Matt McCarty walked into District 82 Pinball Arcade with a clear mission, and by the end of the D82 Flippin’ Friday Qualify on June 12th, he had left no doubt about who owned the floor. From the opening plunge to the final bonus count, the Neenah, Wisconsin native dictated the pace of the evening. It was a dominant night on the floor—McCarty topped the field on most machines played, putting up the top score on four of his eight games on the way to a decisive first-place finish.
Currently ranked #519 globally and #9 in the Wisconsin NACS standings, McCarty’s victory was a masterclass in consistency. Competing in his 20th event of the season, the win marked his fourth victory of the year, bringing his WPPR haul to an impressive 281.20 points. The Group Match Play format featured four-player groups battling across four rounds, rewarding endurance and adaptability. McCarty delivered exactly that, never finishing lower than second place in any of his round matchups throughout the entire event.
A Classic De Pere Battleground
The stage for this familiar rhythm of a weekly competitive draw was De Pere’s District 82 Pinball Arcade. The venue is legendary among tournament regulars for its immaculate upkeep; broken flippers and malfunctioning targets are practically nonexistent, with maintenance addressed immediately to keep the lineup playing fast and true. The atmosphere provides a pure, classic arcade hum—dim lighting, a mix of modern racers and shooters in the background, and complimentary coffee and water keeping the combatants fueled.
The field of 25 players brought serious heat to the perfectly lit playfields. Every single participant was an IFPA-ranked competitor, carrying a national average rank of 3942. The roster included heavy hitters like Erik Thoren, the strongest player in the room at national #226 and Wisconsin state #5. Thoren, armed with 452.52 WPPR points and eight wins on the year, ensured that any path to the podium would be a grueling one. With an average state rank of #104 among the contenders, the competition was thick and punishing.
Laying Down the Law on Solid State
McCarty’s character arc for the evening began with a forceful statement in the early rounds. He commanded the first round on Data East’s Tales from the Crypt and Williams’ Jungle Lord, picking up crucial seven-point victories to set the tone.
In the second round, McCarty stepped up to Bally’s Paragon, a notoriously brutal widebody from 1979. Survival on Paragon requires building your bonus early, as the 20k to 40k bonus carries over from ball to ball. McCarty navigated the Valley of Demons with precision, putting up another seven-point win in a 35-minute marathon against Robert Wendricks, Brandon Peltier, and Plia Yang.
While McCarty was cruising, fierce battles were raging elsewhere on the floor. In a grueling 34-minute Round 3 match on Williams’ 1964 classic Palooka, Plia Yang grinded out a massive seven-point victory. Yang outlasted Greg Hein, Adam VanDynHoven, and Eddie Smith by masterfully leveraging the drop targets. On Palooka, the strategy hinges on using the four drop targets to advance the center drop target for increased points and a crucial extra ball, which serves as a ball save. Yang executed this game plan flawlessly to secure the top position.
Warp 9.9 on Star Trek
The true climax of the evening occurred in Round 4, when the top contenders found themselves face-to-face on Stern’s 2013 Star Trek (Premium). The 31-minute clash pitted McCarty against Mike Carlson, Gerald Morrison, and Jordan Cappaert. On this machine, maximizing points requires timing your shot for Warp 9.1 or 9.9 to coincide with multiballs, yielding massive double scoring and huge jackpots.
This wasn’t just a battle for tournament points; it was a clash of ongoing rivalries. McCarty hammered the ramps, ultimately securing the seven-point victory over Morrison (five points), Carlson (three points), and Cappaert (one point). The result extended McCarty’s historical head-to-head lead over Morrison to a commanding 13-7. More importantly, the outcome against Carlson proved critical. Carlson, a rising star sitting at IFPA #678 and Wisconsin #28 with 165.23 WPPR points, has been a constant thorn in McCarty’s side. McCarty’s win on Star Trek perfectly leveled their career head-to-head record to a dead-even 9-9 across 17 shared events.
Settling the Scores
McCarty’s path to the top spot was paved with these crucial rivalry victories. Alongside tying Carlson and pulling away from Morrison, he also broke a dead heat with Brandon Peltier. Coming into the night tied 1-1, McCarty edged ahead to 2-1 in their shared competitive history. He also continued to build his edge against Adam VanDynHoven, pushing their record to 6-3, and extended his lead over Greg Hein to 11-6.
When the final groups wrapped up and the points were tallied, the standings reflected the intense battles fought across the arena. Matt McCarty stood alone at the top of the podium. Mike Carlson claimed a hard-fought second place, while Brandon Peltier—a player on a genuine upward trajectory this season, sitting at IFPA #2539—took home third. Peltier’s podium finish added to his 40.74 WPPR points across 14 events this year.
The June 12th D82 Flippin’ Friday delivered exactly what the Wisconsin pinball community expects: pristine machines, fierce competition, and an electric atmosphere. For Matt McCarty, the triumph is a defining moment in an already spectacular season, a testament to his ability to dominate a room and deliver when the flippers flip and the pressure mounts.
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