by Mark Lacombe
CDC Tour card holder Paul Schwindamann defeated Curtis Strite 10-6 in the finals to win the first ever title of the Dart Madness Finale on Sunday November 24th, at 94 Bistro in St. Charles, MO.. This event pitted the top 64 shooters by in the standings from the years 8 events.
Paul the 31 year old from the Kansas City area defeated Greg Asher (5-1), Dave Ryan from Kansas City (5-2), Dave Opperman (6-0), and Osage Beach’s Chris Whitfield (7-2) on Saturday to work his way into the semifinals on Sunday afternoon.
In the semifinals Paul played 24 year old Brendan Dickerson from Cadet Missouri. After Brendan cut the lead to 3-2, Paul came back and won three legs on the spin to take a commanding 6-2 advantage as he broke Brendan’s throw in leg seven. Brendan who was 23-1 on Saturday, just could not seem to muster any big shots like he did on Saturday. In the eleventh leg Paul shot a 15 darter for a 8-3 win and into the finals.
Curtis Strite 41, from Hillsboro, MO. the only number one seed remaining earned his path to the finals defeated Chad Lowry (5-0), Springfield Missouri’s Jeremy Lantrip (6-5), and Jordan Meyer (7-6) on Saturday to earn his semifinal match against the hot Brent Baker. Brent who has been shooting lights out this month took leg three to cut Curtis’ lead to 2-1 before the southpaw Curtis won four on the spin to take a commanding 6-1 one lead on this way to an 8-3 win. One of the big keys to Curtis’ performance was his 31% check out advantage over Brent.
Three of the Four Number 1 Seeds Fall
Brad Wethington, Eric E-Dubb Robinson, and Eric Gregory were the number one seeds who failed to survive up to semifinals. Brad was defeated by Tyler Bower in the top 16 round 6-3, Brad missed some key doubles early in his match and fell behind 4-0. Brad’s checkout percentage was 13%, compared to Tyler’s 30%.
Eric Gregory was defeated by Chris Whitfield in the top 16 round also in a tight 6-5 match. After Chris had taken a 4-1 lead, Eric came roaring back with three straight 17 darters and a twenty darter to take a slim 5-4 lead only to have Chris win the last two legs with 20 and 22 darts.
Eric E-Dubb was the other top seed who was denied a trip to the semifinals, he was defeated by Brent Baker in the Quarterfinals 8-3. Brent has had a great month of darts in Dart Players St. Louis league plus the Dart Madness finale, Brent was 43-24 in the month leading up to the finale. Then went 23-10 on Saturday to advance to the semifinals on Sunday.
This was the first of many Dart Madness Finale’s, it has been a dream of Dave Madison’s for at least the past ten years. With the eight monthly events leading up to the finale, it gave everyone a chance to compete in a long format singles event. Big congratulations and Thank you to Dave for all his hard work on making this first year a memorable one.
Fun facts and Stats
First 180 – Mark Arnold
Most 180’s – 4 by Jordan Meyer
Total 180’s – 16
Highest Avg. – 72.2 by Paul Schwindamann
Highest First 9 Darts Avg. – 82.1 by Curtis Strite
Highest Checkout – 144 by Paul Schwindamann
Highest Checkout % – 37% (41/111) by Paul Schwindamann
Best Leg – 13 darters by Brendan Dickerson (2), Eric Robinson, Curtis Strite, and Eric Gregory