USBC Collegiate Sectionals Taking Place This Weekend
The USBC Sectionals Qualifiers are taking place this upcoming weekend, March 12-14, 2010. The top 64 men’s and top 64 women’s teams have been divided into four groups of 16. The team events will take place on Saturday and Sunday, with the singles events taking place on Friday.
The four sectionals locations are spread across the country. The East Sectional is in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The West Sectional is in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Midwest Qualifier is in Peoria, Illinois. The Central Qualifier is in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In the singles events, bowlers will bowl six games of qualifying. The top four bowlers from each location will advance to the Intercollegiate Singles Championships, taking place in Euless, Texas on May 16-19, 2010.
In the team events, teams will bowl 64 baker games across two days. The top four teams from each sectional location will advance to the Intercollegiate Team Championships, taking place in El Paso, Texas on April 14-17, 2010.
Zelger, Banks Win in PBA Regional Events
Two PBA Regional events took place this past weekend. The PBA East Region Ft. Meade Senior Open took place in Fort Meade, Maryland. The PBA South Region Kernersville, NC Senior Open took place in Kernersville, North Carolina.
In the Ft. Meade Senior Open, David Zelger jumped out and took the lead in qualifying with a score of 1861 (+261, 232.625 Average). Zelger finished with a 7-2 overall record, defeating Bob Caruso in the finals to win the tournament. Dennis Erion and Darryl Bower finished in third and fourth. This event was bowled on PBA Senior Pattern #1.
Tom Baker led qualifying in the South Region Kernersville, NC Senior Open. Baker finished qualifying with a score of 1943 (+343, 242.88 Average). William Banks finished with a 10-2 match play record to take over the lead by over 200 pins over the second place finisher, Timothy Kauble. Frank Gallo, Jr. and Bobby Johnson finished in third and fourth. This event was bowled on PBA Senior Pattern #4.
Chris Barnes Gives Back in Chris Barnes Challenge #3
The third Chris Barnes Challenge ended a little differently than the first two. Dave Johnson was the winning bidder, at $400. Dave decided to let his 16 year old son Sean bowl in his place. Later in the week, Jimmy Johnson, the son of the late great Don Johnson, decided to get involved in the action. Jimmy put up his own $400 to challenge Barnes. Chris Barnes beat the other two with his score of 746. Sean Johnson had 566 and Jimmy Johnson had 580. Barnes ended up taking his $800 in winnings and donating it to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Barnes handed the winnings over to the Johnson family, who have been doing a lot of help to raise money for the foundation. This is nothing new to Barnes, who has a son with juvenile diabetes. Chris and his wife Lynda are active members of the JDRF community in Texas.
Scroggins Wins Don Johnson Eliminator
The finals of the PBA Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator started off with Osku Palermaa leading the first game, but it soon showed that didn’t mean much in the format of this event. The first game had Palermaa leading with a 233 game. Brian Kretzer had a 211, Mike Scroggins had a 203, and Wes Malott was low with 195. Malott was eliminated during this round. The next game had Scroggins leading with a 254 game. Brian Kretzer was close behind with a 245, while Palermaa fell short with a 211 and was eliminated. The finals had Scroggins and Kretzer facing off. Scroggins won the match by a score of 206-195.
This is Mike Scroggins’ 8th career title and his 1st this season. Scroggins also won the USBC Red, White, and Blue tournament, but that event was not a PBA event. Scroggins won this event while using a Columbia 300 Full Swing and a Total Bedlam. See which equipment the other pros were using on my InTheBag page for the Don Johnson Eliminator.
TV Finals Set for PBA Don Johnson Eliminator
The TV finals field has been set for the PBA Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator. The final four players advancing are Osku Palermaa, Wes Malott, Brian Kretzer, and Mike Scroggins. Sean Rash had led the tournament throughout qualifying, but was eliminated in the group led by Palermaa. This event is being held on the PBA Chameleon pattern.
The scoring pace for this event has been fairly high, with most bowlers averaging over 200 for the week. The 14-game cut score to the top 30 bowlers was 3034 (+234, 216.71 Average). The 28-game cut to the top 16 was 6162 (+562, 220.07 Average). Once bowlers reached the round of 16, they were put into groups of four. In each round, they bowled a 3-game series and eliminated the lowest bowler in each group. This eliminated four bowlers in each round, until we now reach the final four.
The TV finals will have all four bowlers facing off in the first game. Three games will be bowled, with one bowler being eliminated after each game. The TV finals will air live on ESPN at 12:30 PM Eastern Time on Sunday, March 7, 2010.
Chris Barnes Challenge #3 Takes Place This Week
Chris Barnes has put himself out there again. The third Chris Barnes Challenge will take place this week, at Sequoia Pro Bowl in Columbus, Ohio. The challenge will take place on Saturday, March 6, at 5:30 PM Eastern Time. The deadline for entries is Thursday, March 4, at 9:00 PM. Barnes has put his $5000 offer up again and whoever can come closest to matching his bet will take him on for that amount in a 3 game total pinfall match. As of right now, the highest bidder is Dave Johnson with his bid of $400.
PBA Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator TQR Results
The PBA Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator is taking place this week in Columbus, Ohio. The Tour Qualifying Round took place this week. Bowlers bowled 8 games in the TQR with he top 9 bowlers advancing into the tournament this week. Bill Oatman led the qualifier with a score of 1846 (+246, 230.75 Average). Other bowlers in the top 5 include Jesse Buss (1844), Eddie Graham (1801), Scott Newell (1793), and Joe Bailey (1768). Others making the cut include Anthony LaCaze (1752), Chad Kloss (1749), Liz Johnson (1747), and Andres Gomez (1739). The cut score was 1739 (+139, 217.38 Average).
This tournament is being bowled on the PBA Chameleon pattern. The eliminator will begin on Thursday, March 4, with the TV Finals airing live on ESPN on Sunday, March 7.
Kasimakis, Frankos Win Regionals Over the Weekend
Two PBA regional tournaments took place last weekend. The PBA Central/Midwest Region Eastown Recreation Center Open took place in Jasper, Indiana. The PBA West Region Jackson Rancheria Classic took place in Sutter Creek, California.
The PBA Central/Midwest Region Eastown Recreation Center Open was bowled on the PBA Cheetah pattern. This event had 86 bowlers and a $2400 first prize. It took a cut score of 1808 (+208, 226 Average) to make the top 16 for matchplay. Jason Sterner led qualifying with a score of 2019 (+419, 252.37 Average). Rudy Kasimakis ran over the field in matchplay, finishing with a 7-1 record, defeating David Traber in the finals. Traber finished in second, with Tim Paul, Jr. and Billy Oatman in third and fourth.
The PBA West Region Jackson Rancheria Classic was also bowled on the PBA Cheetah pattern. This event had 96 bowlers and a first prize of $2500. The top 32 bowlers advanced to matchplay with a cut score of 1714 (+114, 214.25 Average). Jeff Frankos led qualifying with a score of 2001 (+401, 250.125 Average). Frankos went undefeated in match play, finishing with a 7-0 record. Wayne Garber finished in second behind Frankos. Craig Donaldson and William K. Wilson finished in third and fourth.
Bill O’Neill Wins U.S. Open
The opening match of the U.S. Open TV finals had Tommy Jones up against Jason Couch. Jones started off on fire, running the front six strikes to jump out to a big lead. Tommy’s lead was too big for Couch to make up. Tommy Jones won the match 245-192, making the Ebonite Mission look great, just like everyone else has done since its release. Match #2 had Tommy Jones Taking on Bill O’Neill. Jones started to lose his carry toward the end of his first match and made a ball change. Tommy Jones was not able to get his reaction back. Bill O’Neill had to grind out the beginning of the match, but was able to find a good reaction and finally string a few strikes together, winning the match 203-152. O’Neill went on to face Mike Scroggins in the final match. O’Neill caught fire in the middle of the match and jumped out to a huge lead. Scroggins tried to make a come back, but it was too late as Bill O’Neill finished striking out from the third frame to win 267-207. O’Neill won the tournament using a Hammer Black Widow Sting. See the equipment used by all of the pros in the TV finals on my InTheBag page for the U.S. Open.
U.S. Open TV Finals are set
Mike Scroggins made a great run during matchplay to move from 15th place all the way to the #1 spot for the TV stepladder finals of the U.S. Open. Bill O’Neill ended up getting the #2 seed, while Tommy Jones and Jason Couch took the #3 and #4 seeds. Couch and Jones will face off in the opening match of the stepladder finals. The winner of that match will face O’Neill in the semifinals. The winner of the semifinal match will go on to bowl Scroggins in the finals. Mike Scroggins averaged 216.80 and had a 16-8-0 record to earn the top position with a final score of 11537 (+1337, total pins + matchplay bonus points). The cut score ended up at 11282 (+1082, total pins + matchplay bonus points). A few bowlers came very close to making the TV finals, but fell just short. Walter Ray Williams, Jr. missed the cut by 2 pins, while Jason Belmonte couldn’t hold on to his lead and missed the show by 5 pins.
The U.S. Open TV finals will air live on ESPN at 12:30 PM tomorrow, Sunday, February 28, 2010.
