Prediction Records
Tyson Nelson: 91 – 53 – 0 Previous Week: 4-4-0
Trevor Cook: 90 – 54 – 0 Previous Week: 6-2-0
Match #1 – Youzwa vs. Enns
Team Youzwa is coming off a much-needed win after a couple tough weeks previously. This week will give them a good opportunity to try and grow the gap between them and the group of teams between 8th and 11th position. Team Enns is one of those teams, but will need their bottom half duo of Craig Enns and Glen Howarth to be on their game, going against one of the best 3-4 combos in the league, Chloe Fleming and Colton Youzwa. Colton and Chloe come in at 24-pin advantage on paper, plus Colton Youzwa is running red hot from his season high last week and a strong performance at Masters over the weekend.
Key Matchup
I would watch for the seconds in this match, both have been wildcards this season and this match could be really close or it could be a blowout in either direction. Statistically Jenna Gillrie is stronger in games 1 & 3, while Garry Bell does his best bowling in games 2 & 4. Odds are this match will be a 3-2 split, but if one of them can break their pattern, it could have big implications for their team.
Tyson’s Pick: Team Youzwa
Trevor’s Pick: Team Youzwa
Match #2 – Lourenco vs. King
Talk about a match having A-side implications. This is a match Team Lourenco must win if they want to give themselves a reasonable chance at taking that 8th position, currently held by Team King. 25.5 points separate these two teams (364-338.5). The pressure is on Team King just as much as they scramble to hold onto that final spot, with only a 1.5-point lead on Team Cook. Despite both teams coming off losses, I suspect Team Lourenco is riding in with a bit more confidence seeing as three of their bowlers shot over 1000 last week. No position in this match is a guaranteed win, if all four ended up being 3-2 splits I would not be surprised.
Key Matchup
The key matchup here has to be the anchors. Ethan Buckman is rolling in off back-to-back wins and has been bowling super consistently over the past six weeks, minus one abnormally bad week. Wayne King on the side will need to figure out his game and get back to the scores he was shooting back around Christmas. A 216 average over the past five weeks puts his team in a tough situation. If he can break out of his slump this should be an exciting match watch.
Tyson’s Pick: Team Lourenco
Trevor’s Pick: Team King
Match #3 – Rodych vs. C. Jeffers
These two teams don’t need to concern themselves with the standings, this match will be mostly about individual performances as both are solidly in the B-side. Matt Rodych and Lexie Sutherland are showing potential to be considered near the top for 3-4 duos in the league, boasting a combined 2126 last week which they will hope to continue into tonight. They go up against Tim Hooper and Anthony Novak who have struggled as a pair over the last three weeks putting up just a single total over 830 during that span. This will leave a big gap to be filled by Team C. Jeffers’ leadoff and second positions.
Key Matchup
There is no doubt that AL Bristow and Chris Jeffers will come in as heavy favourites in the top half matchup but the decider in this match will be if they can make up more pins than the ones gained by Team Rodych in the bottom half. On paper Chris and Al come in at 40-pin favourites, but the same can be said for Matt and Lexie.
Tyson’s Pick: Team C. Jeffers
Trevor’s Pick: Team Rodych
Match #4 – Devenney vs. Stevenson
Coming off their first win of 2022 Team Devenney is riding high, but the same could be said for Team Stevenson who has been the second hottest team over the last five weeks, putting up 103 points during the span. Both anchors, Dylan Stevenson and Jennifer Devenney, are coming off 1000+ weeks and will be looking to build on that. Jennifer will be out to prove this is a turning point in her season and more than just a one-off week. At leadoff Neil Stewart has been consistently in the 780-860 range with pretty level scores while Erik Stewart comes in with higher scores, but also been know to shoot some low scores as well, putting up five sub 170 games in the past three weeks.
Key Matchup
For this match the big advantage for Team Stevenson comes in the interior positions where Jayden Nickerson and Tyler Reynolds come in as 32-pin favourites over Mike Devenney and Holly Chaikowski, and have consistently been going up making them a tough 2-3 combo for any team. More specifically I would keep an eye on Jayden, coming off his first 1100 of the season we will see if he keeps it going. If he does Holly is going to have her hands full.
Tyson’s Pick: Team Stevenson
Trevor’s Pick: Team Stevenson
Match #5 – LaMonica vs. Bartram
Team LaMonica once again sits at the top of the standings. While this match sees the hottest team of the second half faceoff with Team Bartram who is still on the hunt for their first win of the half. The odds of that win coming this week are pretty slim as they come in severely outgunned at every position, a minimum of 15 pins at each. Neither team is coming off strong weeks so both will be looking to bounce back. I expect Team Bartram with a fully filled lineup should have a positive impact on their scores and I could see both the top half shooting over 800 and the bottom half both being over 900. Team LaMonica is averaging 22 points over the last five weeks and a lot of that comes from having the most well-rounded lineup in the league. It especially doesn’t hurt when leadoff Cyndie Barnett is averaging 226 for her past six weeks, a high amongst leadoffs actively.
Key Matchup
I would watch the seconds, Jeff Bradshaw has been on a cold streak averaging 202 for the last seven weeks and Colton Harris recently has given us a glimpse that he can put up 900+ totals. This could foreshadow a possible upset in this position if things continue to trend as they have.
Tyson’s Pick: Team LaMonica
Trevor’s Pick: Team LaMonica
Match #6 – Cook vs. Orne
Team Cook is the verge of pushing themselves into the A-side with a win this week needing only 2 more points than Team King. Standing in their way though is one of the strongest teams all season, in Team Orne. Trevor Cook has been on fire the past five weeks, with last week being his first in that span under 1100. His opponent Darren Maxwell is no strangers to big scores, having three of his last six over 1000, but will need to find at least that level of consistency to really challenge Trevor. This match could be really shaken up at the third position though between Linda Orne and Alyssa Campbell. Linda, normally a very consistent bowler, has failed to have a total over average the past five weeks. On the other hand Alyssa has been erratic over that span with scores anywhere from 840-1100, making it a pretty tough prediction as to how this matchup could go.
Key Matchup
The matchup in the second position could be a high scoring battle. Neither Jayson May or David Wastle have shot under 950 the past three weeks, putting them both about 20-25 pins over average during this stretch. These two guys have a lot of momentum coming in and I could see this matchup going to whoever better fends off any big slip ups.
Tyson’s Pick: Team Orne
Trevor’s Pick: Team Cook
Match #7 – Hurd vs. Gelardi
I could very easily see this being the highest scoring match of the night. Both teams love to make noise and get each other fired up. Team Gelardi had a bit of a slip up last week which is even more reason to believe they will have a bounce back week tonight, especially since they have only lost back-to-back weeks once this season. On the flip side, Team Hurd is one of the best at losing back-to-back weeks, with all their losses coming in strings of four or more. That being said, their current four game losing streak has seen them put up 58 points which is pretty well the maximum you could have with no wins, so they aren’t losing a lot of ground. I think the 3-4 matchup is actually really balanced with Dwayne Gelardi having the edge over Brett in anchor, but Kevin Naugler having a pretty similar advantage over Robbie Hendrickson in third.
Key Matchup
Given the energy of these two teams I am going to say keep an eye on the leadoffs, they will be the catalysts for any big runs either of these teams go on tonight. Mitch Dubell throws a lot of games during the week so his consistency is pretty solid for a leadoff, but at the same time Ryan Bannerman in the second half has really found his groove averaging 210, a big part of his team’s success in this half.
Tyson’s Pick: Team Gelardi
Trevor’s Pick: Team Gelardi
Match #8 – B. Jeffers vs. Cousins
Both these teams are pretty well middle of the pack in their respective sides Team B. Jeffers on the A-side and Team Cousins on the B-side. This match will really be to help each of them adjust their position going into the roll-offs. Team Cousins definitely has the momentum in their favour coming off a big win that had both Char McIvor and Cindy Cousins pop off with 985 and 1089 respectively, two of the highest totals from both women this season. This is the opposite of Tyson Nelson who is coming in after a nearly season worst 909. Neither leadoff is here this week so a spare-on-spare matchup can be a crap shoot on the best of days.
Key Matchup
A large portion that are up for grabs in this match will come from the interior positions, second and third. Char and Adam Williamson come in at pretty well the exact same average and either can really find their groove at any time depending on the night. Ben Jeffers has a slight advantage at the second position but not enough where he will have much room to slack off or Shannon Pruden will make him pay.
Tyson’s Pick: Team B. Jeffers
Trevor’s Pick: Team B. Jeffers
