Professional Bowlers Association

PBA members will compete for 10 automatic invitations to bowl in the 2016 DHC PBA Japan Invitational during qualifying rounds in the BowlmorAMF U.S. Open and the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, PBA Deputy Commissioner Kirk von Krueger has announced.

In addition, one additional invitation will be extended to a PWBA member based on similar qualifying.

For PBA members, the 10 automatic invitations will be based on total pinfall for 16 qualifying games in the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, Oct. 20-22, at South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas plus 24 qualifying games during the BowlmorAMF U.S. Open Nov. 2-8 at AMF Garland Lanes in Garland, Texas. The one automatic PWBA invitation will be based on qualifying pinfall during the XF South Point Las Vegas Open plus qualifying pinfall from the BowlmorAMF Women’s U.S. Open Aug. 31-Sept. 6 at Brunswick Zone Carolier in North Brunswick. N.J.

PBA star Chris Barnes is invited as the defending champion. First prize in 2015 was roughly US$43,000 (Barnes won an additional US$43,000 for bowling a 300 game during the stepladder finals, which aired live, world-wide on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel). Additional details about the DHC PBA Japan Invitational, scheduled for January in Tokyo, will be announced later.

The PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open is a part of the new PBA Fall Classic, a multi-event program that will take place Oct. 19-26 at South Point’s new Bowling Plaza. Included will be the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship, PBA Team Challenge (a new five-player team event) and PBA West/Northwest Region Challenge and PBA50 events. Players can enter each event individually. For complete entry information, visit pba.com and click on the “schedules” tab: (http://news.pba.com/page/South-Point-Bowling-Plaza-Fall-Classic-Schedule.aspx).

2016 USBC MASTERS SET FOR INDIANAPOLIS; SENIOR MASTERS RETURNS TO VEGAS

USBC has announced the 2016 USBC Masters will be held at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis Feb. 7-14 while the 2016 USBC Senior Masters will return to Las Vegas June 19-25, hosted by Sam’s Town Bowling Center.
The Masters, first was contested in 1951, made it’s only previous appearance in Indianapolis in 1974 when it was held at the Indiana Convention Center alongside the USBC Open Championships. Australia’s Jason Belmonte will return in 2016 to try for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Masters title.
The Senior Masters made its debut in 1993 as a showcase for bowlers ages 50 and older. PBA and USBC Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli is the defending champion.

NEXT ON XF: PBA TOUR TITLE AT STAKE IN GENE CARTER PRO SHOP EAST CLASSIC

Next up on Xtra Frame will be the Xtra Frame PBA Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Eastern Classic from Mid-County Bowling and Entertainment Center in Middletown, Del., Aug. 22-23, with a PBA Tour title and a $15,000 first prize on the line. Also on the weekend Xtra Frame schedule is live coverage of the PWBA Minnesota Open from Island Xtreme Bowl in Welch, Minn., Friday and Saturday.

Wrapping up the August schedule will be the PWBA Detroit Open from Super Bowl in Canton, Mich., Aug. 28-29.

Bowling fans who want to sample Xtra Frame can subscribe on a three-day (72-hour) basis for only $3.99. Fans can lock in the entire August package with a full month Xtra Frame subscription for only $7.99. But PBA’s best package is the 12-month XF Season Ticket for $64.99, or $5.41 per month. To sign up, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.

RONNIE RUSSELL TO TRY PGA’S “Q SCHOOL”

Three-time PBA Tour titlist Ronnie Russell of Marion, Ind., describing himself as a plus “4-ish” handicap golfer – the “other side” of zero, is going to give the Professional Golf Association’s Q School a shot this fall in an attempt to earn the right to play on PGA’s Web.com Tour.

“It’s something I’ve thought about doing for a long time, and I’ve improved a great deal over the past couple of years, so I decided to give it a try,” Russell said during the PBA-PBA50 South Shore Doubles event in Hammond, Ind., recently. “It’s a complicated and difficult qualifying process, but I’m hoping to make it out of the first group and maybe earn the right to play in a couple of web.com events. It won’t interfere with my bowling at all unless I make it to the final round, which conflicts with the (PBA) World Series (of Bowling VII), but I’ll worry about that if I make it that far.”

Russell, an outstanding all-around athlete during his high school days, was asked if his recent success in PBA competition has translated to confidence in golf. “No question about that,” he said.

Russell plays a lot of golf with fellow Indiana PBA star EJ Tackett, who lives about 20 miles away and who also plays at a very high level, Russell said. While Tackett – who ranks himself as a “plus-2 handicap” player – thinks Russell has what it takes, Tackett doesn’t plan to take the same route at this point.

“When Ronnie’s game is sharp, he has as good a chance as anyone,” Tackett said. “It’s a matter of doing it at the right time. He’s as good as a lot of PGA players, but you have to perform well at the right time to make it.

“I’ve thought about it, too, but I’m not going to do it this year,” Tackett added. “To do what I’d need to do in golf, I’d have to give up bowling, and that’s not something I want or am willing to do.”

DANNY WISEMAN, RHINO PAGE, BALLARD FAMILY SPECIAL EVENTS ON TAP

The 7th annual Rhino Page and Friends “Lace Up” to Strike Out Crohn’s & Colitis Fundraiser is set for Saturday, Sept. 26, from 7 until 10 p.m. at South Levittown Lanes in Levittown, N.Y. The fundraising event, organized after Page befriended young Tyler Cacioppo during a 2009 pro-am event, has raised more than $160,000 to combat the disease. For information on how to participate in the event, visit www.strikeoutcrohns.com.

The 4th annual Danny Wiseman Youth Scholarship Tournament will be held Sunday, Oct. 11, at AMF Country Club Lanes in Baltimore, and is already sold out with a capacity field of 152 youth bowlers signed up. Bowlers who would like to sign up on the waiting list must fill out an online entry form and hope for a vacancy: http://dannywisemanbowling.linkedupradio.com/pages/online-entry.

PBA Hall of Famer Del Ballard Jr. and PWBA Tour champion wife Carolyn Dorin-Ballard will host their annual Ballard Vs. The Big “C” fundraiser to benefit the Baylor Cancer Care Center on Saturday, Sept. 9, at AMF Euless Lanes. For more information about the four-player team event, call Tina or Terry Taylor at 817-996-4544 or look for Ballard Vs. The Big “C” on Facebook.

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: CHRIS WARREN NOW THIRD IN OVERALL PBA REGIONAL TITLES

Chris Warren of Grants Pass, Ore., posted an 8-4 match play record and a 20-game total of 4,796 pins Sunday to win his 43rd PBA Regional title in the PBA Dave Husted Northwest Open presented by MOTIV at Husted’s Milwaukee Bowl in Milwaukie, Ore., to take over sole possession of third place on the all-time PBA Regional titles list.

Warren, who earned $2,000, defeated Dean Richards of Tacoma, Wash., by 127 pins to win the 36th annual PBA Regional hosted by the Husted family at Milwaukie Bowl.

With his 43rd PBA Regional title, Warren now trails only all-time leader Pete Weber (52) and Dale Traber (51) on the overall titles list. Warren’s 43 titles is second only to Weber’s 48 on the list of standard PBA Regional titles. Weber also has four PBA50 Regional titles while Traber has 40 standard and 11 PBA50 titles. Warren previously was tied for third on the overall titles list with Guppy Troup, Ross Packard and Steve Jaros, all with a combined 42 titles.

● PBA Hall of Famer and top qualifier Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J. defeated Patrick Dombrowski of Parma, Ohio, 184-165, to win the eighth annual PBA Lefeld Implement Central/Midwest Classic at Pla-Mor Lanes in Coldwater, Ohio, Sunday for his 23rd career PBA Regional title and a $4,000 first prize.

Dombrowski defeated amateur Chris Via of Springfield, Ohio, 224-201, to advance to the championship match. In the first stepladder match, Dombrowski edged Mitch Beasley of Clarksville, Tenn., 189-185.

● Jason Sterner of Covington, Ga., continued his winning ways, capturing the 27th annual PBA Crystal Automotive Spring Hill South Open title Sunday at Spring Hill Lanes in Spring Hills, Fla., by defeating former PBA member Paul Koehler of Stuart, Fla., 255-204.

Sterner, the top qualifier going into the stepladder finals with an 8-4 match play record and 4,888 total pins, received $2,400 for the win. In the first stepladder match, Koehler, the No. 3 qualifier, disposed of Chris Spoo from Boynton Beach, Fla., 222-181, and he then defeated Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, N.C., 256-192, to advance to the championship match.

● Darryl Bower of Middletown, Pa., defeated Gary Bondarchuk of Langhorne, Pa., 236-162, to win the PBA East Region’s PBA50 Craig Mueller Memorial presented by Ebonite at Jersey Lanes in Linden, N.J., Sunday, earning his 17th career PBA Regional title.

Bower, a PBA Tour champion in 1985, was competing in his second event of the year after returning from elbow and wrist surgery that sidelined him most of the 2014 season. Bondarchuk, the winner of 11 regional titles, recently reinstated his membership in order to compete in upcoming PBA50 events in the PBA’s East Region. Bower earned $1,500 for the win while Bondarchuk received $850 as the runner-up.

● PBA50 Central and Midwest players will visit Bowling Green, Ohio, Aug. 17-19, for the PBA50 Progressive/German Insurance/Al Smith Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep Central/Midwest Classic at Al-Mar Lanes followed by the PBA50 Beverly Lanes Midwest/Central Open in Arlington Heights, Ill., Aug. 21-23, which will help celebrate Beverly Lanes’ 60th anniversary. Also on the Aug. 21-23 schedule are the Greenville Southwest Open presented by DV8 at Shenaniganz in Greenville, Texas, and the PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter Pro Shop East Classic at Mid-County Lanes in Middletown, Del., where a projected $15,000 first prize and a PBA Tour title will be at stake (Xtra Frame will cover the Gene Carter Pro Shop event live from start to finish).

● Closing out the August schedule over the Aug. 28-30 weekend will be the Tony Reyes Memorial Member/Non-Member Doubles presented by Brunswick at Fourth Street Bowl in San Jose, Calif.; the Grand Hotel, Casino & Resort Southwest Invitation at FireLake Bowling Center in Shawnee, Okla.; the LaFayette Lanes Fayetteville (N.C.) South Open presented by 900 Global, and the Illinois Valley Midwest/Central Open at I.V. Super Bowl in Peru, Ill.

For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.

QUICK NOTES

● Sean Rash’s day with Make-A-Wish kid Solomon Wohrer of Lancaster, Ohio, was captured on video by PBA Xtra Frame Video Production Manager Jef Goodger during the PBA/PBA50 South Shore Doubles in Hammond, Ind. To view the activities of the day, visit PBA’s YouTube page: https://youtu.be/LYiJTp-eq3A

● Congratulations to PBA Tour veteran Dino Castillo who married Stacy Rohr Strive Saturday in Texas. The newlyweds will reside in Highland Village, Texas.

● Long-time Dallas Times Herald bowling writer and former Dallas Bowling News editor Jim Woodruff died on Aug. 13 at a Dallas area assisted living center. He was 89.

● Reminder: Book a room through HotelPlanner.com’s link on pba.com and you’ll automatically become eligible to win a $200 lodging certificate in the monthly sweepstakes sponsored by PBA’s official hotel booking partner. And subscribe to Xtra Frame (monthly plan at $7.99 or XF Season Ticket for $64.99) to automatically enter both the MOTIV and DV8 monthly sweepstakes for a chance to win a new high-performance MOTIV or DV8 bowling ball.

MIDDLETOWN, Del. (Aug. 22, 2015)– Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, N.C., averaged 245.7 for seven games Saturday to lead the field of 24 finalists into Sunday’s match play finals in the PBA Tour Xtra Frame Gene Carter Pro Shop East Classic at Mid-County Bowling and Entertainment.

Troup, a 23-year-old two-handed player, won his only PBA Tour title in the PBA Wolf Open during the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort Summer Swing earlier this year in Shawnee, Okla. Saturday he posted a 1,720 total to easily pace the sold-out field of 180 bowlers. In second place, 62 pins behind in the race for the $15,000 first prize and a PBA Tour title, was PBA rookie A.J. Johnson of Oswego, Ill., with a 1,658 pinfall total.

Johnson, who is trying for his first PBA title, finished second in the USBC Masters earlier in the season while still an amateur completing his senior year at McKendree University. Defending champion Jason Couch of Clermont, Fla., was among the 24 players who advanced to match play, qualifying in 15th place with 1,533 pins.

The top 24 will begin the modified 16-game round-robin match play finals Sunday at 9 a.m. Based upon combined 23-game pinfall totals, including 30 bonus pins for matches won, the top four will compete in a stepladder finale at the conclusion of match play.

All of Sunday’s competition will be video-streamed live, exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel. To subscribe, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.

PBA XTRA FRAME GENE CARTER PRO SHOP EAST CLASSIC

Mid-County Bowling and Entertainment, Middletown, Del., Saturday

Final Qualifying Standings (after 7 games; top 24 advance to modified round-robin match play Sunday)

1. Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 1,720. 2. A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 1,658. 3. Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 1,611. 4. Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 1,602. 5. Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 1,590. 6. John Szczerbinski, North Tonawanda, N.Y., 1,582.

7. Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,582. 8. Frank H. Gray, Elkton, Md., 1,581. 9. Greg Ostrander, freehold, N.J., 1,577. 10. Rick Graham, Lancaster, Pa., 1,576. 11. Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,560. 12. Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 1,546.

13. Tommy Gollick, Oberlin, Pa., 1,546. 14. J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 1,541. 15. Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 1,533. 16. Matthew O'Grady, Matawan, N.J., 1,531. 17. Chris Arcaro, Willmington, N.C., 1,529. 18. Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, , SC, 1,527.

19. Jon VanHees, Charlestown, R.I., 1,526. 20. Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 1,525. 21. Nick Christy, Newport, N.C., 1,522. 22. Connor Pickford, Matthews, N.C., 1,522. 23. Adam Baer, Gettysburg, Pa., 1,519. 24. Kristian Rogers, Charlotte, N.C., 1,500.

Other Cashers (after 7 games)

25. Jim Tomek Jr., Camp Hill, Pa., 1,498, $550. 26. Patrick Allen, Mount Kisco, N.Y., 1,497, $550. 27. Noel Vega, Kew Gardens, N.Y., 1,494, $550. 28. Brett Spangler, Niles, Ohio, 1,492, $550. 29. Jason Cornog, Cherry Hill, N.J., 1,489, $550. 30. Gary Haines, West Babylon, N.Y., 1,480, $550.

31. Stephanie Casey, Yonkers, N.Y., 1,476, $550. 32. Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 1,475, $550. 33. B.J. Moore, Apex, N.C., 1,472, $550. 34. Josh Schmehl, Seaford, Del., 1,470, $550. 35. Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,466, $550. 36. Brian Cavey, Baltimore, Md., 1,461, $550.

37. Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, Ariz., 1,459, $525. 38. Rusty Thomsen, south amboy, N.J., 1,458, $525. 39. Chris Blackmore, Fairfax, Va., 1,451, $525. 40. Stephen Pavlinko, Sewell, N.J., 1,451, $525. 41. Luke Matthys, Whitestown, Ind., 1,450, $525. 42. Tim Mack, Indianapolis, Ind., 1,449, $525.

43. Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,445, $525. 44. Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 1,438, $525. 45. Randy Weiss, Columbia, S.C., 1,437, $525. 46. Brian Elder, Newark, Del., 1,433, $525. 47 (tie). Paul Bajorski, West Babylon, N.Y.; Richard Horsley, Morrisville, N.C., and Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,431, $516.67.

50. Brandon Hinderer, York, Pa., 1,429, $500. 51. Billy Asbury, Odenton, Md., 1,427, $500. 52. E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 1,424, $500. 53. John Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 1,424, $500. 54. Craig Schneider, Marcy, N.Y., 1,423, $500.

55. Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 1,422, $500. 56. Chris S. Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,411, $500. 57. Mike McDonnell, Chesterfield, Va., 1,402, $500. 58. Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 1,402, $500. 59. David Harvey, Danville, Pa., 1,399, $500. 60. Ethan Gray, North East, Md., 1,397, $250.

61. William Ray Barlow, Edgewood, Md., 1,397. 62. Anthony Pepe, East Elmhurst, N.Y., 1,395. 63. Ernest Lukacs Jr., Manville, N.J., 1,395. 64. John Neral, Vienna, Va., 1,395. 65. Brian LeClair, Delmar, N.Y., 1,395. 66. Isaac Kim, Lebanon, Pa., 1,393.

67. Andrew Suscreba, Clifton, N.J., 1,392. 68. Zack Brown, Holly Springs, N.C., 1,392. 69. Ronnie Horton, Christiansburg, Va., 1,391. 70. Brian Robinson, WESTOVER, W. Va., 1,390. 71. John DiSantis, Wilmington, Del., 1,390. 72. Paul Pinto, Philadelphia, Pa., 1,389.

73. Ernest Lukacs, Manville, N.J., 1,389. 74. Bob Caruso, Dayton, N.J., 1,389. 75. Brandon Korczykowski, East Amherst, N.Y., 1,387. 76. Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., 1,386. 77. Collin Raineri, Gilbertsville, Pa., 1,385. 78. Ken Yokobosky, Rockaway, N.J., 1,383.

79. Bradley Hoffman, Lemoyne, Pa., 1,378. 80. Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 1,375. 81. Keith Doran, Pomona, N.Y., 1,374. 82. Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,372. 83. Victor Florie Jr., Richmond, Va., 1,372. 84. Tommy Dakouvanos, Belford, N.J., 1,369.

85. Hayward Marlow, Bronx, N.Y., 1,367. 86. Thomas Coco Jr., Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., 1,364. 87. Tim Gillick, Milford, Conn., 1,363. 88. Ray Edwards, Middle Island, N.Y., 1,362. 89. Elysia Current, Ephrata, Pa., 1,362. 90. Adam Travis, Cockeysville, Md., 1,362.

91. Michael Markis, Tafton, Pa., 1,362. 92. Michael Houtz, Myerstown, Pa., 1,360. 93. Dave Wodka, Beaver Creek, Ohio, 1,359. 94. James Joseph Wallace, Hicksville, N.Y., 1,357. 95. Kevin Donovan, Painted Post, N.Y., 1,356. 96. Darren Andretta, New Hyde Park, N.Y., 1,353.

97. Marty Berke, Allentown, Pa., 1,350. 98. Terry Wiley, Vienna, Va., 1,348. 99. Brandon Curtis, Manson, N.C., 1,346. 100. Stephen Pavlinko Jr., Sewell, N.J., 1,345. 101. Michael L. Cimba, Monroeville, Pa., 1,345. 102. Jeremy Elder, Smyrna, Del., 1,342.

103. Keith Wagner, Easton, Pa., 1,340. 104. Christopher Colella, Templeton, Mass., 1,337. 105. Tnia Falbo, Greensburg, Pa., 1,336. 106. Lee Vanderhoef, Canton, Ga., 1,336. 107. Joseph Rzemieniewski, Middletown, Del., 1,334. 108. Jay Boyle, Garnet Valley, Pa., 1,334.

109. Jeff Voght, Canajoharie, N.Y., 1,332. 110. Brian Knauer Sr., Federalsburg, Md., 1,332. 111. Mike Deckelman, Milford, Del., 1,331. 112. David Haynes, Las Vegas, Nev., 1,330. 113. David Asbury, Ellicott City, Md., 1,329. 114. Travis Celmer, Wernersville, Pa., 1,328.

115. John Furey, Freehold, N.J., 1,325. 116. Brian Klonarides, Vienna, Va., 1,324. 117. Calvin Sellers, Stratford, Conn., 1,323. 118. Louis Gaudio, Morganville, N.J., 1,323. 119. Eric Cornog, Cherry Hill, N.J., 1,318. 120. Joseph Hostetler, Louisville, Ky., 1,317.

121. Lizabeth Kuhlkin, Rotterdam, N.Y., 1,316. 122. Richie Bebber, Galena, Md., 1,315. 123. Brad Miller, St. Charles, Mo., 1,313. 124. Terry Smallwood, Germantown, Md., 1,313. 125. Ben Zakrocki, Philadelphia, Pa., 1,312. 126. Geordin Krupski, Newtonville, N.J., 1,312.

127. Michael J. Cimba, Monroeville, Pa., 1,311. 128. Gary Faulkner, Norfolk, Va., 1,309. 129. Adam Chase, North Babylon, N.Y., 1,307. 130. Ross McDonald, Clarksville, Md., 1,307. 131. Michael Stocks, Leesburg, Va., 1,306. 132. Jason Stadtler, Cherry Hill, N.J., 1,305.

133. George Dougherty II, Newark, Del., 1,300. 134. Jesse Gibson, West Grove, Pa., 1,299. 135. Jeffrey Roberts, Montverde, Fla., 1,298. 136. Brett Cunningham, Clay, N.Y., 1,296. 137. Tony Myers, Pensacola, Fla., 1,292. 138. Warren Burr, Wilmington, Del., 1,292.

139. Robert Mockenhaupt, Rutherford, N.J., 1,291. 140. Jack Bogan, Kensington, Md., 1,290. 141. David Powers, Newport News, Va., 1,289. 142. Tim Beaver, Kingston, N.Y., 1,288. 143. Colton Wilson, North East, Md., 1,285. 144. Stephen Haas, Enola, Pa., 1,281.

145. Matt Taylor, Youngsville, N.C., 1,276. 146. Paul Nickle III, Rising Sun, Md., 1,273. 147. Timothy Martin, Harrisville, R.I., 1,273. 148. Will Vidulich, Parsippany, N.J., 1,273. 149. Sam Maccarone, Blackwood, N.J., 1,269. 150. Rob Manley, Wilmington, Del., 1,260.

151. Michael Tweed, Camp Hill, Pa., 1,260. 152. Pat Scott, Manassas, Va., 1,258. 153. Otis Reff, Conshohocken, Pa., 1,257. 154. Clifton Wolfe, West Grove, Pa., 1,255. 155. Mike Hastings, Millsboro, Del., 1,250. 156. Arthur Nowlin, New Castle, Del., 1,248.

157. Dan Buchman, Maple Shade, N.J., 1,247. 158. Benjamin Enea, Utica, N.Y., 1,243. 159. Pat Merrill, Newark, Del., 1,239. 160. Greg Rottengen, Washington, N.J., 1,235. 161. Robert Fusik III, East Windsor, N.J., 1,234. 162. Jeremy Domingo, Sewell, N.J., 1,232.

163. David Kneas, Annapolis, Md., 1,229. 164. Gregory Smith, Baltimore, Md., 1,227. 165. David Bleggi, Jacksonville, N.C., 1,227. 166. Thad Rand, Rapidan, Va., 1,225. 167. Troy Lehigh, York, Pa., 1,215. 168. Howard Snyder, Hunt Valley, Md., 1,215.

169. Jackson Getting, Hampton, N.H., 1,212. 170. Charles Beam, Henrico, Va., 1,208. 171. Leon Platt, Summerville, S.C., 1,207. 172. John Schmidt, Warners, N.Y., 1,205. 173. Bill Vannoy, Jacksonville, N.C., 1,190. 174. Derek James, Wyandanch, N.Y., 1,189.

175. Tommy Barna, Westminster, Md., 1,187. 176. Bob Andretta, New Hyde Park, N.Y., 1,178. 177. Bill Michael Sr., Bowie, Md., 1,147. 178. Joseph Hanussak, Hamilton, N.J., 1,124. 179. Richard Lyles, Poolesville, Md., 1,105. 180. Derek C Engeln, Clifton Park, N.Y., 671, WD.

MIDDLETOWN, Del. – Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., ended a 12-year title drought Sunday, defeating Marshall Kent of Yakima, Wash., 254-144, to win the PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter Pro Shop East Classic at Mid-County Bowling and Entertainment.

Shafer, who turned 49 five days earlier, started the title match with seven strikes and ran away with the match when Kent ran into split trouble, leaving four and failing to convert any of them. Shafer, a 29-year PBA Tour veteran and a 26-time PBA Regional title winner, earned $15,000 along with his fifth PBA Tour title and first since the 2003 Empire State Open in Latham, N.Y.

“It’s been a long time, 12 years. I’m glad it’s over. It really feels good,” Shafer said.

“I’ve been through a rough few years. You start to feel like the young guys are really taking over,” Shafer said. “You lose ball speed. The only thing you can do is practice a lot and make your spares, and grind it out. That’s the kind of tournament I prefer. I like a lot of games.

“They were a little toasty, the second eight games today,” Shafer said, referring to the lane conditions that got burned out during Sunday’s 16-game match play competition leading up to the stepladder finals. Without re-oiling the lanes, conditions became difficult, but, he noted, “That’s what I’m best at. I’m a grinder.”

Shafer qualified seventh for Sunday’s match play and then won 10 of his 16 matches, averaging 221 for the tournament to earn the top berth for the stepladder finals.

After rolling a 279 in the final game of match play to advance from eighth place to capture the third berth in the stepladder finals, Kent defeated No. 4 qualifier John Szczerbinski of N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 225-189, ending Szczerbinski’s bid for his first PBA Tour title.

In the semifinal match, Kent continued his hard loft-shot to the first arrow, throwing the final five strikes to edge PBA East Region veteran Tommy Gollick of Oberlin, Pa., 244-242. Gollick, a 38-year-old lefthander, also was trying for his first PBA Tour title in his first stepladder finals appearance, but when he left the 1-3-4-7 washout in the fifth frame and failed to convert, Gollick gave Kent a lead he was never able to overcome.

The PBA Tour’s next event will be the Xtra Frame PBA Iowa Midwest Open from Thunderbowl in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Oct. 9-11. The tournament will be covered live from start to finish, exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.

PBA XTRA FRAME GENE CARTER PRO SHOP EAST CLASSIC
Mid-County Bowling and Entertainment, Middletown, Del., Sunday

Final Standings: 1, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., $15,000. 2, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., $7,800. 3, Tommy Gollick, Oberlin, Pa., $4,000. 4, John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., $2,500.

Stepladder Results: Match One – Kent def. Szczerbinski, 225-189. Semifinal – Kent def. Gollick, 244-242. Championship - Shafer def. Kent, 254-144.

Final Match Play Standings (after 23 games, including match play bonus pins)
1, Shafer, 10-6, 5,399.
2, Gollick, 10-6, 5,367.
3, Kent, 11-5, 5,315.
4, Szczerbinski, 11-5, 5,311.
5, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 11-5, 5,297, $1,700.
6, J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 8-8, 5,288, $1,300.
7, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 9-6-1, 5,276, $1,100.
8, Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 9-7, 5,223, $1,000.
9, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 7-9, 5,196, $950.
10, Matt O'Grady, Matawan, N.J., 9-7, 5,162, $925.
11, A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 6-9-1, 5,125, $900.
12, Rick Graham, Lancaster, Pa., 8-8, 5,082, $880.
13, Kristian Rogers, Charlotte, N.C., 8-8, 5,064, $860.
14, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 8-8, 5,056, $850.
15, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 7-9, 5,051, $840.
16, Nick Christy, Newport, N.C., 8-8, 5,026, $830.
17, Jon VanHees, Charlestown, R.I., 7-9, 5,006, $820.
18, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 8-8, 4,988, $810.
19, Chris Arcaro, Wilmington, N.C., 8-8, 4,962, $800.
20, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 6-10, 4,924, $790.
21, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 6-10, 4,916, $780.
22, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 7-9, 4,902, $770.
23, Adam Baer, Gettysburg, Pa., 5-11, 4,876, $760.
24, Frank Gray, North East, Md., 4-12, 4,576, $750.

Editor’s Note: Friends since childhood, growing up together in Westerville, Ohio, PBA60 players Bill McCorkle and Bill Henson achieved their dream of winning a national PBA title by winning the same tournament in Fort Wayne, Ind., in back-to-back years.

Below, McCorkle tells the story of the pair’s friendship and oddly similar experiences.

Bill Henson and I were born in 1952 and grew up together in Westerville, Ohio. We began bowling at an early age at Westerville Lanes, one of the last “dry” (no alcohol served) bowling centers in the country.

We both played all sports. We were both pitchers in Little League baseball, advancing to Pony League and eventually to high school. Around 1961 at age 9, we became good friends bowling in youth bowling leagues on Saturday mornings. Both of us admired and respected each other when we pitched on opposing teams in Little League. We still have the score sheet from the 1-0 pitcher’s duel in 1962. (Footnote: McCorkle was the winning pitcher that day, allowing only one hit. Henson allowed two, but one of them was a home run “by the only good hitter we had,” McCorkle recalls. “I always remind him he never should have pitched to that kid.”)

Both of us also worked at Westerville Lanes as porters, cleaning the ash trays and filling the pop machines and we even did a little pin jumping in the back. While in high school, both of us practiced a lot and worked very hard on our games. We bowled in the adult All Star and Classic leagues as youngsters and dreamed of becoming professional bowlers. We earned the nicknames “Mac” and “Hac.” And we graduated from Westerville High School together in 1970.

Let’s fast forward about 52 years later to 2014. Both of us are in our 60s. We are both very proud grandfathers and still live in Westerville, just north of Columbus. We bowl together in a high-powered scratch league in Columbus along with a couple of fellow PBA champions, PBA Hall of Famer Roy Buckley and Mike Henry of nearby Gahanna. We compete regularly on the PBA50 Tour, traveling the country to compete against the greatest bowlers in the world.

We’ve both had success winning PBA regional titles, but neither of us has ever given up our childhood dream to be a national PBA champion and earn a banner that is displayed over the lanes at each tournament site along with the best champions ever to throw a bowling ball.

My bowling dream came true in 2014 when I won my first national title in the inaugural PBA60 Dick Weber Super Senior Classic at Pro Bowl West in Ft. Wayne, Ind. In an odd coincidence, left-handed Mike Henry, a teammate of mine in league in Columbus, was leading the tournament going into the final position round game. A loss in the last game dropped Henry to fifth place for the stepladder finals and I qualified second behind Johnny Petraglia, one of the greatest bowlers in PBA history.

After I beat Dave Patchen, another Ohioan, 212-195, in the semifinal match, I defeated Petraglia in the title match, 244-173. Petraglia, the legendary lefthander who was the bowler of the year in 1971, is the only bowler in PBA history to win national titles in six different decades and he was trying to become the oldest bowler to win a PBA national event at age of 67.

At the end of the 2014 season, both were nominees for the PBA50 Tour’s Dick Weber Sportsmanship Award, which is voted on by our peers. It was a proud moment even though Chris Keane of Cape Coral, Fla., was the top vote-getter.

This year, one year after my win, my good friend “Hac” made his bowling dream come true when he won his first national title in the second annual Dick Weber Super Senior Classic, also at Pro Bowl West in Fort Wayne.

Once again, our friend Mike Henry was leading the tournament going into position round before he lost and dropped into third place for the stepladder finals. Once again the title went through Petraglia who this time was the tournament leader, and now trying to become the oldest to win a PBA national event at age 68.

On the same pair of lanes (41-42) at Pro Bowl West, Henson began his climb from fourth place, defeating yet another Ohioan, Dave Csuhta of Wadsworth, 247-214; then Henry, 256-225, and finally Kerry Painter of Henderson, Nev., 256-225, to advance to the title match against Petraglia.

In the championship match, Henson def. Petraglia, 244-233, rolling the same winning score I had bowled in winning my first title the previous year.

When I congratulated Bill on his win, it took us both back to memories more than 50 years old. Mac said, “I know how you feel.” Hac laughed and said, “I know you do.”

To borrow from the famous Cyndi Lauper song, sometimes boys just wanna have fun, too. Take “Team Fish” for example. “Team Fish” began to create national curiosity during the Grand Casino Resort & Hotel PBA Summer Swing when Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, N.C., made his national television debut on CBS Sports Network in winning the PBA Wolf Open title, with fellow “Team Fish” friends Connor Pickford of Matthews, N.C., and Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, Mich., in the background, cheering him on.

Contrary to conclusions drawn by some fans, the “Team Fish” concept had nothing to do with Troup being the son of PBA Tour champion Guppy Troup.

“At the (PBA) World Series (of Bowling) two years ago, Connor, Craig and I were rooming together,” Kyle Troup explained. “Nidiffer plays online poker, and there are a lot of ‘fish’ who play as well. People who don’t play poker well are called ‘fish.’ So during the World Series, we all bowled bad. None of us got a check. We decided we bowled like ‘fish’ so we kind of made up a little team among the three of us, and called ourselves Team Fish.

“When I made (the Wolf Open) show, the name kinda took off because I had the name on my collar,” Troup continued, “so we decided to make a logo and have fun with it. It’s nothing serious; it’s just going along to see what we can do with it.”

The little group began giving each other nicknames. Troup is “AfroFish” because of the Afro hairstyle he sported during the Wolf Open finals. Nidiffer became “NidiFish.” Pickford is “FishFord.” They created their own Facebook and Twitter pages (Team Fish), and a website is in the works. Through Facebook, fans create their own “fish” nicknames and can order o-FISH-al merchandise, like t-shirts.

“If it takes off, hopefully other guys on Tour will make their own teams with their own names,” Troup said. “It’s all in fun. It just gives fans something special to cheer for.”

Next up, Team Fish will make its formal competitive debut during the upcoming PBA South Point Bowling Plaza Fall Classic in Las Vegas when five “fish” will bowl together in the new five-player PBA Team Challenge Oct. 24-25. Bowling for Team Fish will be Dick (FishStick) Allen of Columbia, S.C.; Kyle (AfroFish) Troup; Connor (FishFord) Pickford; two-hander Anthony (TwoFinFish) Simonsen of Princeton, Texas, and Kris (WickedFish) Prather of Milton, Fla.

Entries for the PBA Team Challenge, as well as the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship and PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open singles event, are being accepted online (https://secure.pba.com/Store/catalog/entry-fee-national-open,8.htm) or by calling Mary von Krueger at 206-332-9688 (email: maryvk@pba.com).

The PBA Team Challenge will include six full qualifying games by all five team members at 9 a.m. PT on Saturday, Oct. 24, followed by 12 Baker format qualifying games at 5 p.m. After 18 combined team games, the top eight teams will advance to a Baker format round-robin match play at 9 a.m. Sunday, and after a combined 26 team games, the top four teams will bowl a Baker format stepladder final round at 3 p.m. All PBA Team Challenge competition will be covered live, exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel.

WEST, NORTHWEST FINALISTS FOR PBA CHALLENGE EVENTS ARE SET

With only two qualifying events scheduled before the September 30 PBA Regional and PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional qualifying deadline, the PBA West and Northwest Regional qualifiers for the end-of-season PBA Challenge events to be held during GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII are mathematically decided.

Earning paid entries into WSOB VII along with berths in the eight-player PBA Regional Finals qualifying tournament are West Region competition points champion Josh Blanchard of Gilbert, Ariz., and Northwest Region points winner Scott Norton of Mission Viejo, Calif. Topping the PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional standings in the West Region is Missy Parkin of Laguna Hills, Calif., while April Lord Wittig of Steilacoom, Wash., is runner-up in Northwest Region women’s points but gets the region’s berth because Parkin, the points leader, is already in the field as West Region winner.

NEXT ON XTRA FRAME: PWBA TOUR HEADS TOWARD SEASON FINALE

Coming up on Xtra Frame will be the final three events of the PBWA’s revival season, including exclusive live coverage of the PWBA Detroit Open from Super Bowl in Canton, Mich., Aug. 28-29, the final standard PWBA event of its revival season; the BowlmorAMF U.S. Women’s Open from Brunswick Zone-Carolier in North Brunswick, N.J., Sept. 1-5, and the season-ending PWBA Tour Championship presented by gobowling.com, Sept. 11 at the International Training and Research Center in Arlington, Texas.

PBA action returns to Xtra Frame Oct. 4 with the Kokomo Central Shootout presented by Security Federal Savings Bank from Heritage Lanes in Kokomo, Ind., followed by the PBA Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest Open from Thunderbowl in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Oct. 10-11, where a projected $10,000 first prize and a PBA Tour title will be at stake.

The Iowa Midwest Open is the final event leading into the PBA Fall Classic, a multi-event Xtra Frame extravaganza hosted by South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas beginning Oct. 19.

PBA STARS TO REPRESENT U.S. IN PAN AMERICAN MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

Five PBA Tour champions – Chris Barnes, Tommy Jones, Marshall Kent, Bill O’Neill and Sean Rash) along with highly-regarded amateur competitor John Janawicz will represent the United States in the Pan American Bowling Confederation (PABCON) Men’s Championships in Puerto Rico Sept. 14-18.

The competition at AMF Bolera Paradise Lanes in San Juan will feature the best bowlers from the American Zone competing for medals in singles, doubles, trios, team, all-events and match-play Masters.

At the last PABCON Men's Championships in Las Vegas in 2012, Team USA took gold medals in singles, doubles, team and all-events. Janawicz is the defending singles champion, O'Neill is the reigning all-events champion and O'Neill teamed with Jones to win the doubles gold medal that year. O'Neill, Jones, Janawicz and Kent were a part of the gold-medal winning team.

A number of other PBA members are expected to compete, representing their home countries within the American Zone.

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: WALTER RAY IMPROVES HIS OVERALL PBA TITLES RECORD

● Walter Ray Williams Jr. improved his overall PBA titles record to 95 when he defeated Mike Dias of Lafayette, Colo., 279-207, to win the one-day the PBA50 Ft. Wayne Central/Midwest Shootout, an event sandwiched between the PBA50 DeHayes Insurance Group Championship and the PBA60 Dick Weber Super Senior Open, all hosted by Pro Bowl West in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The latest title was Williams’ seventh PBA50 Regional title to go along with his record 47 PBA Tour, nine PBA50 Tour and 32 standard PBA Regional titles. He’s two titles ahead of Pete Weber who has 93 titles: 37 PBA Tour, 48 standard regionals, four PBA50 Tour and four PBA50 regionals.

● Reigning PBA Southwest Region Player of the Year Shawn Maldonado from Houston, Texas, won his last five matches to overtake Nathan Bohr of Austin, Texas, and successfully defend his PBA Greenville Southwest Open title Sunday at Shenaniganz in Greenville, Texas.

Maldonado opened the tournament with a 279 game and remained near the top of the leader board throughout qualifying and the match play finals. Trailing Bohr by 39 pins going into the final game position match, Maldonado recorded a decisive 226-200 victory to finish the event with a 21-game total of 4,835 pins and a 17-pin margin of victory over Bohr. Maldonado earned $2,500 along with his first PBA Southwest Region title of the year.

● Sam Maccarone of Blackwood, N.J. defeated Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., 257-235, to win the PBA Progressive/Gerdeman Insurance/Al Smith Jeep Central/Midwest Classic at Al-Mar Lanes in Bowling Green, Ohio, on Aug. 19. The title was Maccarone’s first of the year in the PBA Central Region, his 14th career PBA Regional title and he earned $3,500.

● Ted Staikoff of Black Hawk, S.D., finished with a 4,261 pinfall total over 20 games to win the PBA50 Beverly Lanes Allstate Midwest/Central Open Sunday by 16 pins over Harry Sullins of Chesterfield Township, Mich. Staikoff, 67, earned $1,600 along with his first PBA Regional singles title. He recently won his first PBA Regional title in a PBA50 doubles event in Minnesota with partner Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, Texas.

● Also on tap as part of the Southwest Region’s PBA Grand Casino Resort & Hotel Southwest Invitational, Aug. 28-30, at FireLake Bowling Center in Shawnee, Okla., will be the region’s second annual hall of fame induction ceremonies. The Invitational event will boast 32 of the top bowlers in the Southwest Region, and the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 29, will begin at 7 p.m. at the Grand Casino, Hotel and Resort in Shawnee when Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas; Nathan Bohr of Austin, Texas; the late Sean Swanson of Springfield, Mo.; Cary Mogard of Houston; and former College Bowl proprietors Ed and Virginia Autry of Texarkana, Texas, will be honored.

● A limited schedule of Labor Day weekend activity for the PBA Regional program includes back-to-back events at George Pappas’ Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C. – the PBA60 Wilson & Son Pest Control Super Senior South Open, Sept. 3-5, followed by the PBA50 Budweiser Mooresville South Open presented by Columbia 300. Also on tap is the PBA50 Strike Zone/Ebonite East Open, Sept. 4-6, at Strike Zone in Pottsville, Pa.

For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.

QUICK NOTES

● Former PBA Rookie of the Year Rhino Page will make an appearance in a charity bowling event in conjunction with the Tidewater Patriot Day Charity Golf Tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C., over Labor Day weekend. The weekend event is a benefit for the Folds of Honor Foundation, benefitting soldiers who have been wounded in combat.

● Correction: The Ballard Vs. The Big “C” fundraiser to benefit the Baylor Cancer Care Center will be held on Saturday, Sept. 19, at AMF Euless Lanes, not Sept. 9 as noted in last week’s Spare Shots. For more information about the four-player team event, call Tina or Terry Taylor at 817-996-4544 or look for Ballard Vs. The Big “C” on Facebook.

SHAWNEE, Okla. – After hosting two highly successful Professional Bowlers Association Summer Swing events in 2014 and 2015, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Grand Casino Resort & Hotel, and FireLake Bowling Center and Arena will partner with the PBA to host the organization’s signature event in 2016, the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions.

The premier event for PBA champions will take place Jan. 30-Feb. 7, concluding with live ESPN coverage of the five-player stepladder finals staged in a special installation inside FireLake Arena at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 7. All preliminary rounds will be conducted across the parking lot at 24-lane FireLake Bowling Center.

The 2016 PBA Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremonies will be part of the package.

“Citizen Potawatomi Nation and its properties have been outstanding partners,” said PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark. “This is going to be a very special week for our players and all of our fans.”

Chris Skillings, Director of FireLake Bowling Center, said the sponsorship agreement is part of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s strategy to make the Grand Casino Resort & Hotel complex a focal point for visitors to Oklahoma.

“We are thrilled to partner with our friends at FireLake Arena to host the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions,” Skillings said. “Citizen Potawatomi Nation has proven that we are a premier destination for PBA events in recent years, and the Tournament of Champions will only build on that.”

The 2016 FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions will include a field of 96 players, including 72 PBA Tour title holders based on the number of titles each player has won, and 24 additional PBA champions who will qualify during a special TOC Regional qualifying event that will precede the first major championship of the 2016 PBA season.

The TOC gets underway with 96 players bowling eight-game qualifying squads at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 2-3. After 16 games, the top 40 advance to an eight-game cashers’ round at 10 a.m. Thursday. Based on 24-game pinfall totals, the top 24 will advance to eight-game round-robin match play rounds at 5 p.m. Thursday, and 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday. The top five players after 48 games will compete for the $50,000 first prize during Sunday’s ESPN finals.

The TOC week schedule also includes practice squads on Monday, Feb. 1, with the PBA Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremonies at 6 p.m. at the Grand Casino Resort & Hotel. Saturday, Feb. 6, will be a day of pro-am squads when Oklahoma grassroots league bowlers will bowl alongside PBA stars for their own prizes.

Australia’s Jason Belmonte is the two-time defending champion. He will attempt to join Jason Couch as the second player to win three consecutive TOC titles.

All of the preliminary rounds of TOC week, including the TOC Regional, PBA Hall of Fame ceremonies and TOC qualifying and match play rounds, will be covered live, exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame online video-streaming service. For Xtra Frame subscriptions, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.

2016 FIRELAKE PBA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS SCHEDULE

FireLake Bowling Center, Shawnee, Okla., Jan. 30-Feb. 7 (times listed are Central)

Friday, Jan. 29

3 & 5 p.m. – TOC Regional practice sessions

Saturday, Jan. 30

8 a.m. – TOC Regional Squad A, 8 qualifying games (max. field 60)

2:30 p.m. - TOC Regional Squad B, 8 qualifying games (max. field 60)

Top 1/3 of combined field advance to cashers’ round

Sunday, Jan. 31

8:30 a.m. – TOC Regional cashers’ round, 5 games

Top 24 PBA TOC-eligible title winners based on 13 games advance to FireLake TOC; top 16 players in the field advance to modified match play round

Noon – TOC, top 16, 8 games modified round-robin match play

Winner decided based on 21 games, total pinfall including match play bonus pins.

Monday, Feb. 1

10 a.m. – PBA TOC Squad A practice session

2 p.m. – PBA TOC Squad B practice session

6 p.m. – PBA Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremonies (Grand Casino Resort & Hotel)

Tuesday, Feb. 2

10 a.m. – TOC Squad A, 8 qualifying games

5 p.m. – TOC Squad B, 8 qualifying games

Wednesday, Feb. 3

10 a.m. – TOC Squad B, 8 qualifying games

5 p.m. – TOC Squad A, 8 qualifying games

Top 40 players after 16 games advance to cashers’ round

Thursday, Feb. 4

10 a.m. – TOC top 40 cashers’ round, 8 games

Top 24 after 24 games advance to round-robin match play

5 p.m. – TOC top 24, 8 games match play

Friday, Feb. 5

10 a.m. – TOC top 24, 8 games match play

5 p.m. – TOC top 24, 8 games match play

Top 5 after 48 games advance to ESPN stepladder finals

Saturday, Feb. 6

tba – Pro-Am squads

Sunday, Feb. 7

1 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) – Top 5 ESPN stepladder finals

The inaugural PBA Team Challenge, inviting PBA players and all comers to put together a roster of five players for a team battle never before seen in the United States, has already produced some interesting combinations of players.

Among the first 15 teams entered are Team Fish, the Couch Potatoes, the unnamed “super team,” another unnamed team with a distinct international flavor, teams with pronounced regional ties, others with lots of collegiate experience, and it’s rumored an all-women’s team will be in the field.

Team Fish, as previously announced, includes five PBA players who like to have fun: Dick (FishStick) Allen, Kyle (AfroFish) Troup, Connor (FishFord) Pickford, Anthony (TwoFinFish) Simonsen and Kris (WickedFish) Prather while PBA Hall of Famer Jason Couch’s Couch Potatoes includes fellow lefty Ryan Ciminelli, Denmark’s Thomas Larsen, Ryan Shafer, Dave Wodka and Couch himself.

The so-called “super team” without an official name features Chris Barnes, Jason Belmonte, Tommy Jones, Wes Malott and Bill O’Neill – owners of a combined 13 major championships among their 63 total PBA titles. The “internationals” includes England’s Dom Barrett and Stu Williams bowling with Sweden’s Martin Larsen, Finland’s Osku Palermaa and token U.S. player Patrick Allen.

Team Brunswick is in the field with Sean Rash, Parker Bohn III, Tom Smallwood, Jason Sterner and the king of PBA title winners, Walter Ray Williams Jr. South America will challenge the field with Colombia’s Andres Gomez, Jaime Gonzalez, Jaime Monroy, Manuel Otalora and Venezuela’s Ildemaro Ruiz.

If experience counts, look to the McCorkle Real Estate team which includes PBA50 Tour stars Tom Baker, Bob Learn Jr., Ron Mohr, Amleto Monacelli and Pete Weber.

For more information on who is entered, check out the link to current team rosters:

http://www.pba.com/Content/files/Downloads/2015%20FALL%20CLASSIC%20(Team).pdf

NOW AIRING ON XTRA FRAME: BOWLMOR AMF WOMEN’S U.S. OPEN

Now airing on Xtra Frame is exclusive live coverage of the Bowlmor AMF U.S. Women’s Open from Brunswick Zone-Carolier in North Brunswick, N.J. The qualifying and match play rounds will be covered through Saturday. The stepladder finals will air live on CBS Sports Network on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

Next up on Xtra Frame will be the preliminary rounds of the season-ending Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship presented by gobowling.com on Friday, Sept. 11, from the International Training and Research Center in Arlington, Texas. The PWBA Tour Championship finals will air live on CBS Sports Network on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. ET.

PBA action returns to Xtra Frame on Oct. 4 with the Kokomo Central Shootout presented by Security Federal Savings Bank from Heritage Lanes in Kokomo, Ind., followed by the PBA Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest Open from Thunderbowl in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Oct. 10-11, where a projected $10,000 first prize and a PBA Tour title will be at stake.

The Iowa Midwest Open is the final event leading into the PBA Fall Classic, a multi-event Xtra Frame extravaganza hosted by South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas beginning Oct. 19 and concluding with the PBA Team Challenge finals on Sunday, Oct. 25.

Bowling fans who want to sample Xtra Frame can subscribe on a three-day (72-hour) basis for only $3.99. Fans can lock in the entire September package with a full month Xtra Frame subscription for only $7.99. But PBA’s best package is the 12-month XF Season Ticket for $64.99, or $5.41 per month. To sign up, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.

PBA MODERN CLASSICS LIBRARY ON YOUTUBE

Australian two-handed star Jason Belmonte gave PBA fans a preview of things to come when he won the Bowling Foundation Long Island Classic in West Babylon, N.Y., in March 2009, leading to his selection as PBA Rookie of the Year. You can re-visit Belmonte as a PBA rookie and re-live his first PBA Tour victory, earned on a pair of lanes featuring different lane conditions on each lane, by watching the newest addition to the PBA Modern Classics Library on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApZeNeIxFus.

Coming soon to the PBA Modern Classics collection will be the 2009 National Bowling Stadium Championship from Reno, Nev., where Patrick Allen ran the table, winning the title over PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. in a match that wasn’t settled until a dramatic 10th frame.

You’ll find the complete collection of classic PBA Tour telecasts in the PBA Modern Classics Library on YouTube, with new telecasts being added on a regular basis.

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: FINAL MONTH OF PBA REGIONAL CHALLENGE QUALIFYING

September is the final month of qualifying for men and women trying for berths in the PBA Regional and PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional Challenge events which will be held as part of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII in December at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. The top players in competition points in each of the PBA’s eight regions will earn paid entries into the World Series and they’ll compete for berths in the PBA Challenge Finals, which will be part of the PBA’s ESPN series originating from WSOB VII. For current points standings in each PBA region, click here (http://www.pba.com/Tours/Regional/) and then click on the region in question to find points standings.

For news of last weekend’s activities, and a full schedule of September tournaments, see below:

● Amateur Michael Tang of San Francisco and partner Jeff Frankos of Daly City, Calif., posted a 6-4 match play record and a combined 18-game total of 8,487 pins Sunday to win the PBA Tony Reyes Memorial Member/Non-Member Doubles presented by Brunswick at 4th Street Bowl in San Jose, Calif.

Tang, a member of Junior Team USA, and Frankos defeated Jake Peters of Henderson, Nev. and amateur Adam Ishman of Las Vegas, who had a 9-1 match play record and 8,329 pins. Tang and Frankos shared the $4,000 first prize. Peters and Ishman earned $2,000.

● Shawn Maldonado from Houston, Texas, defeated Roger Petrin of Grand Prairie, Texas, 257-212, to win the second annual PBA Grand Casino Resort & Hotel Southwest Invitational at FireLake Bowling Center in Shawnee, Okla., Sunday.

Maldonado, fresh off his victory in Greenville, Texas, a week earlier, overcame an open frame to start the championship match and followed with seven strikes to claim the $4,500 winner’s check.

After qualifying fifth and earning a berth into the Round of 12, the Houston two-handed player started his road to victory by eliminating defending champion Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, 2-1, in their best-of-three-game match; newly-inducted PBA Southwest Region Hall of Famer Chris Barnes from Double Oak, Texas, 2-0, in the Round of 8, and DJ Archer of Kingwood, Texas, in the semifinal round, 246-170.

● Brian Gunn of Chicago defeated Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill. 279-269, to win the PBA Illinois Valley Midwest/Central Region Open at Super Bowl in Peru, Ill., Sunday.

Gunn, who fired a 269 game in his position round match to sneak into the stepladder finals, then posted an 809 series in three stepladder matches to collect his second career PBA Regional title along with the $2,100 first prize. Hedefeated Brad Miller of St. Charles, Mo. 251-195, in the first match before eliminating PBA rookie A.J. Johnson of Oswego, Ill., 279-233.

● Lee Vanderhoef of Canton, Ga., rallied to defeat Kip Roberts of Glen Allen, Va., 2-1, in the best-of-three-game title match to win the PBA Fayetteville South Open presented by Global 900 at Lafayette Lanes in Fayetteville, N.C., Sunday.

After losing the first game, 232-190, Vanderhoef came back to win the next two games, 237-227 and 221-173, to win his 12th South Region title and his first since 2008. He also earned $2,500.

In the semifinal round, Vanderhoef defeated Tom Daugherty of Wesley Chapel, Fla., 2-1. After winning the opening game in a one-ball roll-off, 9-7, after a 258-258 tie, Daugherty won game two, 210-214, before Vanderhoef won the third game, 278-208. Roberts eliminated Dan Buchman of Maple Shade, N.J., 247-214, 236-214, in the other semifinal match.

● The PBA60 Warpath Kingsport Super Senior South Open is scheduled for mid-week (Tuesday-Thursday, Sept. 8-10) in Kingsport, Tenn., leading into the Sept. 11-13 weekend schedule which includes the McAlester Southwest Open presented by Columbia 300 at Great Balls of Fire Entertainment Center in McAlester, Okla.; the PBA50 Howell Lanes East Open presented by Radical in Howell, N.J., and the Moon City Central Classic at Astro Lanes in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

● On tap over the Sept. 18-20 weekend are the Rex & Griffin Bigelow Memorial/BW3’s/Nance Construction Central Open presented by MOTIV at Troy Bowl in Troy, Ohio; the Sarasota South Open at Sarasota Lanes in Sarasota, Fla.; the PBA50 Lakeview Lanes East Open presented by Brunswick in Fulton, N.Y.; the Dallas Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeons Southwest Open at Brunswick Zone-Watauga, Texas, and the Sunday-only Budweiser Midwest Open at Diamond Jo Casino’s Cherry Lanes in Dubuque, Iowa.

● The final chance to earn PBA and PWBA Regional Challenge points for 2015 will take place over the Sept. 25-27 weekend. The schedule includes the PBA and PWBA-PBA Women’s Tomball Southwest Open at Tomball Bowl in Tomball, Texas; the Battle at Black Oak Casino West Open at Black Oak Lanes in Tuolumne, Calif.; the Break Point Alley Member/Non-Member Doubles presented by MOTIV in Tavares, Fla.; the Monte Skeels Allstate and PWBA-PBA Women’s Midwest Open tournaments at Liberty Lanes in Carpentersville, Ill., and the PBA50 Mel Westrich Memorial Central/Midwest Open presented by Storm at Delphos Recreation Center in Delphos, Ohio,

For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.

QUICK NOTES

● Remember, book a room through HotelPlanner.com’s link on pba.com and you’ll become eligible to win a $200 lodging certificate in the monthly sweepstakes sponsored by PBA’s official hotel booking partner, just like Paul Bajorski did in the month of August.

● Subscribe to Xtra Frame (monthly plan at $7.99 or XF Season Ticket for $64.99) to automatically enter the monthly MOTIV and DV8 sweepstakes for a chance to win a new high-performance MOTIV or DV8 bowling ball. New subscribers Harry Archer of Churchville, Va., won the new MOTIV ball in August while Philip Cotton of Salem, Ore., won the DV8 ball.

# # #

In a contest between players with a combined age of 143 years, 72-year-old Professional Bowlers Association “rookie” Ed Roberts of Braintree, Mass., defeated 71-year-old PBA Hall of Famer Roy Buckley of Westerville, Ohio, to win his first PBA title in the PBA60 Wilson & Sons Termite and Pest Control Super Senior Southern Open at Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C., over the Labor Day weekend.

Ron Profitt of Brookville, Ohio, also won his first title in the second half of the PBA50 South Region “doubleheader” at Victory Lanes.

Roberts, bowling in his first PBA tournament after years of PBA competition as an amateur, defeated Buckley, 257-219, 214-276, 228-217, in their best-of-three-game title match to win his first PBA title.

Roberts, a member of Team USA 1995, earned $2,400 while Buckley, a seven-time PBA Tour champion in the 1970s era, pocketed $1,200 as the runner-up.

Profitt, 63, captured the PBA50 Budweiser Mooresville South Open, also at Victory Lanes, on Monday, defeating Joe Scarborough of Charlotte, N.C., 199-221, 210-199, 206-132 in their best-of-three-game title match. Profitt, a PBA member since 2007, earned $2,400 along with his first PBA title. Scarborough earned $1,200 for the second place finish.

By virtue of their titles, Roberts and Profitt both became eligible to enter the 2016 FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions which will take place in Shawnee, Okla., Jan. 30-Feb. 7.

NEXT UP ON XTRA FRAME: PWBA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Next up on Xtra Frame will be the preliminary match play elimination rounds of the season-ending Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship presented by gobowling.com, Friday at the International Training and Research Center in Arlington, Texas. The PWBA Tour Championship finals will air live on CBS Sports Network on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. ET.

PBA action returns to Xtra Frame on Sunday, Oct. 4, with the Kokomo Central Shootout presented by Security Federal Savings Bank from Heritage Lanes in Kokomo, Ind., followed by the PBA Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest Open from Thunderbowl in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Oct. 10-11, where a projected $10,000 first prize and a PBA Tour title will be at stake.

The Iowa Midwest Open is the final event leading into the PBA Fall Classic, a multi-event Xtra Frame extravaganza hosted by South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas beginning Oct. 19.

PBA MODERN CLASSICS LIBRARY ON YOUTUBE

Coming soon to the PBA Modern Classics collection is the 2009 National Bowling Stadium Championship from Reno, Nev., where Patrick Allen ran the table, winning the title when PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. left a pocket 8-10 split in the 10th frame.

You’ll find the complete collection of classic PBA Tour telecasts in the PBA Modern Classics Library on YouTube, with new telecasts being added on a regular basis: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwuUW8zaol88yWoNbytvj286cU8TajCgg.

CHRIS BARNES WINS SAMHO KOREA CUP

PBA Tour champion Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, defeated Korea’s Jung Taewha, 249-183, to win the $24,910 first prize in the 17th Samho Korea Cup Sunday at Hogye Gymnaium in Anyang City, South Korea. Finland’s Osku Palermaa finished fourth in the independent international event.

The tournament was not part of the PBA International-World Bowling Tour schedule.

In the four-player eliminator finals, Korea’s Jo Namyi led the opening round with a 300 game while Barnes posted a 246, Jung a 236 and Palermaa was eliminated with a 221 game. Jung led the second round with a 246, Barnes had a 238 and Jo was eliminated with a 223. Barnes then beat Jung for the title.

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: FINAL MONTH OF PBA REGIONAL CHALLENGE QUALIFYING

For news of last weekend’s activities, and a full schedule of September tournaments, see below:

● Brian LeClair of Albany, N.Y., defeated Steve Pavlinko of Sewell, N.J., 248-171, to win the PBA East Region’s PBA50 Strike Zone/Ebonite Open at Strike Zone Alleys in Pottsville, Pa., Sunday.

LeClair, who won his first PBA50 Tour title earlier in the year, was a late entry into the Pottsville event after battling tendonitis since competing on the PBA50 Tour during the summer. He wrapped his wrist and bowled through the discomfort on his way to his first PBA50 Regional title and the $1,500 first prize.

LeClair defeated Patric Donaghue of Honeoye Falls, N.Y., 247-167, while Pavlinko defeated qualifying leader Kent Wagner of Bradenton, Fla., 213-201, in the semifinal matches.

● The PBA60 Warpath Kingsport Super Senior South Open concludes today in Kingsport, Tenn. The weekend schedule includes the McAlester Southwest Open presented by Columbia 300 at Great Balls of Fire Entertainment Center in McAlester, Okla.; the PBA50 Howell Lanes East Open presented by Radical in Howell, N.J., and the Moon City Central Classic at Astro Lanes in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.

CHICAGO– After its rousing, raucous, outrageously fun first-ever visit to Maine, the Professional Bowlers Association will return to Bayside Bowl in Portland for Maine Event 2016 including its fourth annual round of PBA League competition and the Xtra Frame PBA Maine Shootout, March 30-April 6.

The draft to fill team rosters for 2016 will be done before a live international audience watching on PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame, on Thursday, Dec. 17, during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII from Reno, Nev. (time to be announced).

The eight-team PBA League will compete in two days of team competition on April 2 and 3 for delayed telecast over a span of four consecutive Sundays, April 17-May 8, on ESPN. All four PBA League shows will air at 1 p.m. ET.

The PBA League in 2016 will return with the same eight managers and teams. In order of their 2015 finish, they will be: Mark Baker (two-time defending Elias Cup champion Silver Lake Atom Splitters), Andrew Cain (L.A. X), Johnny Petraglia (Brooklyn STyLES), Tim Mack (Pittsburgh Jack Rabbits), Jason Couch (Philadelphia Hitmen), Norm Duke (Dallas Strikers), Del Ballard Jr. (Motown Muscle) and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (New York City WTT KingPins).

Teams will draft in the reverse order of how they finished in 2015 (KingPins first, Atom Splitters last). Managers will be allowed to protect up to three players from their 2015 rosters. All players who would like to be considered for the PBA League must declare their intentions by no later than Nov. 13 (managers will declare their protected players by no later than Oct. 26).

Team competition will remain the same as 2015: preliminary rounds will feature Baker-format elimination matches leading to the Elias Cup Finals which will be decided by points earned in singles, doubles, trio and Baker team matches.

Other highlights of the 2016 program include:

● The draft will be held on Thursday, Dec. 17, prior to the live ESPN coverage of the PBA World Championship from the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. The draft will be video-streamed live on Xtra Frame at a time to be announced.

● All PBA members in good standing are invited to declare themselves eligible for the draft.

● After teams are selected, managers will have until Jan. 8 to make trades, if they wish.

In 2016, PBA League teams will compete for $280,000 in prize money, including $60,000 to the winning team.

The PBA’s return to Portland will include a day of practice and pro-am activity when Maine adult, youth and senior league bowlers will have a chance to bowl with the stars of the PBA, followed by two days of Baker-format team competition for delayed telecast on ESPN, and three days of Xtra Frame PBA Maine Shootout competition, a singles event with a PBA Tour title at stake.

2016 PBA MAINE EVENT SCHEDULE
(All times are subject to change)

Thursday, Dec. 17
Tba - PBA League Draft, National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev. (live coverage on Xtra Frame)

PBA League Schedule, Bayside Bowl, Portland, Maine
Thursday, March 31
9 a.m. – Practice Session
tba – Pro-Am squads

Friday, April 1
tba

Saturday, April 2 (best of two games, Baker format; one-ball roll-off to break ties)
Noon – Quarterfinal Match One: Silver Lake Atom Splitters vs. New York City WTT KingPins
Quarterfinal Match Two: Philadelphia Hitmen vs. Pittsburgh Jack Rabbits
3:30 P.M. – Quarterfinal Match Three: L.A. X vs. Motown Muscle
Quarterfinal Match Four: Brooklyn STyLES vs. Dallas Strikers

Sunday, April 3
Noon – Semifinal Match One: Winner Match One vs. Winner Match Two (best of two games, Baker
    format; one-ball roll-off to break ties)
    Semifinal Match Two: Winner Match Three vs. Winner Match Four (best of two games, Baker
    format; one-ball roll-off to break ties)
3:30 p.m. – Elias Cup Finals: Winner Semifinal One vs. Winner Semifinal Two, total pinfall (singles,
    10 bonus pins; alternate-shot doubles, 15 bonus pins; trios, 20 bonus pins; Baker team,
    50 bonus pins)

PBA Xtra Frame Maine Shootout Schedule
Monday, April 4
tba – Match Play Draw Party (to determine Maine Shootout match play bracket positions)

Tuesday, April 5
9 a.m. – Round of 64, round one (8 best-of-three-game matches; winners advance to Round of 32)
11 a.m. – Round of 64, round two (8 best-of-three-game matches; winners advance to Round of 32)
1:30 p.m. – Round of 64, round three (8 best-of-three-game matches; winners advance to Round of 32)
3:30 p.m. – Round of 64, round four (8 best-of-three-game matches; winners advance to Round of 32)
6 p.m. – Round of 32, round one (8 best-of-three-game matches; winners advance to Round of 16)
8 p.m. – Round of 32, round two (8 best-of-three-game matches; winners advance to Round of 16)

Wednesday, April 6
10 a.m. – Round of 16, round one (4 best-of-three-game matches; winners advance to Round of 8)
11:30 a.m. – Round of 16, round two (4 best-of-three-game matches; winners advance to Round of 8)
2 p.m. – Round of 8 (4 best-of-three-game matches; winners advance to Semifinal Round)
6 p.m. – Semifinal Round (2 best-of-three-game matches; winners advance to Championship Match)
7:30 p.m. – Championship Match (best-of-three-games)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl will host the 2016 Barbasol PBA Players Championship, a Professional Bowlers Association major championship that will conclude with live ESPN television coverage on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m. ET.

The 2016 Barbasol PBA Players Championship will return to PBA major title status, featuring a 48-game qualifying and match play format, and a five-player stepladder final with a $40,000 first prize. All of the preliminary rounds of Players Championship week will be covered live, exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame online video-streaming service.

“We are thrilled to extend our long-standing partnership with the PBA again this year,” said John Price, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Perio, Inc. “The Barbasol PBA Players Championship will showcase the best bowling talent from around the world in Columbus, Ohio, which has a rich history with the PBA.”

With its sponsorship, the Official Shaving Cream of the PBA continues to expand its fully-integrated partnership with the PBA, which also includes jersey sponsorship of the PBA League’s Motown Muscle.

The Barbasol partnership brings the PBA event close to the company’s headquarters and manufacturing facilities. Perio Inc., the parent company of Barbasol LLC, is located in Dublin, a suburb of Columbus, and the company’s Barbasol products are manufactured in Ashland, Ohio.

PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark was excited to welcome Barbasol’s continuing participation with the PBA.

“Barbasol is an American classic product,” Clark said. “Continuing its relationship with the PBA as a partner in the production of a major championship tournament is a great fit, for Barbasol and for bowling.”

The third consecutive major championship of the 2016 season will follow on the heels of the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions in Shawnee, Okla., and the United States Bowling Congress Masters in Indianapolis, both of which will conclude with live ESPN coverage on Feb. 7 and Feb. 14, respectively.

The Players Championship will get underway on Monday, Feb. 15, with practice and a celebrity pro-am at Columbus Bowl, which is co-owned by PBA Hall of Famer Wayne Webb. Eight-game qualifying rounds will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by an eight-game cashers round on Thursday, and three eight-game round-robin match play rounds Thursday and Friday. Additional pro-am squads that provide an opportunity for Ohio grassroots adult, youth and senior league bowlers to bowl alongside the pros will be conducted on Saturday, leading up to Sunday’s live ESPN finals.

The tournament will be open to all PBA members. Additional entry information will be announced soon.

2016 BARBASOL PBA PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 15-21 (times listed are Eastern)

Monday, Feb. 15

Noon – Official practice session

7 p.m. – Celebrity pro-am

Tuesday, Feb. 16

9 a.m. – Squad A, 8 qualifying games

4 p.m. – Squad B, 8 qualifying games

Wednesday, Feb. 17

9 a.m. – Squad B, 8 qualifying games

4 p.m. –Squad A, 8 qualifying games

Top one-fourth of the field after 16 games advance to cashers’ round

Thursday, Feb. 18

10 a.m. – Cashers’ round, 8 games

Top 24 after 24 games advance to round-robin match play

5 p.m. – Top 24, 8 games match play

Friday, Feb. 19

10 a.m. – Top 24, 8 games match play

5 p.m. – Top 24, 8 games match play

Top 5 after 48 games advance to ESPN stepladder finals

Saturday, Feb. 20

tba – Pro-Am squads

Sunday, Feb. 21

1 p.m. – Top 5 ESPN stepladder finals

About Barbasol

Barbasol, America’s #1 men’s shaving cream brand, was introduced as the first “brushless” tube of shaving cream in 1919. Currently offered in seven varieties (Original, Soothing Aloe, Pacific Rush, Sensitive Skin, Skin Conditioner, Arctic Chill and Mountain Blast), Barbasol is available at mass merchandise stores, drug stores and supermarkets across the country. Barbasol continues to be made in America and is owned by Dublin, Ohio-based Perio Inc. For more information, please visit www.barbasol.com.

With more than two months to go before GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII gets underway at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., the annual multi-championship event has already tied its record for international representation with 21 different countries entered, and is virtually assured that record will fall soon.

As of September 15, entries have been received from bowlers in Argentina, Australia, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Finland, Germany, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Sweden, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela in addition to the United States. A number of entries from China are pending, which will raise the country total to 22 after they are confirmed.

Since its inception in 2009, bowlers from 39 different countries have been represented in at least one PBA World Series.

WSOB VII will include the PBA Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon and Scorpion Championships – all title events that are also qualifying rounds as part of the PBA World Championship. The entry fee for WSOB VII is $1,000 for members and $1,200 for non-members. The field is limited to 312 players. Players must have a reservation confirmation number for a room at the Silver Legacy at the time of entry. Silver Legacy is offering a special room rate of $49.99 for single and double occupancy for WSOB VII. Call 800-687-8733 or visit www.silverlegacyreno.com and use the code WSOB15 when making reservations.

After making a reservation, bowlers may submit entries to PBA Membership Services Manager Mary von Krueger (email: maryvk@pba.com; cell: 206-332-9688).

APPLICATIONS BEING ACCEPTED FOR 2015 TONY REYES COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

The PBA is now accepting nominations for the 2015 Tony Reyes Community Service award, named in honor of the late PBA Tour player in recognition of his service to the bowling community. The award will be presented to a PBA member in good standing, based upon the extraordinary community service, charitable and/or educational contributions the nominee has made during the 2015 calendar year.

PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., and Missy Parkin of Laguna Hills, Calif., were the winners of the Reyes award for 2013 and 2014, respectively.

The postmark deadline for nominations will be Monday, Dec. 21. Nominees must be current PBA members in good standing. The winner will be selected by a PBA committee and announced along with the 2015 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year, Harry Golden Rookie of the Year and Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award winners early in 2016.

Nominations may be submitted by anyone. The nomination form is available on pba.com: (http://www.pba.com/Content/images/forms/TonyReyes_App_2015.pdf)

NEXT UP ON XTRA FRAME: PBA SHOOTOUT, IOWA MIDWEST OPEN

The Iowa Midwest Open is the final Xtra Frame event leading into the PBA Fall Classic, a multi-event Xtra Frame extravaganza hosted by South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas beginning Oct. 19. During the Fall Classic, Xtra Frame will provide live coverage of the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship qualifying and match play rounds Oct. 19-20, start-to-finish coverage of the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, Oct. 21-22, and the new PBA Team Challenge, Oct. 24-25.

CONNECTICUT BOWLERS GET A CHANCE TO BOWL WITH NORM DUKE, PETE WEBER

Bowlers in the Milford, Conn., area will have an opportunity to not only learn inside tips from two of the greatest PBA bowlers in history, Norm Duke and Pete Weber, but a select few also will get a chance to bowl in a “legends Baker team match” with the two PBA stars.

Duke and Weber will host two Next Level Bowling clinics at AMF Milford Lanes on Saturday, Sept. 26. Session one begins at 8:45 a.m. and the second session starts at 2 p.m. Participation, for $85 per person, will include on-lane instruction, video analysis, expert grip analysis, a chance to try the newest Storm and Roto Grip balls, and more. Eight clinic participants from Session One will be invited to bowl in the Baker team match, pairing up with Duke and Weber as anchor bowlers on their respective teams.

Enrollment is limited. To sign up, visit nextlevelbowling.com and click on the registration link: http://nextlevelbowling.com/index.php?option=com_registrationpro&Itemid=165&view=event&did=37

PBA MODERN CLASSICS LIBRARY ON YOUTUBE

Coming soon to the PBA Modern Classics collection will be the 2001 Great Lakes Classic from Grand Rapids, Mich., where Pete Weber bowled a 299 game on his way to the title…and unveiled his signature “crotch chop” on national television.

Now available in the PBA Modern Classics collection is the 2009 National Bowling Stadium Championship from Reno, Nev., where Patrick Allen ran the table, winning the title when PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. left a pocket 8-10 split in the 10th frame:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGG4m52VEEI&index=1&list=PLwuUW8zaol88yWoNbytvj286cU8TajCgg

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: BOHN ROLLS THREE 300S, REGAINS PBA PERFECT GAME LEAD

Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., rolled his third perfect game of the weekend to defeat Ernie Segura Jr. of Taylor, Mich., 300-191, in winning the PBA50 Howell Lanes East Open presented by Radical at Howell Lanes Sunday.

With his three perfect games, Bohn regained the all-time PBA 300 game lead with 104, breaking a tie with fellow PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Oxford, Fla., who has 101 300 games bowled in PBA competition.

Bohn, who began his career at Howell Lanes, dominated the field, averaging 267 in qualifying. Brian LeClair of Albany, N.Y., qualified second but trailed Bohn by 286 pins after qualifying. Segura qualified third while another hometown favorite, PBA Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia of Jackson, qualified fourth. While Segura was edging LeClair, 211-191, in the semifinal round, Bohn outscored Petraglia, 257-235, after Petraglia opened in the 10th frame.

Bohn earned $1,500 for his first PBA50 Regional title and his 24th overall PBA Regional title.

● Shawn Maldonado from Houston, Texas, overcame Mike Scroggins’ 146-pin lead with three games to go to win his third consecutive PBA Southwest Region title Sunday in the second annual McAlester Southwest Open presented by Columbia 300 Sunday at Great Balls of Fire in McAlester, Okla.

Along with his sixth PBA regional title, the Houston two-handed player won the $2,500 first prize.

In overtaking Scroggins, a veteran lefthander from Amarillo, Texas, Maldonado won seven of his eight matches and used a 300 game in game six to narrow Scroggins’ lead. By winning game seven, 236-204 over Sean Lavery-Spahr of Pasadena, Texas while Scroggins was losing, Maldonado took a 49-pin lead going into position round. Maldonado then defeated Scroggins, 208-196, while Dino Castillo of Highland Village, Texas, rolled the event’s third 300 game to climb past Scroggins into second place. Maldonado finished with a 21-game total of 5,229 pins, including match play bonus pins, while Castillo finished with a 5,148 total.

Southwest Region competition points leader, Nathan Bohr of Austin, Texas, finished eighth to maintain his lead over Joe Findling of Greenville, Texas, who finished 11th. Maldonado moved into third place with two events to go. Each PBA Regional points leader as of September 30 will earn an entry into the PBA World Series of Bowling and a spot in the PBA Regional Challenge.

● Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y. nipped E.J. Tackett of Huntington, Ind., by a single pin, 228-227, to win the PBA Moon City Central Classic presented at Astro Lanes in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Sunday. In addition to his ninth career PBA Regional title, Ciminelli also earned $3,000.

Ciminelli defeated J.R. Raymond of Bay City, Mich., 299-216, to advance to the championship match after eliminating Brandon Korczykowski of East Amherst, N.Y., 247-218, in the opening stepladder match.

● Greg McMahan of Dandridge, Tenn., defeated PBA Hall of Famer Tom Baker of King, N.C., by 109 pins to win the second annual PBA60 Kingsport South Open presented by Storm at Warpath Lanes in Kingsport, Tenn., on Thursday, Sept. 10.

McMahan, who finished second in the inaugural Warpath Lanes event in 2014, went 7-2-3 over 12 games of match play, finishing with a 4,877 pinfall total and completed his run to the title with a 215-207 win over Baker in position round to win the $2,000 first prize.

● September is the final month of qualifying for men and women trying for berths in the PBA Regional and PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional Challenge events which will be held as part of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII in December at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. The top players in competition points in each of the PBA’s eight regions will earn paid entries into the World Series and they’ll compete for berths in the PBA Challenge Finals, which will be part of the PBA’s ESPN series originating from WSOB VII. For current points standings in each PBA region, click here (http://www.pba.com/Tours/Regional/) and then click on the region in question to find points standings.

● The Sept. 25-27 weekend is the final chance to earn PBA and PWBA Regional Challenge points for 2015. The schedule includes the PBA and PWBA-PBA Women’s Tomball Southwest Open at Tomball Bowl in Tomball, Texas; the Battle at Black Oak Casino West Open at Black Oak Lanes in Tuolumne, Calif.; the Break Point Alley Member/Non-Member Doubles presented by MOTIV in Tavares, Fla.; the Monte Skeels Allstate and PWBA-PBA Women’s Midwest Open tournaments at Liberty Lanes in Carpentersville, Ill., and the PBA50 Mel Westrich Memorial Central/Midwest Open presented by Storm at Delphos Recreation Center in Delphos, Ohio,

For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.

Reigning PBA Southwest Region Player of the Year Shawn Maldonado of Houston, Texas, outlasted fellow Texans Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Dino Castillo of Highland Park and Mike Scroggins of Amarillo to win the 11th annual PBA Dallas Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeons Southwest Open hosted by Brunswick Zone Watauga in Watauga, Texas, Sunday.

With his victory, Maldonado has won four consecutive PBA Southwest Regional tournaments. While the PBA doesn’t maintain such records for regional competition, the 29-year-old Houston two-hander’s win in four consecutive regional tournaments is thought to be a first in the PBA Southwest Region.

Maldonado, a third-year PBA member, led Saturday’s 10 games of qualifying and won his first two matches of the 16-game round robin finals before losing his next three games. Castillo and Malott took turns atop the leader board before Maldonado won his next 10 matches. Malott defeated Maldonado in their position round match, 279-218, to narrow Maldonado’s final margin of victory to 38 pins and to stay ahead of Scroggins and Castillo.

For his win in Watauga, Maldonado earned a $5,000 first prize along with his seventh career PBA Regional title. He won his first three titles during the 2014 season.

DUKE, MALOTT TO DEFEND ROTH/HOLMAN DOUBLES TITLE IN PBA FALL CLASSIC

Two-time defending Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles champions Norm Duke and Wes Malott will begin defense of their 2011 and 2015 titles during the South Point Bowling Plaza PBA Fall Classic which will take place Oct. 19-26 in Las Vegas.

Preliminary rounds of the Roth/Holman doubles event will kick off the Fall Classic, starting with an eight-game qualifying round on Monday, Oct. 19, followed by two six-game match play rounds for the top 12 teams on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The top five teams after a combined 40 individual games will advance to the ESPN stepladder finals which will be held on Saturday, Dec. 19, at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno as part of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII. The finals will air Sunday, Jan. 17, at 1 p.m. ET and will be counted as a 2016 title for each member of the winning team.

As of Sept. 23, 48 teams had entered the Roth/Holman doubles event. For a current roster of teams, click here: http://www.pba.com/Content/files/Downloads/2015%20FALL%20CLASSIC%20(Doubles).pdf

Following the doubles event, the Fall Classic continues with the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, a PBA Tour singles event, Wednesday and Thursday. The PBA South Point West Challenge, a regional tournament for players who haven’t won a PBA title, is set for Friday, Oct. 23. The inaugural PBA Team Challenge, a wide-open five-player team event, is set for Saturday and Sunday with qualifying, Baker format match play and Baker format stepladder finals. For a current roster of teams, click here:

http://www.pba.com/Content/files/Downloads/2015%20FALL%20CLASSIC%20(Team).pdf

The PBA50 Western Open, a PBA West Region tournament for players ages 50-and-older, will conclude the Fall Classic on Monday.

All of the South Point Bowling Plaza PBA Fall Classic competition will be covered live on PBA’s online video-streaming service, Xtra Frame. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.

TEAM FISH UNVEILS “BOWL FOR THE CURE” FUND-RAISING PROJECT

Team Fish, the group of young PBA members who have banded together for fun and friendship, is adding “fund-raising” to its portfolio. Led by North Carolina team members Connor Pickford of Charlotte and Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, Team Fish is unveiling a custom-designed t-shirt that will be sold to raise money in support of the efforts to find a cure for breast cancer.

Pickford, who lost his mother Valerie to breast cancer in September 2001, and Troup, whose grandmother died from the disease in 2010 and whose mother is a breast cancer survivor, are leading the Team Fish effort to raise money as part of the national October Breast Cancer Awareness month campaign. The special breast cancer t-shirt can be ordered through the Team Fish page on Facebook. Orders are now being accepted. All proceeds from the t-shirt sales will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure through the bowling family’s Bowl for the Cure program.

MARSHALL KENT SHINES IN PABCON MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS

PBA’s 2014 Rookie of the Year, Marshall Kent of Yakima, Wash., won a pair of gold medals, a silver and a bronze, for Team USA in the Pan American Bowling Confederation Men’s Championships at AMF Bolera Paradise Lanes in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in mid-September.

Kent won the all-events gold medal and teamed with fellow PBA star Sean Rash and amateur John Janawicz to win trios. Janawicz also won singles and the Masters finale. Team Colombia, with PBA members Andres Gomez, Jaime Gonzalez, Jaime Monroy, Manuel Otalora and non-member Santiago Mejia, won the team title by 61 pins over the favored U.S. team (Bill O’Neill, Chris Barnes, Janawicz, Kent, Rash and Tommy Jones).

Barnes won silver in singles and trios with O’Neill and Jones. O’Neill and Jones won silver in doubles with Kent and Rash claiming the bronze medal.

28-EVENT EXTENDED 2012-13 PBA TOUR SERIES NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE

PBA fans now have access to television coverage of the entire extended 2012-13 PBA Tour schedule on the PBABowling channel on YouTube. The 2012-13 season included a unique 14-month schedule as the PBA was preparing to return to a calendar-year schedule at the start of 2014. For that reason, the 2012-13 season included two PBA World Series of Bowling (eight animal pattern championships plus two PBA World Championships), along with the 2013 Winter Swing (which included a full schedule of PBA League telecasts), the 2013 Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational, the complete 2013 Summer Swing from Milwaukee, the 2013 U.S. Open and two Round1 Japan Cup finals.

To access the complete schedule of telecasts now available on YouTube, click here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwuUW8zaol89fM1TzbSNEMMrCJjiXkJ54

NEXT UP ON XTRA FRAME: KOKOMO SHOOTOUT, IOWA MIDWEST OPEN

Bowling fans who want to sample Xtra Frame can subscribe on a three-day (72-hour) basis for only $3.99. Fans can lock in the entire October package with a full month Xtra Frame subscription for only $7.99. But PBA’s best package is the 12-month XF Season Ticket for $64.99, or $5.41 per month. To sign up, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: McCUNE WINS 21ST REGIONAL TITLE IN OHIO

Top qualifier Eugene McCune of Munster, Ind. defeated J.R. Raymond of Bay City, Mich., 211-161, to win $3,000 and his 21st PBA Regional title in the PBA Rex & Griffin Bigelow Memorial/BW3’s/Nance Construction Central Open presented by MOTIV at Troy Bowl in Troy, Ohio, Sunday.

Raymond defeated Dan MacLelland of Canada, 246-199, to advance to the championship match after MacLelland eliminated Aaron Lorincz of Saginaw, Mich., 211-203, in the opening match.

● Rhino Page of Orlando, Fla., defeated Webber International University competitor Nate Garcia of Port St. Lucie, Fla., 259-170, to win the inaugural PBA Sarasota South Open at Sarasota Lanes Sunday. Page earned $2,300 along with his seventh PBA Regional title.

Page posted a 6-4 match play record and an 18-game pinfall total of 4,257, including match play bonus pins, to qualify first for the stepladder finals. Garcia earned his place in the title match by defeating Scott Newell of Deland, Fla., 211-189, in the semifinal round. In the first stepladder match, Newell defeated Chris Polizzi of Spring Hill, Fla., 238-178.

● Amateur Mike Dole of Loves Park, Ill., won five of his eight matches and finished with a total of 3,767 pins for 15 games to defeat PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., by 65 pins to win the PBA Budweiser Midwest Open at Cherry Lanes inside Diamond Jo Casino on Sunday. The win was Dole’s first in PBA Regional competition, but he does not get credit for a title because he is a non-member. He earned $2,000 while Weber earned $1,000 for second place.

● Brian LeClair of Albany, N.Y., outscored Sammy Ventura of Syracuse, N.Y., by 182 pins over 17 games to win the PBA50 Lakeview Lanes Eastern Open presented by Brunswick at Lakeview Lanes Sunday in Fulton, N.Y.

LeClair, in his first year of PBA50 competition, trailed Ventura by 91 pins after Saturday’s qualifying round, but averaged 254 over the first four games on Sunday to open a 103-pin lead and was never challenged thereafter. Ventura out-dueled Sam Maccarone of Blackwood, N.J., for the runner-up spot, rolling a 257 final game to regain second place.

● Next weekend is the final chance to earn PBA and PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional Challenge points for 2015. The schedule includes the PBA and PWBA-PBA Women’s Tomball Southwest Open at Tomball Bowl in Tomball, Texas; the Battle at Black Oak Casino West Open at Black Oak Lanes in Tuolumne, Calif.; the Break Point Alley Member/Non-Member Doubles presented by MOTIV in Tavares, Fla.; the Monte Skeels Allstate and PWBA-PBA Women’s Midwest Open tournaments at Liberty Lanes in Carpentersville, Ill., and the PBA50 Mel Westrich Memorial Central/Midwest Open presented by Storm at Delphos Recreation Center in Delphos, Ohio,

For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.

QUICK NOTES

● Bowling fans who may not have had a chance to watch the Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship on CBS Sports Network can now watch the final event of the PWBA season on Xtra Frame. Look for the show in the Xtra Frame archives.

● Now is your chance to book a room through HotelPlanner.com’s link on pba.com for a chance to win a $200 lodging certificate in the September sweepstakes sponsored by PBA’s official hotel booking partner. And if you subscribe to Xtra Frame before Oct. 1 (monthly plan at $7.99 or XF Season Ticket for $64.99), you will automatically enter both the MOTIV and DV8 monthly sweepstakes for a chance to win a new high-performance MOTIV or DV8 bowling ball. September winners will be announced in early October.

Eighteen-time PBA Tour champion Chris Barnes, 45, of Double Oak, Texas, has withdrawn from the South Point PBA Fall Classic and will undergo back surgery next week in Dallas to repair a herniated disc.

“Nothing specific happened,” Barnes said, noting an extensive schedule of competition in Korea, PBA Southwest Regional competition and with Team USA in recent weeks aggravated the condition.

“The last time I got off the plane, it hurt all the way down to my shoes,” Barnes said. “The pain part is manageable, but I just don’t have any strength in my right leg, so it’s time to get it fixed.”

Barnes said the “discectomy” involves trimming a portion of the disk that’s leaning on the nerve to alleviate the pain.

“It’s the same thing (Dallas Cowboys quarterback) Tony Romo had done and it’ll be done by the same doctor, Barnes noted. “Recovery time is a guess at this point, but I’d think the (GEICO PBA) World Series (of Bowling VII) is very much a long shot at this point.”

Barnes was scheduled to bowl in the PBA Fall Classic PBA Team Challenge with the 4 POY & A Nice Run team along with fellow past/current PBA Players of the Year Jason Belmonte, Tommy Jones and Wes Malott and frequent POY contender Bill O’Neill. Barnes also was paired with Jones for the Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship. His replacement for both events has not yet been announced.

PBA ANNOUNCES CHRIS PAUL FAMILY FOUNDATION CELEBRITY INVITATIONAL DATE

The PBA has announced the seventh Chris Paul Family Foundation PBA Celebrity Invitational will be held on Thursday, Jan. 7, at a site to be determined in Los Angeles. The annual fundraiser to benefit the NBA superstar’s foundation will be televised on ESPN on a delayed basis on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. ET.

In addition to the four major championships recently announced, the PBA has confirmed the dates for several additional tournaments that will be covered exclusively by Xtra Frame, PBA’s online bowling channel. For the most current 2016 PBA Tour schedule, check under the “schedule” tab on pba.com:

http://www.pba.com/Tournaments/Seasons/81?showAll=True.

PBA, PWBA-PBA WOMEN’S REGIONAL CHALLENGE QUALIFYING FIELDS SET…ALMOST

Seven domestic PBA Regional competition points leaders, and six of seven PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional points leaders, have been decided for the PBA Challenge qualifying events that will be conducted during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII in Reno in December. Each of the points leaders also receives a paid entry to compete in the World Series itself.

While qualifying in the regional program ended on Sept. 30, the PWBA-PBA Women’s East Region points race received a one-week extension because of an earlier date conflict with the PWBA Tour schedule. Therefore, the Maple City Dodge PWBA East Open presented by 900 Global in Hornell, N.Y., this weekend will decide the East Region’s women’s champion. Heading into the event, six women are mathematically in the running: points leader Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, N.Y., and challengers Kerry Smith of Lititz, Pa.; Stephanie Casey of Yonkers, N.Y.; Colombian native Rocio Restropo of Louisville, Ky.; Amanda Greene of Romney, W.Va., and Liz Kuhlkin of Rotterdam, N.Y. While she’s still in the race in the East, Restropo has already won her spot in Reno as the PBA Central Region’s women’s points leader.

The other PBA Regional players who have punched their tickets to WSOB VII and the PBA Challenge qualifying events are as follows:

● East Region – Patrick Allen, Mount Kisco, N.Y.; women’s winner to be determined.

● South Region – Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla.; Elise Bolton, Merritt Island, Fla.

● Central Region – Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio; Rocio Restrepo, Louisville, Ky.

● Midwest Region – Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn.; Inngellimar Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn.

● Southwest Region – Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas; Clara Guerrero, Pflugerville, Texas.

● West Region – Josh Blanchard, Gilbert, Ariz.; Missy Parkin, Laguna Hills, Calif.

● Northwest Region – Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif.; April Lord Wittig, Steilacoom, Wash.

● Japan Region – to be announced.

Also earning berths in the World Series as the PBA50 Tour’s 2015 points leaders are Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo.; Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas; Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J.; Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla.; Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela; Brian LeClair, Fulton, N.Y.; Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., and Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa.

The PBA Regional and PBA50 qualifiers will bowl an eight-game, round-robin match play event at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno on Monday, Dec. 7. To avoid a conflict with the World Bowling Women’s World Championships Dec. 5-14 in UAE, the PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional match play qualifier will be held on Friday, Dec. 18. In all three events, the top two players after eight games will advance to the PBA Challenge Finals which will be contested on Saturday, Dec. 19, for telecast on ESPN on Sunday, Jan. 24, at 3 p.m. ET.

The PBA Challenge Finals telecast also will include the Teen Masters Grand Championship match between 2015 boys’ and girls’ division winners Brandon Soedarmasto of Levittown, N.Y., and Brigitte Jacobs of Freeport, Ill.

NEXT UP ON XTRA FRAME: KOKOMO CLASSIC, IOWA MIDWEST OPEN

PBA action returns to Xtra Frame on Sunday when the Kokomo Central/Midwest Classic presented by Security Federal Savings Bank will be covered live from Heritage Lanes in Kokomo, Ind. The following weekend, Xtra Frame will cover the PBA Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest Open from Thunderbowl in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Oct. 10-11, where a projected $10,000 first prize and a PBA Tour title will be at stake.

The Iowa Midwest Open is the final Xtra Frame event leading into the PBA Fall Classic which begins Oct. 19 at South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas. During the Fall Classic, Xtra Frame will provide live coverage of the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship qualifying and match play rounds Oct. 19-20, start-to-finish coverage of the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, Oct. 21-22, and the new PBA Team Challenge, Oct. 24-25.

PBA MODERN CLASSICS LIBRARY ON YOUTUBE

Now available in the PBA Modern Classics collection is the 2001 Great Lakes Classic finals from Grand Rapids, Mich., where Pete Weber bowled a 299 game on his way to the title…and unveiled his signature “crotch chop” on national television.

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: BAILEY, JOHNSON WIN IN TOMBALL AS MALDONADO’S STREAK ENDS

Mike Bailey from Allen, Texas, successfully defended his PBA Tomball (Texas) Southwest Open title, winning his fourth PBA Southwest Regional title Sunday after Stefanie Johnson of Grand Prairie, Texas, topped the PWBA/PBA Tomball Southwest Women’s Open field on Saturday.

The Open tournament also saw Shawn Maldonado’s four consecutive tournament win streak come to an end as the Houston two-handed player finished fifth.

Bailey, who finished the 21-game tournament with a 7-1 match play record and 5,240 total pins, started the final position round match with a 55-pin lead over amateur Eric Traylor of Friendswood, Texas, and his 243-216 win over Traylor clinched his $2,500 first place check. Also in position round, Andy Patterson from Tyler, Texas, defeated Anthony Simonsen of Princeton, Texas, 220-188, to move into second for a $1,600 prize.

On Saturday, Johnson, fresh off her Rookie of the Year season on the revived PWBA Tour, finished the eight-game women’s event with games of 250 and 257 to top amateur Karen Marcano of Venezuela, 1,758-1,711. Johnson won $1,500 while Marcano cashed for $1,000.

● PBA rookie A.J. Johnson of Oswego, Ill., defeated Mitch Beasley of Clarksville, Tenn. 238-235, to win the Monte Skeels Allstate Midwest Region Open at Liberty Lanes Saturday for his first PBA title. On Sunday, Inngellimar Beasley, Mitch’s wife, won the PWBA Liberty Lanes Midwest Open in Carpentersville, Ill., for her first PWBA title.

By virtue of his title, Johnson, who also earned $2,300, became eligible to enter the 2016 PBA Tournament of Champions which will be held in Shawnee, Okla. The former McKendree University star defeated Steven Taylor of Deer Creek, Ill., 246-212, in the semifinal game to advance to the championship match after defeating Eugene McCune of Munster, Ind., 275-203, in the first stepladder finals match.

Inngellimar Beasley, who missed Saturday’s Open stepladder finals by finishing 29 pins behind Johnson, finished Sunday’s women’s event with 2,874 pins, cruising to a 345-pin victory over Samantha Kelly of Waukesha, Wis.

● Ron Profitt of Brookville, Ohio, defeated Harry Sullins of Chesterfield Twp., Mich., by 234 pins to win the PBA50 Mel Westrich Memorial Central/Midwest Open presented by Storm at Delphos Recreation Center in Delphos, Ohio, Sunday. Profitt finished the 20-game pinfall event with a 10-2 match play record and a total of 5,065 pins, including match play bonus pins, to earn his second overall PBA Regional title and the $1,500 first prize.

● Tom Daugherty of Wesley Chapel, Fla., and amateur partner Trevor Roberts of Crystal River, Fla., won six of their eight matches and finished with a 16-game total of 7,473 pins to win the $4,000 first prize in the PBA South Member/Non-Member Doubles presented by Motiv at Break Point Alley Bowling Center in Tavares, Fla., Sunday. Daugherty and Roberts defeated fellow Floridians and defending champions Mike Moore of Oviedo and Shawn Naumann of Orlando by 112 pins to claim the title.

● Michael Haugen Jr. of Phoenix posted a 9-1 match play record and an 18-game total of 4,222 pins Sunday to win his 21st PBA Regional title in the PBA Battle of Black Oak Casino West Open at Black Oak Lanes in Tuolumne, Calif. Haugen, who earned $2,500, defeated David Haynes of Las Vegas by 213 pins for the title.

● October’s PBA Regional calendar begins this weekend with the PBA50 Junction City Bowl Southwest/Midwest Open I and II, two one-day events in Junction City, Kan.; the Maple City Dodge PBA and PWBA East Opens presented by 900 Global in Hornell, N.Y.; the Sunday-only Kokomo Central/Midwest Classic presented by Security Federal Savings at Heritage Lanes in Kokomo, Ind., and the DHC Japan Chameleon Open from Soundbowl Ushiku in Ibaraki, Japan.

● The Oct. 9-11 PBA Regional schedule includes the Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest Open from Thunderbowl in Council Bluffs, Iowa (which will be covered live on Xtra Frame and will award a PBA Tour title); the PBA/PBA50 Ken Fowler Auto Centers West/Northwest Doubles presented by 900 Global at Yokayo Bowling Center in Ukiah, Calif., and the Sunday-only Greater Muskegon Men’s USBC/Northway Lanes Central Open from Muskegon, Mich.

● The Oct. 16-18 PBA Regional calendar includes the Bowlers Discount Pro Shop Eastern Open from AMF Woodlawn Bowl in Baltimore; the PBA50 Park Centre Lanes Senior/Super Senior Doubles Central Open presented by Columbia 300 from North Canton, Ohio; the Sands Regency West/Northwest Challenge presented by DV8, and the Sands Regency West/Northwest Open presented by Radical from the National Bowling Stadium in Reno.

● Oct. 19 marks the beginning of the South Point Bowling Plaza PBA Fall Classic which will include the Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, Oct. 20-22; the South Point West Challenge presented by Track, Oct. 23, and the PBA50 South Point West Open presented by Track on Oct. 26.

● The Oct. 23-25 weekend includes the PBA50 Tomball Southwest Open from Tomball Bowl in Tomball, Texas, and the one-day PBA Tony Grigat Allstate Midwest Challenge at Strike N Spare II in Lockport, Ill. Two Teen Masters qualifying events also are scheduled over the Oct. 24-25 weekend: the Erie Open Teen Masters event, presented by the Erie Sports Commission, at Rolling Meadows Lanes, and the Frisco Open presented by the Frisco Convention and Visitors Bureau at Strikz in Frisco, Texas.

● October’s regional activity closes with the PBA50 WGB Accounting Craig Pezzano Memorial presented by The Insurance Market at Bryan’s Bowling Center in Laurel, Del.; the Wichita Southwest Open at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kan., and the PBA50 Tony Grigat Allstate Midwest/Central Open at Arlington Lanes in Arlington Heights, Ill., over the Oct. 30-Nov. 1 weekend.

For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.

QUICK NOTES

● The September winner of the HotelPlanner.com sweepstakes, including a $200 gift certificate for future lodging, is Tracey Gainey of St. Marcos, Texas. Gainey was automatically entered in the monthly sweepstakes after booking a room through HotelPlanner.com’s link on pba.com.

CHICAGO – Boston Red Sox centerfielder Mookie Betts, a rising star in major league baseball, has entered the Professional Bowlers Association’s GEICO World Series of Bowling VII which will be held Dec. 7-19 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev.

Betts, who turns 23 on Wednesday, will test his bowling skills against more than 200 of the best players in the world in the multi-event WSOB VII.

During a number of media interviews throughout the 2015 baseball season, Betts discussed his love for bowling, and mentioned during one interview that he would love to participate in Chris Paul’s annual CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational. Those discussions led the PBA to contact Betts and extend an invitation to bowl in the World Series.

Betts is a former standout youth bowler who averages in the plus-200 range. He has bowled a pair of certified 300 games and finished third in the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association state championships individual event as a junior at Nashville Overton High School in 2010, earning Tennessee Boys’ Bowler of the Year honors after setting Tennessee high school records with a 290 game and 827 series.

After winning his first bowling tournament at age 8 – a no-tap Thanksgiving turkey shoot in Murfreesboro, Tenn. – Betts won several other youth tournaments, his mother Diana Benedict noted.

Betts, who also excelled as a basketball player, was drafted by the Red Sox in the fifth round (172nd pick) of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft and signed with Boston, rescinding his commitment to the University of Tennessee. He quickly rose through Boston’s minor league system, earning a promotion to the major leagues in 2014 after reaching base in a stunning 66 consecutive regular season games in the minor leagues. A second baseman at the time, he converted to the outfield when he joined the Red Sox in June 2014, and has evolved into an everyday outfielder with Boston during the 2015 season.

After playing in 52 games with Boston in 2014, Betts played in his first full season in 2015, batting leadoff and posting a .291 batting average with 18 home runs, 77 runs batted in, 92 runs scores and 21 stolen bases in 145 games. During his extraordinary season, he became one of four players in major league history to finish a season with 40-plus doubles, 15-plus home runs and 20-plus steals before the age of 23.

Betts, whose full name is Markus Lynn Betts, is the son of Diana Benedict and Willie Betts, who intentionally gave him a name that reduces to the initials “MLB.” He got the nickname, Mookie, from his parents who were fans of NBA star Mookie Blaylock.

Betts got his introduction to bowling from his mother, an avid bowler in the Nashville area who also was his first Little League Baseball coach.

In Reno, Betts will compete against a field of bowlers representing more than 20 countries. The GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling, the most lucrative event in the sport, includes the PBA Cheetah Championship, PBA Viper Championship, PBA Chameleon Championship and PBA Scorpion Championship – the four qualifying events leading into the PBA World Championship. The finals of all five events will be televised on ESPN, beginning with live coverage of the PBA World Championship on Thursday, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT).

After an official practice session on the four unique lane conditioning patterns on Monday, Dec. 7, Betts will bowl nine qualifying games in each of the respective “animal pattern” tournaments Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. If he finishes among the top 25 percent of the field based on those 36 games, he will advance to the PBA World Championship cashers’ round on Saturday, Dec. 12.

All qualifying and match play elimination rounds of the four animal pattern events plus the PBA World Championship match play competition will be covered live on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel, as well as live scoring on pba.com. For Xtra Frame subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.

The news of Boston Red Sox star Mookie Betts’ decision to enter the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII made an immediate impact on news media attention for WSOB VII. Within minutes of the PBA’s announcement, Boston Globe Red Sox beat writer Peter Abraham tweeted the news, which led to re-tweets and comments on masslive.com, redsoxlive.com and overthemonster.com, among others.

Within hours, the news spread to ESPN, Fox Sports, the Providence Journal, New York Daily News, Bangor Daily News, CBS Boston, NESN (New England Sports Channel), Boston.com, millcitysports.com and other websites, social media outlets and publications, including many throughout the bowling industry.

Immediately upon the close of the major league season on Sunday, Betts returned to his Brentwood, Tenn., home and, according to his mother Diana Benedict, headed to the bowling center Tuesday morning to begin preparations for WSOB VII. Bowling – and Red Sox fans – around the world will be able to follow Betts’ throughout his WSOB experiences by watching PBA’s Xtra Frame online video-streaming service and/or free live scoring on pba.com. Betts will compete in the PBA Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon and Scorpion Championships Dec. 8-11 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, and additional rounds if he finishes among the top qualifiers.

SANDS REGENCY CASINO WEST/NORTHWEST CLASSIC OFFERS $10,000 TO WINNER
PBA West/Northwest Region tournament manager Gary Mage has announced the Sands Regency Casino West/Northwest Classic, presented by Radical, will offer a guaranteed $10,000 first prize. The tournament, which will be covered live on Xtra Frame, will take place Oct. 16-18 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno as a prelude to the South Point Bowling Plaza Fall Classic which gets underway on Monday, Oct. 19, in Las Vegas.

The Sands Regency regional event will be a reduced-entry fee tournament ($175 for PBA members, $225 for non-members). To assist players who have already made travel plans to Las Vegas, a 15-passenger van will be available to transport players from South Point to Reno on Friday, Oct. 16, returning to Las Vegas right after the tournament ends on Sunday.

NEXT UP ON XTRA FRAME: IOWA MIDWEST OPEN
PBA Tour competition returns to Xtra Frame this weekend with start-to-finish coverage of the PBA Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest Open from Thunderbowl in Council Bluffs, Iowa. A projected $10,000 first prize and a PBA Tour title will be at stake.

Following coverage of the Iowa Midwest Open, the PBA has added a new Sands Regency Casino West/Northwest Classic in Reno, Nev., to the Xtra Frame schedule. Following coverage of the Sands Regency event Oct. 17-18, Xtra Frame coverage of the PBA Fall Classic begins Oct. 19 at South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas. During the Fall Classic, Xtra Frame will provide live coverage of the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship qualifying and match play rounds Oct. 19-20, start-to-finish coverage of the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, Oct. 21-22; the South Point West Challenge (for non-title winners) on Oct. 23; the new PBA Team Challenge, Oct. 24-25, and the PBA50 Western Open on Oct. 26.

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: ZAVJALOVA WINS IN KOKOMO; McEWAN WINS WSOB BERTH
Diana Zavjalova of Beavercreek, Ohio, and Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, N.Y., who won titles during the PWBA’s newly-completed revival season, and veteran women’s star Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., made PBA Regional news over the weekend.

Zavjalova, a 24-year-old native of Latvia, defeated J.R. Raymond of Bay City, Mich., 210-186, to win the PBA Kokomo Central/Midwest Shootout presented by Security Federal Savings Bank at Heritage Lanes in Kokomo, Ind., Sunday, becoming the eighth woman to win a standard PBA Regional title. The event was covered live, exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame video streaming service.

Zavjalova, winner of the 2013 USBC Queens along with the 2015 PWBA Minnesota Open, earned $2,000 and is now eligible to enter the 2016 FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions. She joins Liz Johnson, Kelly Kulick, Missy Parkin, Shannon O’Keefe, Adrienne Miller, Clara Guerrero and Japan’s Yuka Tsuchiya as a PBA Regional title winner. Amy Stolz and Jodi Woessner also have won regionals as non-members and therefore didn’t receive credit for titles.

To reach the title match in Kokomo, Zavjalova downed Kelly Jordon of Marion, Ohio, 255-202, while Raymond topped Ronnie Sparks of Ecorse, Mich., 211-135, in the semifinal round. She had previously eliminated Patrick Dombrowski of Parma, Ohio, 2-0, in the best-of-three-game Round of 8 and Dean Mueller of Vernon Hills, Ill., 2-0, in the best-of-three Round of 12.

McEwan, winner of the end-of-season Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship, survived a six-woman race to win the PBA East Region’s points competition and earn a paid entry into the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII along with a berth in the PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional Challenge qualifying event in Reno. McEwan won the regional women’s points race with a fifth-place finish in the PWBA Maple City Dodge East Open in Hornell, N.Y., an event won by Kulick with a 12-game total of 2,519 pins.

Brittni Hamilton of Webster, N.Y., finished second in Hornell with 2,475 pins, 44 behind Kulick. Kulick earned $1,500 while Hamilton took home $1,000. McEwan finished the season with 34,647 points, topping Kerry Smith of Lititz, Pa., who had 29,302 points.

In Sunday’s PBA Open portion of the Maple City Dodge event, presented by 900 Global, Patrick Allen of Mount Kisco, N.Y., won seven of his 12 matches and finished with a 20-game total of 4,667 pins to edge Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y. by 20 pins. Allen won $2,400 for his 28th career regional title.

● Bryan Goebel of Shawnee, Kan., and Mike Dias of Lafayette, Colo. won PBA50 Southwest Region titles in a doubleheader weekend at Junction City Bowl in Junction City, Kan.

On Saturday, Goebel defeated Scott Greiner from Platte City, Mo., 192-184, to win his first Junction City title. Goebel opened in the ninth frame of the championship match, but converted the 4-5 split in the 10th frame to force Greiner to throw two strikes for the win. Greiner, a previous Junction City champion, struck once but left a 7 pin on his second shot to allow Goebel to collect the $1,000 first place check.

On Sunday, Dias used two 279 games in the round-robin match-play finals to outpace Kurt Gengelbach from Carrollton, Texas, to win his third Junction City title. Dias finished with of 3,295 pins, including match play bonus pins, for 13 games.

● Mai Takasaka (photo inset) became the second woman to win a PBA Japan Region Open title Sunday, topping the 112-player field to win the $4,172 first prize in the DHC PBA Chameleon Open at Soundbowl Ushiku in Ibaraki, Japan. After qualifying seventh for the eight-player elimination finals, Takasaka defeated Yuuhi Shinbata, 180-168, in the Round of 8; Hiroko Shimizu, 201-183, in semifinal round and Yuta Saito, 184-174, for the title. Yuka Tsuchiya, who swept the 2014 Chameleon Women’s and Open titles, was eliminated by Saito in the semifinal round, 186-172, to finish in a tie for third.

Shimizu won Saturday’s Chameleon Women’s Open, also earning $4,172, by nipping Maki Nakano, 167-166, in the title match. Takasaka lost to Nakano in the Round of 8, 234-201, to finish tied for fifth in the women’s event.

For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.

QUICK NOTES
● Subscribe to Xtra Frame (monthly plan at $7.99 or XF Season Ticket for $64.99) during October and you will be automatically entered into the monthly MOTIV and DV8 sweepstakes for a chance to win a new high-performance MOTIV or DV8 bowling ball. For September, thanks to PBA’s Product Registered partners, new subscribers Donald Benner of Palmdale, Calif., won the new MOTIV ball while David Reeves of Indianapolis, won the DV8 ball.

● Lynda Barnes confirmed that husband Chris Barnes’ discectomy has been successfully completed in Dallas and the 18-time PBA Tour champion is ready, willing and eager to go home to complete his recovery. Barnes expects to be out of action for at least eight weeks.

PBA television ratings on ESPN for 2014-15 not only showed a 23 percent increase in viewership, but made important gains in valuable demographics, PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark said.

Newly-released ratings data comparing the overall 2014-15 PBA telecasts on ESPN to the 2013-14 season showed ratings gains in desirable areas such as males age 18-49, which was up 55 percent. The combined male-female audience in both the 18-34 and 18-49 age groups were up 50 percent year-over-year.

“It’s an exciting time for the PBA,” Clark said. “These numbers are rarely achieved in sports TV and are very encouraging. They are both valuable and attractive to sponsors and partners. The PBA’s mix of exciting players including Hall of Famers, international stars and former collegiate players making their mark in increasingly diverse and prestigious events, plus the continued support of ESPN have the PBA positioned for further growth.”

The new PBA on ESPN schedule begins Dec. 17, with a special Thursday, 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) live telecast of the PBA World Championship from the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada.

2016 PBA LEAGUE DECLARATION DEADLINES LOOMING

Two key deadlines for PBA League competition in 2016 are looming – the Oct. 26 deadline for team managers to declare up to three players they wish to protect from their 2015 rosters, and the Nov. 13 deadline for PBA members to declare themselves eligible for the 2016 draft.

Team managers must advise PBA Commissioner Tom Clark of the maximum of three players from their 2015 rosters that they want to return to their respective teams in 2016. Players not protected must then declare their intent to participate in the 2016 draft by contacting PBA Director of Events Janay Haggerty (janay.haggerty@pba.com) by no later than Nov. 13.

The 2016 PBA League draft will be held on Dec. 17during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII in Las Vegas. The draft will be covered live on Xtra Frame at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT).

NEXT UP ON XTRA FRAME: SANDS REGENCY CASINO WEST/NORTHWEST CLASSIC

The Sands Regency Casino West/Northwest Classic, presented by Radical, will reward its winner with a $10,000 first prize at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., and the entire tournament will be covered live on Xtra Frame Saturday and Sunday.The Sands Regency regional event will be a reduced-entry fee tournament ($175 for PBA members, $225 for non-members) leading into the multi-event PBA South Point Bowling Plaza Fall Classic which gets underway on Monday, Oct. 19, in Las Vegas.

Xtra Frame coverage of the PBA Fall Classic begins Oct. 19 at South Point. During the Fall Classic, Xtra Frame will provide live coverage of the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship qualifying and match play rounds Oct. 19-20, start-to-finish coverage of the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open – a PBA Tour title event – Oct. 21-22; the South Point West Challenge (for non-title winners) on Oct. 23; the new five-player PBA Team Challenge, Oct. 24-25, and the PBA50 Western Open on Oct. 26.

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: SMALLWOOD WINS GREATER MUSKEGON TITLE

Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Mich., defeated Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., 228-193, to win the $2,000 top prize in the PBA Greater Muskegon USBC Bowling Association/Northway Lanes Central Open at Northway Lanes in Muskegon, Mich., on Sunday.

En route to his fourth PBA Regional title, Smallwood downed Eric Tackett of Huntington, Ind., 268-194, while Ciminelli topped Patrick Dombrowski of Parma, Ohio, 246-224, in the semifinal round.

● Troy Kendrick of Coto de Caza, Calif., and Jeff Frankos of Daly City, Calif., took advantage of their superior match play record to win the PBA/PBA50 Ken Fowler Auto Center West/Northwest Doubles hosted by Yokayo Bowl in Ukiah, Calif., Sunday.

Kendrick and Frankos won five of their six matches to finish the tournament with a 14-game total of 6,150 pins, including 150 match play bonus pins, to top Joe Goldstein Sr. of Hayward, Calif., and Chris Warren of Grants Pass, Ore., by 29 pins for the title, giving Kendrick his fifth PBA Regional title and Frankos his 19th. They shared the $3,000 first prize.Goldstein and Warren had a 2-4 match play record and a total of 6,121 pins, including 60 bonus pins.

● The Oct. 16-18 PBA Regional calendar includes the Bowlers Discount Pro Shop Eastern Open from AMF Woodlawn Bowl in Baltimore, and the PBA50 Park Centre Lanes Senior/Super Senior Doubles Central Open presented by Columbia 300 from North Canton, Ohio, as well as the Sands Regency West/Northwest events at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. Oct. 19 marks the beginning of the South Point Bowling Plaza PBA Fall Classic in Las Vegas.

For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.

QUICK NOTES

● Conner Kolessides (scratch) and Tommy Sanfilippo (handicap) earned $1,700 and $2,000 scholarship awards, respectively, in the fourth annual Danny Wiseman Youth Scholarship Tournament at AMF Country Club Lanes in Baltimore on Saturday. The sold-out event rewarded participants with more than $22,000 in scholarships.

LAS VEGAS – The Professional Bowlers Association Fall Classic, an entirely new multi-event series for PBA competitors, gets underway Monday at the new South Point Bowling Plaza with ramifications on a variety of levels for its international field of players.

PBA fans in Las Vegas will be able to watch all of the action in the new South Point tournament facility at no cost and fans around the world will be able to catch every round of every event in the PBA Fall Classic live exclusively on Xtra Frame, the PBA’s on-line live streaming channel.

To get things started Monday afternoon, a diverse field of doubles teams – men and women, seniors and rookies, amateurs and professionals – will try to de-throne two-time defending champions Wes Malott and PBA Hall of Fame partner Norm Duke as qualifying begins in the 2016 Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship. The high-powered duo won the 2015 Roth/Holman Doubles title in Indianapolis when they defeated England’s Dom Barrett and Finland’s Osku Palermaa, 228-203, after winning their previous doubles title at South Point in 2011 when they defeated Ronnie Russell and Sean Rash in the title match.

Barrett and Palermaa will return to challenge for the title again, along with teams including leading PBA Player of the Year contender Jason Belmonte and partner Bill O’Neill; the left-handed tandems of PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn and partner Ryan Ciminelli as well as Anthony Pepe and rookie Matt McNiel; 2014 PBA Rookie of the Year Marshall Kent with 2015 ROY hopeful A.J. Johnson of Oswego, Ill.; mixed-doubles partners Ryan Shafer and newly-crowned Professional Women’s Bowling Association titlist Liz Kuhlkin along with Scott Norton and Missy Parkin, who grew up bowling together in California youth programs; and the team of Rash and PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann., Mo., who were rivals as recently as last Sunday when Rash defeated Weber to win the Xtra Frame PBA Iowa Midwest Open title in Omaha.

That’s just a sampling of the doubles roster, which can be found on pba.com under the Schedules tab: (http://www.pba.com/Content/files/Downloads/2015%20FALL%20CLASSIC%20(Doubles).pdf.

The Roth/Holman Doubles event in Las Vegas will include eight qualifying games on Monday, Oct. 19, followed by two six-game match play rounds on Tuesday. Based upon a combined total of 20 doubles (40 individual) games, the top five teams will advance to the ESPN-televised finals which will be conducted on Saturday, Dec. 19, at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno for delayed airing on Sunday, Jan. 17, and will be counted as a 2016 title on the official PBA stats.

The Fall Classic continues on Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 21-22, with the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, a PBA Tour title event. More than 110 players will bowl two qualifying rounds Wednesday with the top 16 advancing to round-robin match play Thursday. After 32 games, the top five will meet in the stepladder finals Thursday at 5:30 p.m. PT (8:30 p.m. ET). All rounds of the Las Vegas Open will be covered live, exclusively on Xtra Frame (for subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link).

The South Point Las Vegas Open could play a role in the 2015 PBA Player and Rookie of the Year races. Heading into the Fall Classic, Australia’s Belmonte, his doubles partner O’Neill and Josh Blanchard of Mesa, Ariz., have each won two PBA Tour titles during the 2015 season. Belmonte’s are both majors (USBC Masters and Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions), so he’s the heavy favorite heading into the final two months of the season which will include the Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open (Nov. 3-8 in Garland, Texas) and the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno Dec. 7-19, which will include four standard PBA Tour titles plus the year’s final major, the PBA World Championship.

As of Oct. 15, Belmonte also holds the PBA earnings and averages leads. He has earned $168,861 so far in 2015 with a 228.54 average over 237 games bowled. Chris Barnes, who will miss the Fall Classic while recovering from recent back surgery, is second on the money list with $113,920 while O’Neill is second on the average list at 227.04 for 187 games. For complete current PBA Tour statistics: http://www.pba.com/SeasonStats/TotalWinnings/81

The Las Vegas Open field also includes a slew of PBA Hall of Famers, including 47-time champion Walter Ray Williams Jr., 38-time champion Norm Duke, 37-time champion Pete Weber and 34-time titlist Parker Bohn III along with many of the sport’s rising stars, several of whom are trying for their first PBA Tour title. The singles event – the first PBA Tour event ever held from start-to-finish in the South Point Bowling Plaza – also is the first qualifying leg for players hoping to earn automatic invitations to compete in the DHC PBA Japan Open in January. Qualifying pins from the Las Vegas Open and the Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open will determine the 10 players who will earn invitations to Japan. One PWBA member also will be invited based on qualifying pins from the U.S. Women’s Open and the South Point Las Vegas Open.

For a current singles roster, visit pba.com and look for PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open under “schedules/PBA Tour” or click here: http://www.pba.com/Rosters/Details/2095

Friday, Oct. 23, is set aside for the PBA South Point West Challenge, a PBA West Region event open to players who have never won a PBA title. Xtra Frame also will cover this event.

PBA’s newest venture, the PBA Team Challenge, takes center stage Saturday and Sunday. Seventeen five-player teams have already entered the one-of-a-kind PBA team battle. The Team Challenge will begin with a six-game qualifying round on Saturday, Oct. 24, with all five players bowling full games, followed by a 12-game Baker format round. Based on the combined 18-game team totals, the top eight teams will advance to eight games of Baker format round-robin match play Sunday morning followed by a Baker format stepladder finale at 3 p.m. local time. All rounds of the Team Challenge also will be covered live on Xtra Frame.

To check out the current PBA Team Challenge roster, visit pba.com and look for PBA Team Challenge under “schedules/PBA Tour” or click here: http://www.pba.com/Content/files/Downloads/2015%20FALL%20CLASSIC%20(Team).pdf

The Fall Classic will conclude on Monday, Oct. 26, with the PBA50 Western Open, a PBA West Region event for players ages 50 and older and another event covered by Xtra Frame.

PBA’s live coverage of the Fall Classic is available exclusively on Xtra Frame. Subscriptions for three days ($3.99), a full month ($7.99) or the 12-month Season Ticket ($64.99) are available. Visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link to enroll.

PBA SOUTH POINT BOWLING PLAZA FALL CLASSIC SCHEDULE

South Point Bowling Plaza, Las Vegas, Oct. 19-26

(All rounds of all events listed below will be covered live by Xtra Frame)

Monday, Oct. 19

1 p.m. – Fall Classic practice session

5 p.m. –Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship, 8 qualifying games (16 individual games)

Top 12 teams advance to round robin match play

Tuesday, Oct. 20

9 a.m. – Roth/Holman PBA Doubles, 6 games match play (12 individual games)

2 p.m. – Roth/Holman PBA Doubles, 6 games match play (12 individual games)

Top 5 teams after 20 doubles games (40 individual games) advance to ESPN stepladder finals onSaturday, Dec. 19 at National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev.

7 p.m. – PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open practice session

Wednesday, Oct. 21

9 a.m. – PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, 8 qualifying games

Top 24 advance to round robin match play

4 p.m. - PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, 8 games round-robin match play

Thursday, Oct. 22

8:30 a.m. - PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, 8 games round-robin match play

1 p.m. - PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, 8 games round-robin match play

Top 5 after 32 games advance to stepladder finals

5:30 p.m. - PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open stepladder finals

Friday, Oct. 23

9 a.m. – PBA South Point West Challenge qualifying and match play (open to non-champions)

6 p.m. – PBA Team Challenge practice session

Saturday, Oct. 24

9 a.m. – PBA Team Challenge, 6 qualifying games (30 individual games)

5 p.m. – PBA Team Challenge, 12 Baker format qualifying games

Top 8 teams after 18 combined team games advance to round robin match play

Sunday, Oct. 25

9 a.m. – PBA Team Challenge, 8 games Baker format round robin match play

Top 4 teams after 26 combined team games advance to stepladder finals

3 p.m. – PBA Team Challenge Baker format stepladder finals

Monday, Oct. 26

9 a.m. – PBA50 Western Open qualifying and match play

LAS VEGAS – Fifth-year PBA member Connor Pickford of Charlotte, N.C., and 18-year-old rookie Anthony Simonsen of Princeton, Texas, bowling as doubles partners for the first time, averaged a combined 240 to lead qualifying in the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship presented by Storm at the South Point Bowling Plaza Monday.

Both players, trying for their first PBA Tour titles, led the field of 12 teams that advance to two six-game rounds of round-robin team match play competition Tuesday. The top five teams after 20 team games (40 individual games) will advance to the ESPN stepladder finals which will be contested on Saturday, Dec. 19, at part of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno.

Among the teams failing to advance were two-time defending Roth/Holman Doubles champions Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., and Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, who qualified in 14th place.

Pickford and Simonsen, who dropped to ninth place with three games to go Monday, fired games of 289 and 266, respectively, in game six to charge into the lead and they held on to finish with 3,810 pins, 26 pins ahead of DJ Archer of Friendswood, Texas, and Shawn Maldonado of Houston, Texas.

Third with a combined 16-game total of 3,756 pins was the team of Matt McNeil, Prior Lake, Minn., and Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y.

Simonsen, who decided to join the PBA a little over a year ago after cashing in a pair of PBA regional tournament as an amateur, “decided to take the opportunity and go after it. I had the desire to bowl on the PBA Tour for a long time. My parents used to record all of the TV shows and I grew up spending my nights watching the PBA.”

He also took up the sport as a two-handed player at age 3, when a bowling ball was too heavy to throw with one hand, and he never stopped using the two-handed technique that is growing in popularity.

Pickford, who led the PBA Viper Championship at South Point a year ago only to lose in the title match to Finland’s Mika Koivuniemi, picked Simonsen as his doubles partner when a group of five players known as “Team Fish” entered the PBA Team Challenge, which will be held later in the week.

“Once we made up Team Fish for the Team Challenge, we kinda decided to pick our own partners and I instantly put dibs on Anthony,” Pickford said. “But after the way all of us bowled today, it seemed like any of the five of us could have put our scores together and we’d have done fine. There was no such thing as a bad partner in that group.”

While their big game propelled them to the top, Pickford said, “We didn’t really lose the pocket all day. We missed one makeable spare all day, and that was a chop, so we’re pretty proud of that.

“Our key was just communicating what we saw on the first couple of shots on each pair and staying on top of the transition. It kinda threw us at first that teams on the left lane were moving to the left, and teams on the right lane moved right all day. We’ve never done that before in a PBA event, but it was cool. We got to bowl with a lot of guys. I liked it, and we just happened to capitalize on it.”

The Roth/Holman Doubles event is the first in a series of tournaments that make up the PBA Fall Classic. Following doubles match play rounds Tuesday, competition continues with the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open – a PBA Tour title event – Wednesday and Thursday; the South Point West Challenge (a regional event for non-title winners) on Friday; the new five-player PBA Team Challenge, Saturday and Sunday, and the PBA50 Western Open next Monday. All competition in the Fall Classic is being covered live, exclusively on PBA’s online video-streaming service, Xtra Frame. For details, visit pba.com.

MARK ROTH/MARSHALL HOLMAN PBA DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Presented by Storm
South Point Bowling Plaza, Las Vegas, Monday

Final Qualifying Standings (after 12 doubles teams games):
1, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C./Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 3,810.
2, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas/Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 3,784.
3, Matt McNeil, Prior Lake, Minn./Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 3,756.
4, Dom Barrett, England/Osku Palermaa, Finland, 3,722.
5, Jason Belmonte, Australia/Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 3,719.
6, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C./Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 3,715.
7, A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill./Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 3,701.
8, Andrew Cain/Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 3,665.
9, a-Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich./f-Liz, Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,650.
10, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio/Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 3,643.
11, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz./Andres Gomez, Colombia, 3,641.
12, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla./E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 3,633.
Failed to advance:
13, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla./Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 3,627, $3,000.
14, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla./Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 3,620, $240.
15, a-Oscar Rodriguez, Colombia/Chad Lusche, Parker, Colo., 3,615.
16, a-Jimmy Cook, Indianapolis/Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 3,611.
17, Aaron Lorincz, Saginaw, Mich./a-Steve Novak, Bay City, Mich., 3,601.
18, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla./Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio, 3,598.
19, Mike DeVaney, Winchester, Calif./Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 3,585.
20, Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas/Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 3,580.
21, David Haynes, Las Vegas/Eddie VanDaniker, Chatsworth, Calif., 3,564.
22, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J./Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,557.
23, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz./a-Benjamin, Canfield, San Diego, 3,547.
24, Robert Smith, Ventura, Calif./Sam Cooley, Australia, 3,537.
25, Eric Cornog, Cherry Hill, N.J./Jason Cornog, Cherry Hill, N.J., 3,526.
26, Adam Ishman, Las Vegas/Jon VanHees, Charlestown, R.I., 3,525.
27, Brett Spangler, Niles, Ohio/Patrick Girard, Canada, 3,514.
28, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif./f-Missy, Parkin, Laguna Hills, Calif., 3,495.
29, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich./Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 3,460.
30, f-Liz Kuhlkin, Rotterdam, N.Y./Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3,459.
31, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla./Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 3,457.
32, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore./Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 3,456.
33, Mark Sullivan, Indianapolis/Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 3,450.
34, J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich./Ronnie Sparks, Ecorse, Mich., 3,432.
35, Patrick Allen, Mount Kisco, N.Y./Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 3,422.
36, Johnathan Bower/Darryl Bower, Middletown, Pa., 3,412.
37, Manuel Otalora, Colombia/Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 3,409.
38, Lee Vanderhoef, Canton, Ga./Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 3,400.
39, Paul Bajorski, West Babylon, N.Y./Gary Haines, West Babylon, N.Y., 3,392.
40, Jaime Gonzalez/Jaime Monroy, Colombia, 3,387.
41, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan./Kris Prather, Milton, Fla., 3,379.
42, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill./Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 3,376.
42, J.T. Jackson, Sherman Oaks, Calif./Andrew Graff, Las Vegas, 3,376.
44, Gary Faulkner, Memphis, Tenn./Mike Williams, Montgomery, Ala., 3,373.
45, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan./Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 3,355.
46, a-Robert, Gotchall, Lincoln, Neb./Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 3,329.
47, Alex Cavagnaro, Massapequa, N.Y./Matt O'Grady, Matawan, N.J., 3,310.
48, B.J. Moore, Apex, N.C./Randy Weiss, Columbia, S.C., 3,286.
49, Martin Larsen, Sweden/Stuart Williams, England, 3,248.
50, Jesse Buss, Belvidere, Ill./John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 3,135.

a-denotes amateur; f-denotes female.

300 Game: Liz Johnson.

LAS VEGAS – Qualifying leaders Connor Pickford, 23, of Charlotte, N.C., and teenage partner Anthony Simonsen of Princeton, Texas, earned the top qualifying position for the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship finals, presented by Storm, at the South Point Bowling Plaza Tuesday.

Pickford, whose best career finish was second in the 2014 PBA Viper Championship, and Simonsen, an 18-year-old rookie whose top finish was third in the PBA Xtra Frame Pensacola Open earlier in the year, held off every challenge throughout 20 team games of qualifying and match play to win the top berth in the finals by 245 pins over England’s Dom Barrett and Finland’s Osku Palermaa, the runners-up in the Roth/Holman Doubles Championship held in February in Indianapolis.

Pickford and Simonsen split their 12 team matches, 6-6, but finished with a combined total of 9,337 pins while Barrett and Palermaa posted a 9,092 total. Josh Blanchard of Mesa, Ariz., and Andres Gomez of Colombia qualified third; rookie Matt McNiel of Prior Lake, Minn., and Anthony Pepe of Elmhurst, N.Y., qualified fourth, and Australia’s Jason Belmonte and partner Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pa., advanced from seventh to fifth in the final game.

“We just did the same thing we did yesterday,” Pickford said. “We stayed focused, made good shots and it seemed like every time someone got close, we had a big game to stay in front.”

“I don’t know what the difference was this week,” said Simonsen, who had struggled in most of his 13 previous PBA Tour events. “I was Mr. 60th place during the PBA Summer Swing, but everything seemed to click. I feel like I’ve been bowling well, and today it all came together.”

“I’m kinda bummed that the finals won’t be held until Dec. 19, though. If it was two days earlier and we could win, I’d become the youngest player ever to win a PBA Tour title.”

That record currently belongs to PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke, who won his first title in 1983 at the age of 18 years, 11 months, 8 days.

The top five teams will advance to the ESPN stepladder finals on Saturday, Dec. 19, as part of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. The finals telecast will air on ESPN on Sunday, Jan. 17, and will officially count as a 2016 title.

The South Point Bowling Plaza PBA Fall Classic continues with the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, a PBA Tour singles event, Wednesday and Thursday; the South Point PBA West Challenge on Friday; the five-player PBA Team Challenge, Saturday and Sunday, and the PBA50 Western Open on Monday. All competition in the Fall Classic is being covered live, exclusively on PBA’s online video-streaming service, Xtra Frame. For details, visit pba.com.

MARK ROTH/MARSHALL HOLMAN PBA DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Presented by Storm
South Point Bowling Plaza, Las Vegas, Tuesday

Final Match Play Standings (after 40 team games, including match play bonus pins; top five teams advance to ESPN stepladder finals on Dec. 19 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev.):

1, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C. /Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 6-6, 9,657.
2, Dom Barrett, England /Osku Palermaa, Finland, 7-4-1, 9,437.
3, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz./ Andres Gomez, Colombia, 5-6-1, 9,423.
4, Matt McNiel, Prior Lake, Minn./Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 8-4, 9,389.
5, Jason Belmonte, Australia/Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 8-4, 9,342.
6, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas/Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 5-7, 9,339, $7,000.
7, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla./E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 7-5, 9,301, $6,000.
8, A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill./Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 5-7, 9,374, $5,500.
9, Andrew Cain/Michael Haugen, Phoenix, 5-7, 9,205, $5,000.
10, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio/Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 6-6, 9,141, $4,500.
11, a-Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich./f-Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 5-7, 9,101, $4,000.
12, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C./Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 4-8, 8,854, $3,500.

a-denotes amateur; f-denotes female.

300 Games: Shawn Maldonado, A.J. Johnson, Anthony Simonsen, Liz Johnson, Ronnie Russell, Patrick Girard.

LAS VEGAS – Anthony Pepe of Elmhurst, N.Y., who bowled the first nationally-televised 295 game in PBA history, and won the first PBA title awarded in the new South Point Bowling Plaza in his television debut, continued his run of high-quality bowling in the Plaza Wednesday, averaging 240 to claim the lead after qualifying in the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open.

Pepe, who went on to win the 2014 PBA Cheetah Championship for his first PBA Tour title, led the field by 41 pins after the first eight games and finished qualifying with a 16-game total of 3,843 pins and a 138-pin lead over Kris Prather of Milton, Fla., who had 3,705 pins. Patrick Girard of Canada was third with a 3,603 total, followed by Aaron Lorincz of Saginaw, Mich., at 3,598 and Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., and Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., who were tied for fifth place with 3,571 pins.

Prather, Girard and Lorincz are trying for their first PBA Tour title. Bohn, a PBA Hall of Famer, is a 34-time champion.

“I have a lot of friends in Las Vegas who are lefthanders and they say conditions here, for some reason are conducive to our side of the lane,” Pepe, a 27-year-old lefthander, said. “But that doesn’t necessarily help my confidence. You still have to make good shots, and you have to match up with your ball and the condition or none of the rest of it makes any difference.”

The top 16 players advanced to eight-game round-robin match play rounds Thursday at 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. PT. The top five after 32 games will advance to the stepladder finals that will be covered live of PBA’s online video-streaming service, Xtra Frame, at 5:30 p.m. PT (8:30 p.m. ET).

In addition to competing for a PBA Tour title in the Las Vegas Open, players were bowling for points during qualifying toward invitations to compete in the DHC PBA Japan Invitational in Tokyo in January. The top 10 men will earn automatic invitations based on combined points earned in the Las Vegas Open and qualifying rounds of the Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open Nov. 2-8 in Garland, Texas. One woman also will be invited to Japan. Women were awarded points in the Bowlmor AMF U.S. Women’s Open, won by Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., in early September, in addition to the Las Vegas Open.

The South Point Bowling Plaza PBA Fall Classic continues with the final rounds of the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open Thursday followed by the South Point PBA West Challenge on Friday; the five-player PBA Team Challenge, Saturday and Sunday, and the PBA50 Western Open on Monday. The entire Fall Classic is being covered live, exclusively on PBA’s online video-streaming service, Xtra Frame. For details, visit pba.com.

PBA XTRA FRAME SOUTH POINT LAS VEGAS OPEN

South Point Bowling Plaza, Las Vegas, Wednesday

Final Qualifying Standings (after 16 games, top 16 advance to match play):

1, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 3,843.
2, Kristopher Prather, Milton, Fla., 3,705.
3, Patrick Girard, Canada, 3,603.
4, Aaron Lorincz, Saginaw, Mich., 3,598.
5 (tie), Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., and Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,571.
7, Matt McNiel, Prior Lake, Minn., 3,562.
8, Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 3,559.
9 (tie), Jason Belmonte, Australia, and Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 3,549.
11, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 3,531.
12, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 3,506.
13, a-Oscar Rodriguez, Colombia, 3,476.
14, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 3,469.
15, f-Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,452.
16, Sam Cooley, Australia, 3,448.

Other Cashers (after 16 games):

17, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 3,446, $800.
18 (tie), Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., and Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 3,439, $755.
20, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 3,437, $710.
21, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 3,436, $680.
22, f-Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 3,426, $650.
23, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 3,424, $620.
24, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 3,422, $600.
25, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 3,420, $600.
26 (tie), Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., and B.J. Moore III, Apex, N.C., 3,419, $550.
28, Steven Villanueva, North Las Vegas, Nev., 3,415, $550.
29, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 3,414, $550.
30, Mike DeVaney, Winchester, Calif., 3,408, $550.
31, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 3,403, $550.
32, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 3,401, $500.
33, Chris Arcaro, Wilmington, N.C., 3,391, $500.
34, f-Missy Parkin, Laguna Hills, Calif., 3,388, $500.
35, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 3,386, $500.
36, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3,383, $500.
37, Patrick Allen, Mount Kisco, N.Y., 3,382, $500.

Failed to Cash:

38, Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 3,367.
39, Dom Barrett, England, 3,366.
40, a-Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 3,360.
41 (tie), Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., and J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 3,359.
43, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 3,358.
44, Manuel Otalora, Colombia, 3,356.
45, Jesse Buss, Belvidere, Ill., 3,354.
46, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 3,346.
47, a-Anthony Santos, LaPuente, Calif., 3,341.
48, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 3,337.
49, a-Jimmy Cook, Indianapolis, 3,335.
50, Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 3,334.
51, Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 3,326.
52, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 3,320.
53, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 3,318.
54, Stuart Williams, England, 3,316.
55, Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, 3,306.
56, fp-Liz Kuhlkin, Rotterdam, N.Y., 3,299.
57 (tie), Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., and Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 3,286.
59, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 3,281.
60, David Haynes, Las Vegas, 3,274.
61, Daniel Miyamoto, Mililani, Hawaii, 3,268.
62, Eric Cornog, Cherry Hill, N.J., 3,257.
63, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 3,255.
64 (tie), Matthew O'Grady, Matawan, N.J., and Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 3,252.
66, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 3,243.
67, Ronnie Sparks Jr., Ecorse, Mich., 3,241.
68, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 3,235.
69 (tie), John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., and Jon VanHees, Charlestown, R.I., 3,224.
71, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 3,222.
72 (tie), Brett Spangler, Niles, Ohio, and Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 3,217.
74, Randy Weiss, Columbia, S.C., 3,213.
75, Lee Vanderhoef, Canton, Ga., 3,209.
76, Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio, 3,207.
77, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 3,205.
78, Chad Lusche, Parker, Colo., 3,191.
79, Paul Bajorski, West Babylon, N.Y., 3,184.
80, Lanndyn Carnate, Glendale, Ariz., 3,180.
81, Alex Cavagnaro, Massapequa, N.Y., 3,178.
82, Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., 3,177.
83 (tie), Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., and A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 3,169.
85, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 3,164.
86, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 3,155.
87, a-Michael Hartter, Henderson, Nev., 3,146.
88, Steven Black, Maricopa, Ariz., 3,138.
89, J.T. "Action" Jackson, Sherman Oaks, Calif., 3,132.
90, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 3,127.
91, Jaime Monroy, Colombia, 3,121.
92, Jaime Gonzalez, Colombia, 3,104.
93, Darryl Bower, Middletown, Pa., 3,101.
94, Andrew Graff, Las Vegas, 3,096.
95, a-Benjamin Canfield, San Diego, 3,088.
96, Doug Kempt, Arcadia, Calif., 3,043.
97, a-Ari Wilson, Henderson, Nev., 3,032.
98, ss-Kerry Fulford, Ft. Worth, Texas, 2,981.
99, ss-William Keenan Jr., Orlando, Fla., 2,979.
100 (tie), ss-Bill Hewlett, Eagle, Idaho, and ss-Ray Cobb, Highland, Calif., 2,978.
102, Lamont Hanna, Salt Lake City, 2,912.
103, a-Matthew Kushner, Santa Clarita, 2,886.
104, Bobby Westbrook, Nuevo, Calif., 2,743.
105, Mitchell Caldwell, Canyon Country, Calif., 2,591.
106, a-Brandon Love, Las Vegas, 2,857.
107, Gary Haines, West Babylon, N.Y., 2,799.
Withdrew: Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C.; Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla.; ss-Tom Baker, King, N.C.; a-Mathew Vierra, Walnut Creek, Calif., and Robert Smith, Ventura, Calif.

a-denotes amateur; f-denotes female; ss-denotes PBA60 player.

300 Games: Shawn Maldonado, Sean Rash, Patrick Girard.

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