News

Hagemoser And Reale Make The Most With Win At Callahan’s

Bowlers from all over flocked to Callahan’s Bowl-O-Rama in Newington, CT for the Ace Mitchell Over/Under Doubles event. A total of 48 teams entered the competition on Saturday, June 21st with just 12 spots up for grabs to the finals. Duos would find themselves squared off against Kegel’s Beaten Path pattern, a 41ft, 24.25mls and 4.04:1 ratio condition. Heading the pack for this event would be the team of Dave Handlowich, Jr and Nick Wells with a combined 2194 for their 5 games. Coming in off the at-large we would catch our eventual champions sneaking into the 12th seed with a score of 2093.

Round 1 would be comprised of just 8 teams with those waiting in the background receiving 1-round bye’s for their qualifying effort. There would be no shortage of talent in round 1 of our 2-game, baker doubles format with players such as former BOY Jay Johnson, rising talent Dennis Bissonnette and Hall-Of-Famers Chris Sole, John Kirker and Chris Monroy. Tuning into the soon-to-be champs, we found Randy Hagemoser and Michael Reale set to face off against PBA young gun Nate Purches and his partner, Tommy Pelham. While the match stayed close, it was Randy and Michael who surged their way into the quarter finals with a 367-343 win. In round 2 we would be joined by our bye competitors which brought with it more Hall-Of-Fame credentials in Chris Forry with his partner, Max Macklin. They would face off against the duo of Hagemoser and Reale for a chance to move on to the semi-finals. Although a consistent threat, the Macklin/Forry team did not keep up and would fall to Michael and Randy, 445-378. The semi-finals action would consist of tournament leaders, Handlowich and Wells, facing Hagemoser and Reale while the team of Chris Monroy and Kendal Robinson would take on Chris Viale and Malik Grove. After game 1 of the semi’s Hagemoser and Reale would find themselves at a near 50 pin deficit to Handlowich and Wells. As the teams switched lanes moving into game 2, the strike switch flipped for Randy and Mike as well. The pair went on a tear in the beginning with a barrage of strikes thrown at Dave and Nick. This would prove to rattle the opposition and would compound itself with open frames from the Handlowich/Wells team and ultimately lead to their victory and advance to the finals, 422-387. Joining them in the finals would be the team of Chris Viale and Malik Grove with this making back-to-back championship match appearances for Viale.

With a victory in their corresponding camp, both Malik Grove and Michael Reale would earn their 1st NEBA titles, Hagemoser would see his 2nd title and Viale would find himself in the 5-timer club. Early opens from the Viale camp would set up Hagemoser and Reale to coast into their game 1 lead by filling frames and sneaking in a double. This gave them a 23-pin lead heading into game 2. Leading off for the final match would be Michael which would result in Randy being in position to seal the deal while Malik would begin the match for his team. Early opens would once again set the tone for the game for Grove and Viale while we saw Randy and Michael keep their shots in play and chalk up slashes when needed. Heading into the back half of the match, Hagemoser and Reale continued their run of filled frames while both Chris and Malik would push one final effort by recording strikes and adding pressure to their competitors. With just 2 frames remaining, Mike would move into a filled frame and Randy would leave a makable which covered the efforts of Viale and Grove. With Randy’s fill in the 10th, he sealed not only his multi-time title status but Mike would return to California with his 1st NEBA title! The final score 392-346.

Mike and Randy took home $2,000 as a team plus and entry into this years TOC($125 each)! Chris and Malik would receive $1,150 for their runner-up efforts.

CHAMPIONS MESSAGE

“Thank you NEBA

A little background on my journey to bowling NEBAs. You may know that I was transplanted to New England from California in 2023 and 2024. I learned about NEBA while bowling the Senior Shootout in Las Vegas in 2022 by Mike Klosin who I saw wearing a white bowling jersey with the outline of New England on the back. I introduced myself to him and told him that I was moving to New England in a few months and I noticed his jersey had New England on it and that’s when he told me that it was from NEBA and you get one when you win a tournament. He encouraged me to check it out. After moving to Providence, I instantly grew to love the New England bowling scene and bowling NEBA tournaments. I was lucky enough to meet Randy Hagemoser at StrikeFX Pro Shop the second week my wife and I moved to New England. Randy and I agreed that we would partner in the over/under doubles and gave it a few attempts while I lived here. After moving back to California in late 2024, I told Randy I would come back each year until we either won the tournament or weren’t eligible to bowl together any longer.

I’d like to thank everyone who has been so supportive of me during my time in New England. I’d especially like to thank my sponsors Storm Bowling (makers of great bowling balls) and PinWheel.us (makers of great registration software). I’d also like to thank Sam Cantrell at A+ Pro Shop back in California for drilling my equipment over the past year and Randy Hagemoser, Alex Aguiar and Jon Van Hees at StrikeFX Pro Shops in New England for taking care of me during my time in New England. Randy thanks for being a great friend and doubles partner and for drilling me up the new Ion Pro Solid the day before the tournament which I used for the victory.

Regarding NEBA…you all have it so good in the Northeast to have such a great tournament series run by excellent leaders like Dan Kaye and Justin Alves and the rest of the NEBA board. Dan and Justin, thanks for making my entire weekend back with NEBA one I will never forget.

I was lucky to win the 2023 Rookie of the Year award but I always wondered if someday I would get my own white jersey with an outline of New England on the back of it that says NEBA champion on it…little did I know it would happen this weekend! I will cherish it. Thank you NEBA.” - MICHAEL REALE

We would like to thank our sponsor for this event, Ace Mitchell as well as GMS Decorative Concrete for the $1,500 added to this events prize fund. We would also like to thank the staff at Callahan’s Bowl-O-Rama for their continued support of NEBA and it’s members.

UP NEXT

We invite you all to East Providence Lanes for the Dexter Bowling & Turbo Grips Singles Open - $500 added to the prize fund on July 12th-13th.

Thank you to all of our members and sponsors. We could not continue to be one of the best tournament bowling organizations in the country without YOU!