Eau Claire Earlybird

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Saturday May 8, 2010 Carson Park Courts Eau Claire, WI The Eau Claire Earlybird horseshoe tournament is a NHPA sanctioned tournament conducted by the Eau Claire Horseshoe Club. The event is a warm-up to the upcoming pitching season and provides pitchers from around the midwest an opportunity to participate in a sanctioned tournament event and apply the average for entry into the 2010 World Horseshoe Tournament at Cedar Rapids, IA. The schedule is tentative based on the number of entries. All games will be 40 shoes with 8 pitchers per class. Bad weather conditions might alter the pitching format to 30 shoe games. Plans call for the first round to start at 9:00 a.m. with the second round beginning at 12:00. Classes may or may not be mixed, again depending on the number of entries. You will receive a copy of the pitching schedule. Entry fee for the Eau Claire Earlybird is $5.00. Pitchers will keep their own scores while using the self scoring scoreboards at the courts. There will be sanctioned tournament patches but no other trophies or cash awards. Food and Refreshments will be available at the courts. Entry deadline is Saturday, April 24, 2010. The Chippewa Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau has provided the Eau Claire Horseshoe Club with a listing of hotels/motels that are providing pitchers special group rates for their stay. Click the following link for a listing of the hotels/motels, their price and the phone number to call to make any arrangements. Hotel/Motel Information-2010 Send the completed entry form below with $5.00, your 2010 NHPA card number and your current pitching average to: Laurie Dolezel 911 Daniels Avenue Altoona, WI 54720 552-8070 lauradolezel@att.net   Laurie has all entries in, schedule is set and all is ready to go. Click here to download the file to review your class assignment, others you will be pitching against and your scheduled time. 2010 Pitching Schedule - Classes, Times, Courts

 

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"Eau Claire Earlybird - 2010"

EARLYBIRD TOURNAMENT May 8, 2010

It was NOT an ideal day to pitch horseshoes outdoors with early morning temperature near freezing & intermittent light rain/snow/sleet & some sunshine throughout the morning. The 46 entries were reduced by several withdrawals & no-shows.

When Gert Wilcziek decided not to pitch in Class A (due to wet & slippery conditions on the pitching platforms), Jim Bilderbach took
advantage of the situation by beating Norm Gage in the final game to go 5-0 & 57%. Norm claimed 2nd at 4-1, 56.5%, & Jim Sheehan taking 3rd at 3-2 & 40%.

In Class B, John Bauer walked away with 1st place at 4-1 & 44%. Lonny Trangsrud recorded high ringer % for the class at 44.8% & claimed 2nd place at 3-2. Dean Chaffee, also at 3-2, took 3rd with 36%.

Jerry Oleskow waltzed to 1st at 5-0 & 43% in Class C. Randy Barnes finished at 4-1, 36.5% to take 2nd, while Tournament Director Laurie Dolezel took 3rd by ringer % at 2-1/2 - 2-1/2 & 29%.

Tammy (Wild Woman) Wild edged out Dave Paul by ringer % to win Class D. Tammy went 4-1, 35.2% with Dave having 4-1 & 32.4%. Eau Claire Club member Stub Hazen took 3rd at 3-2 & 24.8%.

Class E was probably the most interesting class of the day with the top 3 pitchers finishing with 4-1 records. The winners were: 1st place: George Eckstrom, 28%. 2nd place: Tom Bowe, 26.8%. 3rd place: Tony Matalis, 25.2%.

Stan Fox claimed 1st place in Class F with a 4-1 record & 20.8 ringer %. Three pitchers had 3-2 records with Ray Mallo taking 2nd at 22% & Larry Danielson claiming 3rd at 20%.

In 5-person Class G, Frank Espinoza edged out Frank Johnson for 1st place. Both had 4-1 records with Espinoza throwing 16% while Johnson recorded 12.5%. Jeff Chesmore, with the class high ringer % of 20, took 3rd at 3-2.

Class H featured Dennis Kieser's 8-year-old twin grandchildren, Alex & Kaitlyn Tyznik pitching in their first tournament. Alex beat Caryn Davis in the final game to take 1st place at 5-0 & 15%. Caryn claimed 2nd place at 4-1, 7%. Eau Claire Club's V.P. Jerry Kooiker took 3rd place at 3-2 & 3%.

Due to the inclement weather it was decided that if ties occurred for 1st place in any class, that the 1st place winner would be determined by ringer %.

Sometimes a mistake provides a good laugh for everyone. When Les Karpiel went to pick up his name card from the clubhouse & place it on the scoreboard, he was surprised to see it showed his last name as PIEL & his first name as LESKAR. (Apparently the handwritten original schedule showed: LESKAR PIELso a new name card was made with PIEL as the last name.) When is the last time you knew someone with a first name of Leskar?

John Dolezel
Publicity Chairman
Eau Claire Horseshoe Club

Ringer developed by Steve Curry

Dennis Kieser