Inside: - The Bowling News

Michigan State coach
named USBC Youth
Volunteer of the Year
Karl Nickolai, who has led
the Michigan State University
bowling program for the last
25 years, has been selected
to receive the USBC Youth
Volunteer of the Year Award by
the USBC Youth Committee.
The prestigious award is
annually presented to an adult
volunteer who has displayed
outstanding efforts to foster,
organize and promote certified
youth bowling programs at
the local, state and/or national
level for the last seven or more
years.
In addition to his work at
Michigan State, Nickolai has
helped to promote collegiate
bowling through his Web site,
CollegeBowling.com. He also
currently serves as president of
the National Collegiate Bowling
Coaches Association (NCBCA),
a position he has held for
nearly 15 years. He has been
with the organization since
1985.
“I have always enjoyed my
work with the MSU Intercollegiate
Bowling Program, the
NCBCA and the CollegeBowling.com
Web site,” Nickolai
said. “I am very honored to
have been nominated and
selected for the USBC Youth
Volunteer Award.”
Nickolai makes a 70-mile
commute from his hometown
of Waterford, MI, to the university
in East Lansing to coach
the Michigan State bowling
team. He conducts tryouts in
addition to taking the team to
tournaments.
He launched CollegeBowling.com
in 1997, when there
were a limited number of Web
sites for bowling teams but not
a site dedicated to the coverage
of collegiate bowling. CollegeBowling.com
has allowed fans
to follow their favorite teams
and sport.
In 1998, Nickolai developed
the Online Team Power
Ranking (OTPR), an objective
point system for ranking all
schools with college bowling
teams based on regular-season
Dallas Central District
Week 7
Boys Varsity
1. Poteet 7-0; 2. Mesquite 5-0; 3.
Bishop Lynch 4-3; 4. North Mesquite
4-3; 5. Lake Highlands 3-4; 6. West
Mesquite 2-5; 7. Skyline 1-6; 8. John
Horn 1-6.
Girls Varsity
1. Poteet 6-1; 2. John Horn 5-2; 3.
Skyline 5-2; 4. Bishop Lynch 4-3; 5.
Mesquite 3-4; 6. North Mesquite
3-4; 7. West Mesquite 1-6 .
Boys Jr. Varsity
tournament performance. He
credits Joe Ciccone, a former
Arizona State University and
Erie Community College bowler
who is a current PBA member,
with helping to develop a system
that provides a meaningful
team ranking throughout the
season.
He also devised the concept
of a college bowling “average
differential” to measure
athlete performance against an
event field rather than by just
tracking traditional bowling
averages. The average differential
allows athletes to be
fairly compared across different
events with different lane
conditions.
In 1998-1999, he was
selected for the Gordon Teigen
Meritorious Service Award,
presented annually by the
NCBCA to an individual in recognition
of outstanding service
to collegiate bowling, for his
work on CollegeBowling.com.
In 2000-2001, he was the first
recipient of the NCBCA Men’s
Coach of the Year, now known
as the NCBCA Kerm Helmer
Men’s Coach of the Year award.
“Karl’s time spent coaching
and successes, along with his
countless hours and resources
volunteered in non-coaching
situations, make him an excellent
candidate,” wrote Steve
Lawson in his recommendation
of Nickolai.
On the lanes, Nickolai had
an 877 series (299-300-278)
in January 1997, which at the
time was the Greater Detroit
Bowling Association city record
and remains fourth on the
all-time Detroit list. He also
rolled an 827 series in 1996,
which included consecutive
300 games (227-300-300).
Nickolai will be presented
the USBC Youth Volunteer of
the Year Award during the
USBC Convention, April 28-May
1 in Reno, NV. To learn more
about USBC awards and this
year’s USBC Convention, visit
BOWL.com.
1. John Horn 7-0; 2. Bishop Lynch
6-1; 3. Mesquite 3-4; 4. Poteet 1-6.
Girls Jr. Varsity
1. Bishop Lynch 5-2; 2. John Horn
4-3.
Dallas North District
Week 3
Boys Varsity - A
1. Plano East 3-0; 2. Allen 3-0; 3.
McKinney Boyd 2-1; 4. Wylie 1-2; 5.
McKinney 0-3.
Boys Varsity - B
1. Plano West 3-0; 2. Plano 2-1;
3. Fairhill 2-1; 4. Berkner 2-1; 5.
Richardson 0-3.
Girls Varsity - A
1. Plano East 3-0; 2. Allen 3-0; 3.
McKinney Boyd 2-1.
Girls Varsity - B
1. Plano 3-0; 2. Berkner 2-1; 3. Plano
West 2-1; Fairhill 2-1.
Boys Jr. Varsity - A
1. Plano East 3-0; 2. McKinney Boyd
3-0; 3. Allen 1-2; 4. Wylie 1-2; 5.
McKinney 1-2.
Boys Jr. Varsity - B
1. Fairhill 3-0; 2. Plano 2-1; 3.
Plano West 2-1; 4. Richardson 1-2; 5.
Berkner 1-2.
Girls Jr. Varsity - A
1. Plano East 3-0; 2. Allen 3-0; 3.
McKinney Boyd 2-1.
Girls Jr. Varsity - B
1. Plano 3-0; 2. Plano West 2-1.
Lewisville District
Week 6
Boys Varsity
1. Flower Mound 5-1; 2. Hebron 4-2;
3. Marcus 3-3; 4. The Colony 3-3; 5.
Lewisville 3-3.
Girls Varsity
1. Flower Mound 6-0; 2. Marcus 5-1;
3. Lewisville 3-3; 4. The Colony 3-3.
Boys Jr. Varsity
(Did not compete due to lane
availability)
1. Flower Mound 4-1; 2. Lewisville
4-1; 3. The Colony 4-1; 4. Marcus 2-3;
5. Hebron 1-4.
North Fort Worth District
Boys Varsity
1. Richland 2-0; 2. Fossil Ridge 2-0;
3. Central 1-1; 4. Birdville 1-1; 5.
Keller 0-2; 6. Timber Creek 0-2.
Girls Varsity
1. Keller 2-0; 2. Central 1-1; 3.
Birdville 1-1; 4. Richland 0-2.
Boys Jr. Varsity
1. Keller A 1-0; 2. Central 1-0; 3.
Richland B 1-0; 4. Richland A 0-1; 5.
Keller B 0-1; 6. Fossil Ridge 0-1.
South Fort Worth District
Week 7
Boys Varsity
1. Aledo 6-1, 2. Azle 5-2; 3. Burleson
4-1; 4. Boswell 4-3; 5. Trimble Tech
1-5, South Hills 0-8.
Girls Varsity
1. Azle 6-1; 2. Boswell 4-1; 3.
Burleson 4-1; 4. Aledo 3-7; 5. Trimble
Tech 1-5.
Boys Jr. Varsity
1. Azle High 3-0; 2. Burleson 1-0; 3.
Boswell 0-2; 4. Trimble Tech 0-2.
Girls Jr. Varsity
1. Azle 2-1; 2. Boswell 1-1; 3.
Burleson 0-1.
Brunswick Zone Denton
Week 7
Boys Varsity
1. Sanger 12-2; 2. Argyle 8-6; 3.
Ponder 8-6; Krum 0-14.
Girls Varsity
1. Argyle 14-0; 2. Sanger 8-6; 3.
Ponder 6-8.
Boys Jr. Varsity
1. Sanger 8-6; 2. Ponder 2-12.
Fort Worth Southwest
District
Week 4
Boys Varsity
1. Crowley 3-0; 2. N. Crowley 3-0;
3. Everman 1-3; 4. Brewer 1-2; 5.
THE BOWLING NEWS | Thursday, January 21, 2010 | Page 11
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Tan, Johnson win AMF
Showplace Euless
Youth Tournament
Jacob Hollis, left, and
champion Justin Tan.
AMF Showplace Euless’
youth tournament on Jan. 10
drew 28 scratch bowlers and 13
handicap bowlers.
The tournament format was
six games of qualifying on the
Chameleon sport pattern, then
the top five in each division
bowled a stepladder finals.
Justin Tan won the scratch
division after defeating Jacob
Hollis 234-206 in the final
match. Earlier in the finals,
Jordan Soria eliminated Tyler
Sims 173-115, and Scott Teel
216-155, before falling to Tan,
230-210.
Tan earned $100 in scholarship
money.
Southwest 0-3.
Girls Varsity
1. N. Crowley 3-0; 2. Crowley 3-0; 3.
Lane Laughter
Jasmyn Gonzales and
champion Brian Johnson.
In the handicap division,
Brian Johnson came out on top
over Jasmyn Gonzales, 249-188.
Gonzales, 9 years-old,
was bowling in her first
tournament.
In the first match of the
finals Michael Signo bested
Danielle Ponecorvo, 197-178.
Gonzales then defeated Signo,
204-187, and Cooper Cox 217-
190, before losing to Johnson
in the title match.
Johnson received $50 in
scholarship money.
Junior Gold winners were
Scott Teel with 1177, and
Megan Bentham with 1056.
Everman 2-2; 4. Southwest 0-3; 5.
Brewer 0-3.