Vancouver, Wash. -- The Northwest Senior Tour (NWST) Masters took place over the weekend at Husted’s Hazel Dell Lanes, bringing in 74 bowlers for two days of competition. The tournament featured a qualifying round on Saturday, followed by double elimination match play on Sunday.

Qualifying kicked off with some high scores right out of the gate. Kevin Henderson set the pace in Game 1 with a 279, just ahead of Eric Parker’s 278 and John Gustafson and Scott Halvarson, who both shot 267. By Game 2, Jodey Rees jumped into the top spot after posting a 279, while Parker held on to second with a 243. Jimmy Dillingham’s 268 moved him into third, with Clyde DeLoach and Henderson rounding out the top five.

Rees maintained his lead after three games, but Blaine Weninger made his move in Game 4 with a 257 to take over the top qualifier spot. Meanwhile, Craig Tuholski rolled the tournament’s only perfect 300, pushing him into 11th place. Weninger continued to hold the top spot through the next three games, but after a 206 in Game 7, his lead was cut to just three pins over Dillingham. The final game of qualifying saw Weninger solidify his number one seed with a 290, while John West’s 269 moved him up to second. Mike Arronson, who had been steady all day, made his first appearance in the top five at third place with a 255, followed by Dillingham in fourth and Parker in fifth. The top 16 bowlers advanced to Sunday’s double elimination bracket play.

Sunday’s bracket play opened with three of the top five qualifiers getting knocked out in the first round. The biggest upset came when 16-seed Clyde DeLoach eliminated top-seeded Blaine Weninger, 544 to 449. John West, the second seed, had no trouble moving on, defeating Todd Fieken 567 to 441. Fourteenth-seeded Craig Tuholski pulled off another surprise, taking down third-seeded Mike Arronson, while Michael Karch, seeded twelfth, knocked out Parker.

With early exits from several top qualifiers in the winners bracket, bowlers in the consolation bracket had to battle to stay in contention. Weninger rebounded to defeat Henderson, Parker took down Myers, and Arronson outlasted Gustafson. Meanwhile, in the winners bracket, DeLoach kept his momentum going, beating Rees 433 to 326, while Karch edged out Dillingham. West stayed strong with a close win over Blair, and Tuholski advanced past Corwin.

The road to the finals saw more upsets. Weninger’s tournament came to an end after a loss to Corwin, while Arronson stayed alive by defeating Rees. Corwin then eliminated Blair, and Arronson moved past Dillingham.

In the winners bracket, DeLoach continued his run as the underdog, defeating Karch 435 to 414 to secure a spot in the finals. West dominated his semifinal match against Tuholski, winning 516 to 377, sending Tuholski and Karch to the consolation bracket to try to stay in the tournament. Corwin took down Karch 441 to 411, and Tuholski bounced back to eliminate Arronson 494 to 466. Corwin then defeated Tuholski to stay in the fight.

In the winners bracket final, DeLoach pulled off another win, beating West 470 to 446 and punching his ticket to the championship match. West dropped into the consolation final but responded with a dominant 482 to 417 win over Corwin to earn a rematch with DeLoach.

With DeLoach undefeated, West needed to win twice to claim the title. He got off to a strong start in the first match, taking down DeLoach 484 to 430 to force a winner-take-all final. The last match of the tournament was the closest of the day, with West narrowly defeating DeLoach 469 to 459 to capture the NWST Masters title.

West took home $750 and earned an entry into the USBC Senior Masters Tournament. Tournament Director Sami Morris thanked Husted’s Hazel Dell Lanes for hosting, along with sponsors John Huggett with Lovely Tire & Wheel and Brian Garland with Brands of Brunswick. The next NWST event is set for March 9 at Park Lanes for the 40, 50, 60 tournament.