Post Messenger Recorder -

With two weeks left to play in the regular season, there are just four teams with any hope of clinching the second half championship spot. Kleeman’s, Norsk Cowboys and Hooterville are all tied for second place, with 5th Quarter leading the pack. To move up into second place, the Kleeman Hay Shakers defeated the S’wisco Taphaus Cheese Eaters by a whopping 62 points. Jeff Goebler and Al Zimmerman (Hay Shakers) lost just their first game to Kendal Wenger and Jeff Buesser to finish with 113 points, tying Denny Cleary and Don Field (Norsk Cowboys) for this week’s high score. Although Jones’ Plumbing jumped out to an early lead, the Cowboys were able to corral two perfect rounds (the second and third) to also move into a second place tie. In the sixth round, the Pipe Benders were able to rough in a perfect 60-point round which was negated in the very next round when the Cowboys captured 59 points. By the end of the eighth round the Cowboys managed to keep all four Pipe Bender couples under 100 points and thereby secured a 24-point victory.

The It’s Time Mounties relied on the expert riding skills of Tom Magnuson and Curt Herfel to round up 112 points for the team. This, coupled with the 110 points roped in by Dan Meinholtz and Bruce Milestone, gave the Mounties a 39-point win. The derailed Express fell into the second place tie.

The Norsk Pranksters played host to Eagle Heights (another Norsk team), aka the Screaming Eagles. Pulling a few tricks out of their hats, Pranksters Chris Hook and Greg Burreson were able to skunk Terry Zahler and Ken Stamn, causing the eagles to scream for revenge. This was apparently Terry’s first skunk, EVER. The Pranksters fouled up the Eagles and hung on to win this one by 10.

Although J&M Bar kept the match close through the first five rounds, they had little chance of winning with all four 5th Quarter couples surpassing 100 points. Led by Ed Chancellor and Erik Massey, who had a perfect score going into the eighth round, the Shufflers were able to stack up a 44-point victory. Unfortunately for Ed and Erik, they couldn’t shuffle past Tracy Beutel and Gordie Miller the second time around, as Tracy and Gordie allowed Erik and Ed just 6 points in the eighth frame to hold Ed and Erik to 111 points for the night. As for the River Rats, Harry and Jim Gehin gathered just 79 points for this week’s low score.

Standings: 5th Quarter 6-1; Hooterville Express 5-2; Kleeman’s 5-2; Norsk Cowboys 5-2; Eagle Heights 3-4; It’s Time 3-4; J&M Bar 3-4; Norsk Pranksters 3-4; Jones’ Plumbing 2-5; S’wisco Taphaus 0-7.

Schedule for February 22: Kleeman’s @ J&M Bar (8:00); Norsk Cowboys @ Eagle Heights (7:00); Norsk Pranksters @ It’s Time (8:00); S’wisco Taphaus @ Jones’ Plumbing (8:00); Hooterville @ 5th Quarter (7:30).