SOMERS — The third time proved to be the charm for Carl Martens Sr.

A two-time runner-up, Martens knocked down the door Wednesday at Surfside Bowl to capture his first Senior Men’s Division championship in the 46th annual Kenosha News Match Game Tournament.

“This was the best I’ve ever done,” said Martens when asked if if feels good to win that first one. “Yes it does, finally, yes.”

Martens entered the second day of finals with a 75-point lead and led wire-to-wire on Wednesday. His lead got as small as 41 points before ballooning back out to 95 points over Steve Bingham heading into his championship match.

Bingham’s task was to win the final match by 66 pins. His chances took a hit when he left the fourth frame open. Martens re-opened the door by catching a 6-7 split and failing to pick it up in the sixth.

But both bowlers traded strikes over the final six balls and that was enough for Martens to protect his cushion despite a 247-228 loss in the final match.

Martens went 6-2 on Wednesday and had 1,857 pins to finish with a two-day total of 983 points. Bingham went 7-1 and finished second with 937 points. Frank Haselwander was third with 830 points.

Two-time champion Tom Kaddatz was fourth with 814 points. Gary Wolf finished fifth with 754 points.

Defending champion Steve Stone finished 10th with 573 points.

Martens began the night with his only clunker of the tournament.

His lead could have evaporated, but the score was good enough for a 192-179 victory over Bill Harris. With bowlers getting 30 points for a match victory and plus/minus one point for each pin over/under 200, the win netted Martens 22 points.

The first game struggles gave Martens pause from the get-go.

Despite mounting positive evidence as the night went along, Martens wasn’t about to celebrate until the final pin dropped.

“I was nervous,” Martens said. “I always worry about Tom.

“He was right on my heels, but struggled out of the box and that made it a little easier.”

In the second game, Martens beat Kaddatz head-to-head 237-216 to push the two-time champ down the leaderboard.

Bingham jumped up with victories in his first six games. Martens caught an enormous break in Game 5 of the evening against Wolf.

Wolf began with five strikes and followed it up with a spare and three more strikes.

But after leaving the 8-pin on his first ball of the 10th frame, Wolf missed to outside costing him his third ball and having to settle for a 246. Martens, who had two early spares, closed with six consecutive strikes to net a 248 and the all-important 30 points for the match win.

“A little bit of luck helps,” Martens said.

He took full advantage of the break, by rolling a 256 for a victory in Game 6 and fighting through an early open frame to roll a 213 in a Game 7 loss.

His lead increased as Bingham also stumbled in Game 7, suffering a 246-189 loss to Jerry Martin.

“(I had three open frames), two in the seventh game and one (in the eighth),” Bingham said. “I just wasn’t as focused in that seventh game as I was in the other games.”

Martens finished runner-up to Bill Marescalco Jr. at Guttormsen Recreation Center in 2001.

He also finished runner-up to Mike Scherr in 2003 at Surfside. Martens had no qualms with coasting to the finish line after two full days of solid play.

“I had a 95-point lead, but I’d rather have won (the final match),” Martens said. “But I’ll take the win the way I got it.”

Tonight’s action

Becky Tirabassi (449) has a four-point lead over Ashley Willette (444) when the Women’s Division finals resume at 6:30 tonight. Three other bowlers (Jenny Limbach, Nicki Bolyard and Katy Marescalco) are within 92 points of the lead. ... Robert Chatman (202) has a five-point lead over Dick Beltoya (197) with James Mollman (156) not far behind when the Super Senior Men’s Division resumes tonight.