The finals round of the 60th Times-News Open moved out to Westway Lanes with Michael Machuga just 8 games away from recording his 5 consecutive Times-News Open title. Machuga’s current run includes not only titles from 2019 through 2022 but also qualifying titles from 2020 through 2023, an unprecedented run to say the least. However, Machuga begins the day in 7th but sill only 92 pins off the lead of Dan Mackowski, Jr. With a packed leaderboard there were a handful of hopefuls as matches began.

After just 1 game, a 259-189 win over Josh Dodson, Mike Shady jumped from his starting position into the lead by 11 pins over Dave Fetzner, who took down the round one leader, Mackowski, 221-190 dropping him to third.

Shady extended his lead to 95 with a 238-196 win over Ross Caruana, Jr. Tom Petroff moved from 5th into a tie for 2nd after following a game one loss to Machuga 199-236 with a 215-201 win over Mackowski. Machuga forged that tie with a second victory, this time over Fetzner, 203-159. There was also a tie for 4th and 5th between Mackowski and T.J. Mitchell and, with two games complete, 2nd and 7th were only separated by 31 pins.

At that point the field began to separate like oil and water. Shady won again, 224-199 over Mitchell while Machuga dispatched Mackowski 211-196. Shady’s lead grew to 108 while the remainder of the field began to drift away. Mackowski, the first round leader fell to 6th after 3 opening losses.

Game 12 was more of the same, Shady beat Petroff 226-166 and Machuga was victorious over Dodson 208 to 150. Shady’s lead was now 126. Game 13 found the two leaders really hitting their stride and even though Machuga shot 268 to defeat Caruana’s 179, Shady remained strong against the intense competition he was getting from Fetzner. Shady  struck out for 257 leaving Fetzner and opening to take the match with 259 but when he was unable to get the first strike in the 10th, he settled for 238 and Shady scooped up the 30 bonus pins and a 115-pin lead heading into the day’s first tell-tale match …. Shady vs. Machuga on lanes 13&14. The match would either bolster Shady’s lead or give Machuga some much need life to cut into the lead.

Shady opened with a spare and a split and with Machuga’s opening triple he was off and running before inexplicably whiffing completely a 3-6-10 spare. Shady finally managed a double but that was all he could muster and with Machuga stinging more strikes the game was easily in his hands and he had the spark he needed. He won the match 227-185 and Shady’s 100+ pin lead was now cut to just 43. Third place was now 138 pins back of second so it was a two horse race with two games to go.

Machuga strung the first 7 strikes and had his match with Mitchell well in had while Shady’s struggles continued against Mackowski who was building a nice lead of his own. With strikes in the 8th and 9th Shady was badly in need of a couple more to keep the title within reach but could not convert, losing to Mackowski 224-197. Machuga finished with 253 on a great break on a washout in the 10th. He had missed the conversion but the head pin jumped back up on the lane and rolled across and tipped over the 10, giving him and extra 10 pins of cushion. This was the first time in the finals that Machuga  would find himself in the lead. That lead was 43 pins meaning Shady would have to defeat him by 14 pins to get the bonus pins and enough to overtake him for the title.

At this point even 3rd and 4th had separated themselves as well as Mackowski held a 26 pin lead over Petroff, both of these bowlers were completing their best TN finish. In their final match Mackowski led all the way, winning 225-196 securing third with Petroff 4th. 5th through 8th was a little more eventful as Lou LaFuria who was 8th moved up to 6th with a 245-209 victory over Tom Lytle dropping him from 7th to 8th. Fetzner began 5th but after losing to Rodrick Baird 177-194, he dropped to 7th while Baird moved up into the 5th position.

All eyes, however, were on lanes 17 & 18 where the title match was contested. Machuga opened the match with a spare and Shady followed with a spare and a strike. Machuga doubled but then left a 4-7 which he chopped. Shady then doubled but could do no more damage as he spared in the 4th. Machuga followed with a spare and a strike and when Shady struck in the 5th, he held a 13-pin advantage, which meant, at that point, the entire tournament was tied. He doubled again but Machuga forged ahead with 2 more strikes in the 6th and 7th. Again, Shady was unable to get beyond a double but the strike he recorded in the 8th was critical, setting him up for a big finish. With control of his own destiny, Machuga left another 4-7 and converted it this time and, knowing how important his shot was in the 9th he made a great shot but a solid 8 pin left him sitting on the bench with the tournament now in Shady’s control. He would need 2 more strikes and a 9 spare to take home the trophy.

His shot in the 9th was a light mixed that carried and his opener in the 10 was rock solid in the pocket. Now, with one hand on the trophy he delivered another solid pocket hit and then added one more for good measure to finish with 248. With the tournament over, Machuga doubled in the 10th and shot 222 to finish second, 13 pins short.

With the victory, Shady has now captured the 40th, 50th and 60th Times-News Opens and his 7 titles now rank second only to Lee Eighmy, Jr. who has 8. Speaking of 8, Machuga’s string of 8 consecutive titles that began with the 2019 Times-News Open included 4 titles and 4 qualifying titles, record performances in the 60 year history of the event.