Despite a large field of games in week seven of the Carder Motors Playoff Payoff, several individuals had banner weeks. What no one had was a week they could claim better than anyone else.

 

Instead, there were nine individuals that finished with the same record at the top of the heap. And of those nine, Kim Wilson walks away as the winner thanks to a blind draw of the staff of Bridgeport Parks and Recreation.

 

Wilson and eight others finished with identical marks of 28-4 this week. Thanks to the prep picking skills and the good fortune, Wilson takes home the weekly prize, which is a gift certificate from Mountaineer World that is situated just off Interstate 79 and below the Meadowbrook Mall as part of the Shops of Benny’s Place. Wilson needs to contact Hannah Cantrell by emailing hannah@connect-bridgeport.com to claim the prize. Cantrell will then get in touch with Wilson no later than Monday of next week, but likely prior to that.

 

Wilson finished the week 28-4 and had company. A.J. DeFazio, Michael Mann, David Wagner, Mike Nicewarner, Dwight Bullough, Jeff Wright, Gene Gladden and Jim Gerst also missed just four games. It should be noted that the Baltimore-Cleveland game was eliminated since it was listed twice and multiple individuals picked different teams.

 

While those individuals were all tied at the top, there were 16 who finished tied for the No. 10 position and rounded out the top 25. The group of Zachary Markley, Henry McDaniel, Scott Price, Chris Oliverio, Janet Hathaway, Adam Heaster, Aaron Mann, Tom Brown, John Oldaker, Rick Crowley, Chris Kerr, Scott Strosnider, Matt Ash, Brent Kimble, David Gillot, and Jimmy Stutler all finished the week 27-5.

 

For the second straight week, Scott Price is the overall leader. Price has a 175-39 (81.78 percent) record, but has Dwight Bullough right on his heels. Bullough is at 174-40 (81.31 percent), while Patsy Sabatelli is in third place at 172-42 (80.73 percent). Aaron Mann comes in at the No. 4 spot with a record of 171-43 (79.91 percent).

 

The first tie comes in at the No. 5 position as last year’s champion Kevin Carbacio is joined by Michael Mann with the same 170-44 ranking (79.44 percent). The first big tie is at No. 7 where the group of A.J. DeFazio, Janet Hathaway, Jamie Guy, Robert Marra, Jeff Muller and Jason Hartman come in at 169-45 (78.97 percent). Four more individuals are tied at No. 13 as Dan McNamee, Jeff Wright, Adam Holbert and Louis  Aragona stand at 168-46 (78.5 percent).

 

At No. 17, the trio of Doug Marquette, Andrew Banko and Matt Sickles all come in at 167-47 (78.04 percent). Brent Kimble stands alone at No. 20 with a 166-48 record (77.57 percent), while the group of Danny Knight, Doug Comer and Brian Martin all finish up tied for No. 21 with an overall showing of 165-49 (77.1 percent). Rounding out the top 25 is a four-way dead heat at the No. 24 spot with Jay Khohe, Kelly Ayoob, Michael Ferrari and two-time champion Hugh Gainer all coming in a 164-50 (76.64 percent).

 

Those individuals are the frontrunners for the overall prizes for the top three finishers. This year's overall winner will have the choice of an overnight golf package at the Lakeview Resort in Monongalia County. Along with the overnight stay, this prize also includes two rounds of golf with a cart, dinner and breakfast. Other prizes include an assortment of area gift cards, which currently include gift certificates to Mia Margherita and Meagher’s Irish Pub, both located at Charles Pointe. Once again, there will be a $500 gift card from the Meadowbrook Mall up for grabs

 

Even if you haven’t participated, you can still compete for weekly prizes. So how do you get involved? If you are registered on Connect-Bridgeport.com, you can pick immediately just by signing in. If you are not registered go to the top of the page at www.connect-bridgeport.com and click on the "Sign Up" icon on the top right hand side of the home page. Once registered, you are free to pick.

 

Each week, a story will detail the weekly winners as well as the overall leaders for the prizes. This year, the weekly winner will receive a gift card to either Mountaineer World or Mountaineer Grille (depending on the week). In the event of a tie, the winner will be chosen by a blind draw by a staff member working at the Benedum Civic Center.

 

Individuals can make their picks for Friday’s games and can change them until 6 p.m. Friday. Games that are listed on Saturday and Sunday can be entered and changed as many times as necessary until 11 a.m. each day of the picks.

 

Unfortunately, there are occasional schedule changes - usually on the prep football side - that staff does not catch; usually games moved to Thursday. There are also occasional mistakes with the proper teams playing each other. As has been the case in the past, each person will either be given a win for those games when there are schedule changes we miss or a mistake on our end or a or they will simply not be counted for the weekly and final standings.