Michael Machuga spent a frustrating day at Eastway Lanes just not being able to put up any big games. That left him in 5th place 91 pins out of the lead. His plan was to not let that happen again. It appeared to be deja vu in game one as he fell to Dan Francis but then reeled off games of 265-268-258-237-259 to surge to a comfortable 133-pin lead.

There was probably only one person in the building who thought that it wasn’t game over and that was Nick Kightlinger, and he’s wasn’t that sure either. But, with 265-226 and 278 in games 13-15 he was close enough to pull it off. Nick needed to win by 18 and after he strung the first 7 he had the lead he needed, but just barely. When he failed to strike in the 8th, he wasn’t in a position to shut Machuga out. He got the first in the 10th and then left a solid 7 pin on the second throw that would have forced Machuga to double.

Regardless, Machuga still needed the first strike in the 10th or Kightlinger would have the title. True to his usual form, he dealt Nick that crushing blow and then added two more to finish with 268, the same score Nick finished with. It was Machuga’s 6th Times-News title, 2 shy of Eighmy’s record of 8.