Under the low, atmospheric lighting and glowing backglasses of District 82 Pinball Arcade in De Pere, Wisconsin, Tuesday night belonged entirely to Armod Mohammed. Across 232 grueling minutes of Group Match Play competition on June 23, 2026, Mohammed stepped up to the silver ball and put up big scores against an intimate, hungry field of twelve unranked contenders. While dedicated pinheads know that small twelve-player brackets leave zero margin for error, Mohammed never looked rattled as he engineered a dominant baseline that forced the rest of the floor to play his pace.
Mohammed’s championship path was defined by sheer floor coverage and an encyclopedic command of machines spanning nearly fifty years of pinball history. On the way to hoisting the first-place trophy, Mohammed put up the top score on four of the eight distinct tables he touched all evening. It was a wire-to-wire offensive clinic that resonated through the dings and flashing lights of Erik Thoren’s pristine Wisconsin venue—a spot celebrated by regional NACS competitors and casual flippers alike for its top-tier machine maintenance and hospitality.
Mohammed Conquers Creature from the Black Lagoon
Mohammed wasted no time establishing his physical presence in Round 1 on Bally’s 1992 silver-screen classic, Creature from the Black Lagoon. Drawing a heavyweight opening group, Mohammed stared down Joe Widi—statistically the strongest overall athlete entering the tournament field—and delivered a decisive first-place finish for 7.00 match points. Demonstrating elite playfield vision, Mohammed exploited the machine’s strobing KISS letters off the skill shot and pounded the center Move Your Car shot to build an unassailable lead. He followed up that opening punch with a calculated second-place finish on Bally’s 1977 Mata Hari, finishing just behind rival Andy Yao.
Round 2 tested Mohammed’s mental toughness when the bracket rotated to Chicago Gaming’s Attack From Mars (Remake Special) and Bally’s 1979 solid-state KISS. While Nelson Omuto captured the hill on Attack From Mars, Mohammed played clean, low-risk flipper control to secure second place and another 5.00 points. The only true blemish on Mohammed’s scorecard came moments later with a harsh fourth-place drain on KISS. Yet, true athletes are measured by how they handle bad bounces; Mohammed leaned heavily on his direct individual matchups, ultimately finishing ahead of Yao in three out of their four shared games across the evening to protect his upper-bracket status.
A Flawless Third Round Floor Sweep
When the four-player brackets reset for Round 3, Mohammed slammed the accelerator to the mat and authored a flawless, undefeated surge. Assigned to Stern’s modern 2020 rocker Led Zeppelin (Pro) and Bally’s 1980 classic Skateball, Mohammed proved that his mechanical timing transcended eras. On Skateball, where the strategic meta demands dropping the SKATE target bank to cash in massive points at the right saucer, Mohammed picked apart the playfield with surgical precision. He buried Yao, Omuto, and Renita Dorsey to take maximum points on the table.
He immediately mirrored that relentless energy on Led Zeppelin (Pro). Navigating the table’s rapid combo setups and left-ramp multiball locks, Mohammed once again locked down position one for another 7.00 points. By the time the third round’s final bonus tallies clicked across the digital displays, Mohammed had seized undisputed control of the leaderboard. Heading into the final stretch, the rest of the twelve-player bracket was no longer playing for the win; they were surviving for podium scraps.
The Twenty-Minute Marathon on KISS (Pro)
The entire tournament narrative crystallized in Round 4 during a heavyweight, twenty-minute four-player faceoff on Stern’s 2015 KISS (Pro). The arena brought together the field’s top trio—Mike Hamilton, Armod Mohammed, and David Shimenko—battling alongside Ali Moll in a dramatic test of endurance. Hamilton played the game of his life, utilizing short plunges to feed the flippers and attacking the Demon multiball locks with reckless abandon while his ball save timer ticked down. Hamilton’s aggressive push earned him position one and 7.00 points, leaving Mohammed in a gritty fight for second place.
Rather than forcing high-risk shots to chase Hamilton, Mohammed displayed veteran composure. He banked the second-place finish and 5.00 points, keeping Shimenko (who took third with 3.00 points) and Moll (fourth place, 1.00 point) firmly in his rearview mirror. That single match result sealed Shimenko’s fate, capping off Mohammed’s head-to-head record against the third-place finisher at a perfect 2-0 on the night. Stepping over to Bally’s 1981 Vector for his final game, Mohammed took a victory lap, notching his fourth arena win of the night over Hamilton to put an emphatic exclamation point on the tournament.
Hamilton’s Grit and Mohammed’s De Pere Coronation
When the flippers finally fell silent amid the free coffee cups and welcoming chatter of De Pere’s premier arcade, Mohammed stood alone at the summit. While Mohammed hoisted the crown on the back of his four-table sweep, the unranked bracket proved that local competitive pinball is alive with serious athletic grit. Mike Hamilton earned hard-fought respect for an ironclad runner-up performance—placing second in all four rounds—while David Shimenko’s tactical consistency secured him the final step on the box. It was a classic Tuesday night clash in Wisconsin, immortalized by the final podium standings on the floor:
Final Podium:
- 1st Place: Armod Mohammed
- 2nd Place: Mike Hamilton
- 3rd Place: David Shimenko
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