Post Messenger Recorder -

Perfect again for the second time this season, Barb Judd, with her partner, Rick Skindrud, stacked up 120 points for the Kleeman Bar Hay Shakers. Her last perfect score was back on December 8th, and she is the only player to have two so far this year. Not too far behind Barb and Rick were Hay Shakers Al Zimmerman and Jeff Goebler, who lost just one game to end the night with 115 points. It was J&M Bar River Rats Gordie Miller and Daryl Storkson that held Al and Jeff to 10 points in the second game of the night. The Hay Shakers stacked up an easy 76-point win over the River Rats.

The Norsk Pranksters dropped their second straight match of the half, this one to the Norsk Cowboys. The Cowboys took an early lead and were up 20 by the end of the second frame. But with two near perfect frames, the Pranksters fought back to tie the match by the end of the fourth frame. At this point the Cowboys tightened their cinch straps and rode hard to outmaneuver the Pranksters by 18 points to remain tied for first place.

In their match with the Ope Haus Express, all four Red Mouse Shuffler couples scored more than 100 points. Ed Chancellor and Tom Meyer led the way by dealing up 114 points for the Shufflers. Even though the other three Shuffler couples lost fewer games, Ed and Tom outscored them all. Evidently, the Express ran low on sand and therefore was unable to achieve the traction needed to make the uphill climb over the first place Shufflers. The Express slipped into a 34 points deficit, keeping the Shufflers in a first-place tie with the Cowboys with just three weeks left to play.

The Viking Bar & Grill Trolls once again got stuck under the bridge as team Uff-Da marched over them, with a 24-point oversized load back to the Red Mouse Bar & Grill. The drivers for team Uff-Da were RoseAnn Maier and Bruce Milestone, with 116 points neatly stacked in the cart. For a second straight week, not a single Troll was able to find the trail that would lead them to a 100-point game.

In New Glarus, the Ott Haus Cheese Eaters won the first round by 1-point in their match against the Morgans Bar & Grill Pipe Benders. That, however, would be the last frame the Cheese Eaters would win. All four Cheese Eater couples were held, at least once in the match, to a score they were not proud of. In a frenzy to reach the bottom first, it was Cheese Eaters Jeff Buesser and Keith Wenger who won the battle to secure the league’s lowest score of the week, with just 76 points to their credit. Whereas Pipe Benders, Derek Schmitz and Ryan Arneson lost only their second and third games to finish with 114 points. That, however, was not the most exciting event of the match. That came in the third round when Cheese Eaters Larry Disch and Bryan Buesser faced Pipe Benders Jerome Krantz and Tiny Zander. At three deals into the game the score was tied at 2. The fourth deal brought the first of six straight made loan hands split equally between the two teams which tied the game at 14 apiece. Then, with the cards dealt for the tenth time of the game, Jerome and Tiny were able to take three of the five tricks to win the game by 1. The Pipe Benders went on to win by 52 points.

Schedule for February 16, 2023: Cheese Eaters @ Express (7:00); Shufflers @ Hay Shakers (7:30); Pranksters @ Uff-Da (7:30); River Rats @ Pipe Benders (7:00); Trolls @ Cowboys (7:00).

Standings: Cowboys, 6-0; Shufflers, 6-0; Hay Shakers, 5-1; Express, 3-3; Pranksters, 3-3; Pipe Benders, 2-4; Uff-Da, 2-4; Cheese Eaters, 1-5; River Rats, 1-5; Trolls, 1-5.