Ebonite All Stars Win Ace Mitchell Team Challenge

Kelly Kulick, Mike Shady, Marc McDowell, Dave Wodka and Jason Couch take home the Ace Mitchell Team Challenge Title!

Ebonite All Stars defeat a very strong field and take home the inaugural Ace Mitchell Team Challenge Friday night at Beaver Vu Bowl in Dayton Ohio.

This elite team was handpicked by Ebonite's brand manager Ed Gallagher.  Leading off was 3 time Women's US Open Champion Kelly Kulick.  Bowling second and third were USBC Eagle teammates Mike Shady and Marc McDowell.  PBA Hall of Famer Jason Couch anchored the team with PBA Champion Dave Wodka setting up Couch in the 4 hole.

It was a narrow victory for the Ebonite All Stars. Get R Dun finished just 18 pins behind in second. 

The first place money was split between both teams because an "All Star" team won the event.  It was stipulated in the rules that if one of the All Star teams won the event, the highest finishing amateur team would split the prize with the All Star team.  Both teams received $5,000.

The entire event was supposed to be streamed in full HD by my team at InsideBowling.com, however a night of constant internet woes prevented the ability to stream for the majority of the night.  Brian Burkhardt was on hand to address the situation and actually found a solution by switching our live feed to the Live Stream service as opposed to our UStream channel.  It was a hectic night for sure and something that I hope we never have to experience again.

Along with the internet woes, lane scheduling mis-understandings caused for parts of the 2nd game to be re-bowled because teams moved incorrectly.

All in all, 41 teams participated for a chance to win $10,000 and the big names showed up in droves.  Reigning PBA Player of the Year Sean Rash had his ESPY award displayed behind his pair as his wife and mother were on hand to cheer him on.  Along with Rash, current and former touring players Jason Couch, Johnny Petraglia, Ryan Ciminelli, Parker Bohn III, Brian Kretzer, Carolyn Dorin Ballard, Del Ballard, Rhino Page, Ryan Shafer, Jeff Carter, Shannon Pluhowsky, Wayne Webb, Joe Ciccone, Bob Learn Jr., Tom Hess, Dick Allen, Liz Johnson, were all on hand participating.

We only have one saved broadcast from this night and it can be found here.  At 1:11 in to the broadcast, I have a chance to sit down and talk with Marc McDowell immediately after he finished bowling his last baker game.  

A lot of hard work into this event by Scott Shreve from Ace Mitchell and Billy Eysoldt from the Proprietor's Cup.  I commend them on their efforts and really think they did an excellent job getting the elite bowlers to participate.

Full Standings:

Join myself and Tim Burg from Above180.com Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for more live coverage from Beaver Vu Bowl as the Proprietor's Cup qualifying gets underway.  To view the live stream visit our IBTV Live page.