by Janet Larson

     The Elder's Class A was noticeably lacking a number of recent year regulars such as Henry Greenwaldt, Gene Eitriem and 2019's defending Champion Bill Danielson. Jim Aleckson had signed up, but was forced to withdraw at the last moment, leaving room for five move-ups from the lower classes all of which would come from Class B.

     Six of the pitchers in Class B pitched over their averages. Richard Bussey had both the highest percent and the highest over his average, with a ringer percent of 55.36. He would be followed into Class A by Dick Dvorak, John Pierce, Peter Heltunen and Jim Syverson. Unfortunately Jim never knew he made the 5th move-up spot and had already left for home. The other four would join the three seeded pitchers, Jerry Hokkala, Ray Volkers and Jeff Washburn.

     Ray, Jerry, Richard and Jeff all made it through the first four rounds relatively unscathed. Jeff had suffered just one loss to Dick in round three. However, the ringers would not come for either Jeff or Dick in the last three rounds, leaving them in the dust. Peter actually pitched over his average for the tournament and put up a good fight, but ultimately was no match for the top heavy hitters. John took an extreme beating by the big guys, getting hit with 76.47% from Jerry in round two, 67.65% from Ray in round three and 60.42% in the fourth round from Richard. John tied Jeff with three wins, edging him out slightly on ringer percent to capture fourth place, not bad for his first appearance in the Elder's Championship.

     Richard was on a roll, this was his weekend to shine. Entering Class B with 47.71%, he advanced to enter the championship competition 7.65% higher than that, but that was not enough for him. His only two losses in Class A would be to Ray and Jerry, he saved his best game for last, pitching 71.43% against Jeff and finished his second tournament in two days with 60.48%, 12.77% higher than where he started, placing him on the podium in third place.

     Ray also saved his best game for last, which was exactly where he needed it. Jerry and Ray both entered their last game of the day undefeated, with Jerry ahead of Ray based on ringer percent. Although it wasn't the longest game of the day, Jerry was part of that record in game five with Richard going 76 shoes, Ray and Jerry would battle it out through 66 shoes. After six prior appearances in the Elder's Championship, Ray finally was able to claim his first Elder Champion title. The best finish he had achieved in the past was second place to Sig Armitage back in 2016. Ray is a great example of perseverance and never giving up on a dream. Ray was also the recipient of the Edi Holland sportsmanship award this year, which goes to show what a class act he truly is. Congratulations to Ray Volkers, 2021 MN Elder's Division Champion!