took home the $1,500.00 first prize, while Pyles settled for the $750.00 runner-up check.
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