Jurek earns top seed for stepladder at 2023 Super Senior Classic

Pictured above (from left): Bryan Goebel, Skip Pavone, Gary Reh, Jack Jurek, Lennie Boresch Jr., John Marsala, Kerry Painter, Kevin Croucher

RESULTS: Cashers' Round | Match Play

LAS VEGAS –
Jack Jurek of Lackawanna, New York, will be bowling for the title at the 2023 Super Senior Classic after posting a 4-2 record in match play and averaging more than 232 across 24 games to earn the top seed in the stepladder finals.

Jurek held on to the top spot in Group A after taking over the lead in the cashers’ round Saturday at the Sam’s Town Bowling Center. He finished with a pinfall total of 5,697, including 30 bonus pins for each win in match play.

United States Bowling Congress and Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer Lennie Boresch Jr. of Kenosha, Wisconsin, also advanced to the championship stepladder by going 5-1 in match play to lead the way in Group B. Boresch, the runner-up at the 2022 Super Senior Classic, finished with 5,645.

Competitors at the 2023 Super Senior Classic bowled 12 games of qualifying Thursday and Friday to determine the top 52 players for Saturday’s cashers’ round. The advancers bowled an additional six games, and at the conclusion of 18 games, the top 12 made their way to Saturday’s split match-play round.

The bowlers were split into two groups based on their final qualifying position. The six odd seeds (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11) were Group A, and the six even finishers (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12) made up Group B.

Jurek was the top qualifier after 18 games with a 4,239 total to earn his spot in Group A, while Boresch paced Group B with a 4,155 score.

The match-play finalists competed in a six-game round robin, with the top finisher in each group earning their spot in Sunday’s championship stepladder. Jurek took the top seed based on total pinfall.

The second, third and fourth seeds from each group will face off in simultaneous group stepladders starting Sunday at noon Eastern, before the field is set for the championship stepladder at 2 p.m. Eastern. The winners of each group stepladder will claim the No. 3 and No. 4 spots for the stepladder and have their seeding determined for the opening match based on their average.

In Group A, Gary Reh of Jasper, Indiana (5,671), Skip Pavone of San Jose, California (5,567), and PBA Hall of Famer Bryan Goebel of Shawnee, Kansas (5,444), advanced to their group stepladder. Hugh Miller of Mercer Island, Washington (5,217), and Tom Adcock of Forsyth, Illinois (5,198), were eliminated.

Pavone will bowl Goebel in the opening match, with the winner taking on Reh.

In Group B, John Marsala of University City, Missouri (5,487), 2013 Super Senior Classic champion Kerry Painter of Henderson, Nevada (5,417), and Kevin Croucher of Grants Pass, Oregon (5,396), advanced to Sunday. USBC and PBA Hall of Famers Pete Weber of St. Ann, Missouri (5,374), and Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Oxford, Florida (5,302), were knocked out in a tie for ninth place overall at the event.

Painter and Croucher will compete in the first match for Group B, with the winner facing Marsala.

The champion of the 2023 Super Senior Classic will earn $8,000 for the victory.

The Super Senior Classic features the top players age 60 and older.

The excitement will continue at Sam’s Town with the USBC Senior Masters from June 5-11. The event is a major on the PBA50 Tour schedule and is open to bowlers age 50 and older.

The winner of the 2023 Senior Masters will take home $20,000 for the win.

Both events are being livestreamed at BowlTV.com.