DICK RITGER grabbed the brass ring in his third 1969 appearance in the finals as he won the Greater Buffalo Open. Ritger's previous attempts ended in a third and fourth-place finish. Ritger entered the finals at Buffalo seeded No. 1. In the championship finals he defeated Steve Wallace by a 190-174 count. Wallace was attempting the "go-all-the-way" trick and eliminated Ernie Schlegel, Billy Hardwick and Al Thompson before being stopped by Ritger. THE FINALS | Pos. |  | Name, City/State | Total | Amount | | | 1 | | Dick Ritger, Hartford, Wis. | 190 (1 game) | $6,000 | | 2 | | Steve Wallace, Houston, Tex. | 840 (4 games) | 3,500 | | 3 | | Al Thompson, Cleveland, Ohio | 226 (1 game) | 2,000 | | 4 | | Billy Hardwick, Louisville, Ky. | 190 (1 game) | 1,800 | | 5 | | Ernie Schlegel, New York, N. Y. | 184 (1 game) | 1,600 | |
PLAYOFF RESULTS-Wallace defeated Schlegel, 201-184; Wallace defeated Hardwick, 217-190; Wallace defeated Thompson, 248-226; and in the championship game Ritger defeated Wallace, 190-174.
40-GAME TOTALS | | | Name, City/State | | Pins | | WLT | | + | | Tot | | Amt | | | 1 | | Dick Ritger, Hartford, Wis. | | 8686 | | 10-6-0 | | 500 | | 9186 | | | | 2 | | Al Thompson, Cleveland, O. | | 8657 | | 10-6-0 | | 500 | | 9157 | | | | 3 | | Billy Hardwick, Louisville, Ky. | | 8559 | | 11-4-1 | | 575 | | 9134 | | | | 4 | | Ernie Schelgel, New York, N. Y. | | 8579 | | 11-5-0 | | 550 | | 9129 | | | | 5 | | Steve Wallace, Houston, Tex. | | 8688 | | 7-9-0 | | 350 | | 9038 | | | | *6 | | Ed Lubanski, Oak Park, Mich. | | 8420 | | 9-7-0 | | 450 | | 8870 | | $1,450 | | 7 | | Eddy Patterson, Dallas, Tex. | | 8418 | | 9-7-0 | | 450 | | 8868 | | 1,300 | | 8 | | Mike Limongelo, Babylon, N. Y. | | 8501 | | 6-10-0 | | 300 | | 8801 | | 1,200 | | 9 | | Bob McGregor, Lubbock, Tex. | | 8395 | | 7-7-2 | | 400 | | 8795 | | 1,100 | | 10 | | Gene Rhoda, Valparaiso, Ind. | | 8324 | | 8-8-0 | | 400 | | 8724 | | 1,050 | | 11 | | Gary Brown, Santa Barbara, Calif. | | 8291 | | 8-7-1 | | 425 | | 8716 | | 1,000 | | 12 | | Dick Weber, St. Louis, Mo. | | 8353 | | 7-9-0 | | 350 | | 8703 | | 950 | | 13 | | Don Lemon, Rochester, N. Y. | | 8297 | | 7-7-2 | | 400 | | 8697 | | 900 | | 14 | | Don Johnson, Kokomo, Ind. | | 8414 | | 5-11-0 | | 250 | | 8664 | | 850 | | 15 | | Mike Durbin, Burbank, Calif. | | 8321 | | 6-10-0 | | 300 | | 8621 | | 800 | | 16 | | Dave Soutar, Fresno, Calif. | | 8285 | | 4-12-0 | | 200 | | 8485 | | 750 | |
24-GAME TOTALS | Pos. | | Name, City/State | Total | Amount | | | *17 | | Pete Tountas, Tucson, Ariz. | 5019 | $550 | | 18 | | Larry Laub, San Francisco, Calif. | 5013 | 490 | | 19 | | Jim Certain, Huntsville, Ala. | 5008 | 480 | | 20 | | Jimmy Mack, Dover, N. J. | 5005 | 470 | | 21 | | Bobby Cooper, Houston, Tex. | 5001 | 460 | | 22 | | Bob Collatos, Santa Monica, Calif. | 5000 | 450 | | 23 | | Tim Harahan, Canoga Park, Calif. | 4990 | 440 | | 24 | | Norm Meyers, Los Angeles, Calif. | 4977 | 430 | | 25 | | Tommy Tuttle, Ring, N. C. | 4972 | 420 | | 26 | | Fred Lening, Yardley, Pa. | 4966 | 410 | | 27 | | Vern Downing, San Francisco, Calf. | 4965 | 400 | | 28 | | Jim Penninton, Rossville Ga. | 4958 | 390 | | | | Johnny Guenther, Fresno, Calif. | 4951 | 380 | | 30 | | Nelson Burton Jr., St. Louis, Mo. | 4938 | 370 | | 31 | | Butch Gearhart, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. | 4937 | 360 | | 32 | | Skee Foremsky, El Paso, Tex. | 4924 | 350 | | 33 | | Craig Mueller, Union, N. J. | 4919 | 340 | | 34 | | Bud Horn, Los Angeles, Calif. | 4914 | 330 | | 35 | | Joe Donato, Schenectady, N. Y. | 4913 | 320 | | 36 | | Lamar Keck, Reseda, Calif. | 4909 | 305 | | | | Tommy Evans, Raleigh, N. C. | 4909 | 305 | | 38 | | Marty Piraino, Syracuse, N. Y. | 4903 | 290 | | 39 | | Allie Clarke, Akron, Ohio | 4901 | 280 | | 40 | | Bob Strampe, Detroit, Mich. | 4893 | 270 | | 41 | | Johnny Petraglia, Brooklyn, N. Y. | 4885 | 260 | | 42 | | Dale Seavoy, Birmingham, Mich. | 4875 | 250 | |
Pro-Am Cashers ($50)-Paul Zevgolis, Wayne Zahn, Jimmy Mack, Tommy Evans, Pete Mylenki, Jim Stefanich, Bill Tucker, Wayne Sherian, Jim Certain. 24-Game Qualifying-Limongello, 5284. 16th Low-Eddy Patterson, 5021. *Alternates.
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