Post Messenger Recorder -

The Kleeman Hay Shakers were pushed out of the playoff picture by the Red Mouse Shufflers last Thursday night. Now only the Shufflers and the Norsk Cowboys have a shot at winning the second half of the season. The Shufflers played a tough match against the Hay Shakers. The Shufflers were down by 12 points after the first frame. But by the end of the evening, partners Stan Hook and Loretta Herfel, along with Randy Skogen and Tom Meyer, had raked in 115 points. Randy and Tom’s only loss came at the hands of Al Zimmerman and Jeff Judd. Shufflers Steve Vogt and Ed Chancellor also wanted a piece of the action and chimed in with an additional 110 points for the Shufflers, propelling them to a 31-point victory.

The Cowboys had it a bit easier in their match against the Viking Trolls. Losing only their seventh game to Scott Hook and Kurt Wedig, Ferdie Schmitz and Randy Schmid corralled 112 Trolls for the Cowboys. Teammates Steve Dower and Harold Schlimgen roped another112 Trolls. But it was Dave Wilborn and Heidi Disch that roped the greatest number of Trolls, at 113. With all four Cowboy couples breaking 100, they finished with 78 points more than the Trolls. This week’s match between the Cowboys and the Shufflers will go a long way in determining the second half winners.

Down the tracks in Barneveld, the Ope Haus Express loaded 46 more wheels of cheese than the Ott Haus Cheese Eaters could unload. Dale Herfel and Steve Hoffmaster loaded 114 wedges. But it was Karen Miller and John Scheidegger who completed the load for the Express with 116 wedges loaded, this week’s high score. Their only loss came in the fifth round to Cheese Eaters Larry Disch and Brett Eichelkraut.

Norsk Pranksters Ryan Flaherty and Richard Laufenberg found 115 tricks in their hats to pull on the Red Mouse Uff-Das. Uff-Da partners Curt Herfel and John Baumgartner recorded 113 points while teammates Tom Magnuson and Jim Day could only record 75 points for the team, this week’s low score. The Pranksters, on the other hand, had plenty of tricks up their sleeves and pulled a 37-point win from the hat.

In an extremely close match between the J&M River Rats and Morgan’s Pipe Benders, Rats Scott Keys and Don Doley ate 112 slices of cheese. At the same time, plumbers Mark Losenegger and Tiny Zander bent 110 pipes for the Benders, adding a few twists and turns to the Rats’ path to the cheese. The Pipe Benders led by 31 at the half, but the Rats got into an eating frenzy and climbed their way back to within 13 by the end of the seventh frame. The match came down to the last table. Chris Booth and Ryan Arneson had to score at least 14 points to secure the win for the Pipe Benders, otherwise the win would belong to the Rats. So, what did Chris and Ryan do? They scored 14 points, just enough for a Pipe Bender 1-point victory.

Schedule for February 23, 2023: Cheese Eaters @ River Rats (8:00); Uff-Da @ Pipe Benders (7:00); Express @ Pranksters (7:30); Cowboys @ Shufflers (7:00); Trolls @ Hay Shakers (7:30).

Standings: Cowboys, 7-0; Shufflers, 7-0; Hay Shakers, 5-2; Pranksters, 4-3; Express, 4-3; Pipe Benders, 3-4; Uff-Da, 2-5; Cheese Eaters, 1-6; River Rats, 1-6; Trolls, 1-6.