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The World Team Candlepin Bowling Championships will feature a bit of a new look mixed with the old when the 19th tournament begins Tuesday at the Bangor-Brewer Bowling Lanes in Brewer.
The new will be the rebirth of an old team, USA East, featuring veteran Maine championship bowlers Charlie Milan III of Brewer and Russ Nealey of Beech Hill. USA East was one of the original teams in the 24-team tourney when it began in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Milan has brought back the team after parting with the Maine Heat, a talented group of bowlers that captured the title in 2001.
“The Maine Heat is down to six men. They don’t need two old guys on there with them,” said Milan, who will now be competing against his son, James Milan, a Maine Heat perennial. Nealey will also be competing against his son, Nate Nealey.
“We just filled in for them when they needed a rest. It was time for us to leave and let the kids do their thing. They’ll be real tough,” Milan added.
The bowlers will warm up for team competition with a singles knockout on Monday. Team competition goes through the week, capped off with Saturday’s noon championship with the champ taking home $10,000.
The tourney alternates each year between a Canadian site and Brewer. It traditionally features 12 teams from the Canadian provinces and 12 from the New England states, but a Nova Scotia team dropped out this year and Milan took the opportunity to bring back USA East. That team will also feature Chris Sargent of Haverill, Mass., one of the top bowlers of past world team tourneys.
“He wasn’t coming back with his old team [Travel Anywhere]. I didn’t ask why, I just asked if he wanted to bowl with us,” Milan said. “He said he wasn’t sure what day he could show up, I just said show up when you can.”
Also competing for USA East will be Eben Hobbs of Norway, Dave Vigue of Waterville, and Walt Bowden of Newport. Milan, 69, understands the rigors of the tourney, which features three, three-string matches each day, but expects his team to compete.
“They’ll know we’re there. We’re just not a team-filler,” he said.
His team and others in the tourney will need to be at their best to knock off defending champion MacLaughin Truck and Trailer of Halifax, Nova Scotia, which has won three of the last four tourneys. MacLaughlin’s has won with consistent efforts from Rob Henderson, Chris Hollett, Sean O’Flaherty, Pat Burchill, Tim Carrigan, Dave Sommerton, and Tony MacLaughlin.
The Maine Heat will look to get back the elusive team title behind Chip Carson of Bangor, Tim Matero of Rockland, Shawn Morrison of Brewer, Nate Nealey of Westbrook, and Dick O’Connell of Brockton, Mass. Another title contender is Pelham Electric of Halifax, featuring Matt McPhee, who had a 134 per-string average in last year’s tourney.
Other top teams are: Massachusetts entries Travel Anywhere (Shawn Baker, Jeff Charette, Mike Morgan, Dave Richards, Gary Carrington and Bill Treeful) and Maria’s Sub (Mike Cuccia, Craig Holbrook, Billy Travers, Bob Whitcomb, John Long, Rich Boganno and Jimmy Powers).
Several other Maine teams will also be competing and the top contender may be Vacationland Lanes of Saco with bowlers Jim Woodsum, Francis Beaulieu, Jim St. Ours, Kevin Sparks, Jason Sparks, Steve Goozie, and brothers Ray and Bert Dube. Other Maine entries include Getchell Brothers of Brewer (Elbow Dority, Roger White, Rich Arey, Wayne Hand, Steve Jameson, Kevin Grant, and Mike Harnish) and Midcoast Maine of Rockland (Gary Cormier, Glen Ares, Rich Grasse, Gary Keating, Jason Kaler, Scott Sirois, and Eric Deneault).
The tourney format will consist of two, 12-team divisions, Holiday Inn and Varney’s. The divisions are decided by draw with matches each day 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A team receives two points for each string it wins and two more for winning the match. The two top teams in each division receive a bye in Friday’s first round of playoffs.
The tourney format and competition keep bowlers returning each year, Milan said.
“They like the luck of the draw. We could seed by average, but the bowlers like this better. It’s worked for 19 years,” he said.
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