PBA Experience Showdown Takes Place This Weekend
The 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour’s regular season is over, but competition continues Sunday on ESPN with the first of two special events from the new International Training and Research Center located on the International Bowling Campus.
Eleven of the sport’s top players and six United States Bowling Congress league bowlers will compete in the PBA Experience Showdown and the PBA Women’s Series Showdown, both presented by BOWL.COM, which will air on ESPN on Sundays April 11 and April 18 at 1 p.m. Eastern, respectively.
The made-for-TV events will begin with the PBA Experience Showdown on Sunday. The PBA Experience Showdown is a unique competition, tying together USBC’s grassroots PBA Experience league program with the five PBA Tour champions who won the five PBA Experience “animal pattern” lane condition championships during the World Series of Bowling in Detroit, kicking off the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season.
The five champions are Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla. (Cheetah), Rhino Page (Viper), Bill O’Neill (Chameleon), Mike DeVaney (Scorpion) and Jack Jurek (Shark).
The PBA stars were joined in Arlington by six USBC PBA Experience league bowlers – one each representing the five “animal patterns” and a sixth representing any other Sport Bowling lane condition. The six USBC Sport Bowling members who earned trips to Arlington through a national online voting process, along with their respective league secretaries and the proprietor/manager of the center that hosted the league, were: Bill Motovina, Clearwater, Fla.; Joe Petrowski, East Syracuse, N.Y.; Kevin Reuer, Hoffman Estates, Ill.; Pattie Riddle, Palatine, Ill.; Brent Watson, Parkersburg, W. Va., and Bobby Wenger, Wooster, Ohio. In a preliminary event, the six players bowled one game on each of six different PBA Experience lane conditions, and Reuer won the qualifier, advancing to the television final where he will bowl with the five PBA stars.
Sunday’s unique Showdown format will involve all six bowlers bowling one frame on each of five lanes, each featuring a different PBA Experience pattern. In order, the frames will be Shark, Chameleon, Viper, Scorpion and Cheetah. After five frames, the group will be re-ordered, from lowest score to highest, and they’ll bowl another five frames. After one full game, the top two players will advance to a five-frame title match following the same order. The fifth frame will act as a 10th frame.
Pete Weber Wins PBA Marathon Open
As the #1 seed in the PBA Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open, Mike Scroggins had the privilege of deciding which oil pattern the bowlers would bowl on in the TV finals. Scroggins decided that they would bowl on the PBA Dick Weber pattern.
The opening match had #4 Brad Angelo bowing against #5 Wes Malott. Angelo won the match, 207-192, and went on to face #3 Chris Barnes. Brad Angelo defeated Barnes, 256-227, and earned his way to the next match against #2 Pete Weber. Weber defeated Angelo, 233-212, and went on to face #1 seed Mike Scroggins. Weber continued to bowl well on the pattern named after his father and defeated Scroggins, 268-224.
Weber won the $25,000 for first place and his 35th PBA title and his first in the last three years. Scroggins had an opportunity to become the 2009-2010 PBA Player of the Year by winning this event, but fell just short. This year’s PBA Player of the Year is Walter Ray Williams, Jr.
Scroggins Leads PBA Marathon Open Into TV Finals
Mike Scroggins used a huge 7-game score of 1708 today on the PBA Dick Weber pattern to take over the lead in the PBA Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open. Scroggins’ final 53 game score is 12,204 (+1604, 230.26 Average). Scroggins will lead the field of five finalists in the TV finals, which will take place live on ESPN on Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 1:00 PM. Pete Weber is in second place with 12,150 headed into the stepladder finals. Chris Barnes heads into the show in third place at 12,125. Brad Angelo makes the show in fourth place with 12,006. Wes Malott had the lead headed into this final 7-game set, but only had a score of 1391 to fall into fifth place, which still makes the TV finals.
In the opening match, Wes Malott will bowl against Brad Angelo, with the winner going on to face Chris Barnes. This winner will go on to bowl against Pete Weber, with the final winner going on to bowl against Mike Scroggins for the championship. The champion will take home the first prize of $25,000. All seven of the PBA patterns have been used throughout this week. The #1 seed, Mike Scroggins, gets to pick which pattern will be used for the TV finals.
See the full results for the round of 16 of the PBA Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open.
Malott Leads Going into Final Day of Qualifying of PBA Marathon Open
Wes Malott has been able to hold on to his lead in the PBA Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open. On Friday, the bowlers bowled on the PBA Scorpion pattern and the PBA Earl Anthony Pattern. Malott used his 7-game scores of 1648 and 1459 to hold on to his lead and bring his total 46-game score of 10,614 (+1414, 230.74 Average). Pete Weber heads into the final day of qualifying in second place with 10,559 and Brad Angelo is in third with 10,557. Other bowlers in the top five are Tommy Jones (10,507) and Chris Barnes (10,506).
The 39-game cut score to the top 24 was 8608 (+808, 220.72 Average). The 46-game top 16 cut score was 10,170 (+970, 221.09 Average). Bowlers will now bowl seven games on the PBA Dick Weber Pattern. This block is currently underway and Chris Barnes has started to make a big charge for the lead. We’ll have to see how this plays out throughout the day.
Malott Holds Lead in PBA Marathon Open
Wes Malott used a 7-game score of 1578 on the PBA Chameleon pattern to hold on to his lead in the PBA Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open. Malott currently sits at a total score of 7507 (+1107, 234.59 Average). Chris Barnes is close behind in second with 7416 and Walter Ray Williams, Jr. is in third at 7366. Rounding out the top five are Brad Angelo (7359) and Tommy Jones (7349).
The cut score to the top 32 is 6932 (+532, 216.63 Average). The top 32 bowlers will bowl 7 games on Friday with the top 24 bowling another 7 game set on Friday evening. The top 16 bowlers will bowl a final 7 game set on Saturday, before cutting to the top 5 bowlers for the live TV finals on ESPN on Sunday, April 4, 2010.
PBA Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open Schedule
The PBA Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open is taking place this week, in Baltimore, Maryland. This event is being bowled on seven different PBA oil patterns throughout the week. All five of the animal patterns will be used, while the patterns from the Dick Weber Open and Earl Anthony Memorial Classic will also be used.
All bowlers will bowl two blocks, one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday for a total of 18 games. After the 18 games of qualifying, the field will be cut for the cashers round for 14 more games on Thursday. The rounds of 32 and 24 will be bowled on Friday, with the top 16 advancing to bowl on Saturday. The final 16 bowlers will bowl 7 games, with the top 5 advancing into the ESPN stepladder finals. The TV finals will take place on Sunday, April 4, 2010.
Smith, Neral Win PBA Regional Events
Two PBA Regional events took place this weekend. The PBA Northwest/West Regions Caveman Bowl Open took place at Caveman Bowl in Grant’s Pass, Oregon and the PBA South Region Midlothian, Va Non-Champion Open took place at King Pin Lanes in Midlothian, Virginia.
Don Allen III led qualifying of the Northwest/West region event with a score of 1888 (+288, 236 Average). Allen was not able to hang on to his lead, finishing with a 6-6 record to drop him to third place for the tournament. Bryon Smith finished match play with a 10-2 record to move into first with a total score of 4475 (+475). Dave Arnold finished the tournament in second and Bob Rosenau finished in fourth. This event was bowled on the 39′ Dick Weber Open pattern.
John Neral led qualifying of the PBA South region event this weekend with a score of 1780 (+180, 222.5 Average). John cruised through match play, losing only one game in the round of 8. John was undefeated otherwise, going on to win the tournament. Chris Hans made it to the final match before losing to John Neral, becoming the runner up. Chris Arcaro and Jason Fitzgerald were the other two semifinalists, finishing third and fourth. This event was bowled on the PBA Scorpion pattern.
Ziesig Wins Plastic Ball Championship
The PBA GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship took place this week in West Babylon, New York. The opening match had Wayne Garber bowling against Mike Machuga. Garber won the match, 258-245, and went on to face Walter Ray Williams, Jr. Walter Ray defeated Garber 280-211 to advance. He went on to bowl against amateur Brian Ziesig. Ziesig defeated Walter Ray in another high scoring match, 255-237, and went on to face Jason Belmonte in the finals. The two tied in the final match with a score of 247 and bowled a one ball roll off. Ziesig won the roll off 10-9 to win the tournament. This is Brian Ziesig’s first PBA title and this is the first title won by an amateur since 2002. This event was bowled on the PBA Shark pattern.
Belmonte Leads Plastic Ball Championship Going Into TV Finals
Jason Belmonte was able to hang on to his lead through the round of 16 in the PBA GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship. Belmonte finished with a score of 8081 (+1681, 243.16 Average) and a 10-8 record to qualify first for the TV finals. Brian Ziesig was close behind in second at 8070 (+1670). Others making the top five include Walter Ray Williams, Jr. (+1544), Wayne Garber (+1512), and Mike Machuga (+1425).
They are using a stepladder format for the TV finals of this event. The #5 and #4 bowlers will face off, with the winner going on to bowl against the #3 qualifier, and so on. Jason Belmonte will take on whoever comes out of the other four bowlers in the final match. This event is being bowled on a modified version of the PBA Shark pattern. This pattern is similar to the shark pattern, but has a much lighter volume of oil to make up for the use of plastic balls.
PBA Plastic Ball Championship Round of 32 Results
The round of 32 has completed in the PBA GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship. After completing 23 games, there is a very tight race for the few spots around the cut. Jason Belmonte is in the lead at +1125 with a 5-4 record. Brian Ziesig is in second with +1091. Walter Ray Williams, Jr. is in third at +1011. Other bowlers rounding out the top 5 are Bill O’Neill and Mike Machuga.
The field will now be cut to the top 16, with the cut score being at +774. Scores have been high for this event with the lowest bowler in the round of 32 averaging 217.22 for the tournament. The field of 16 will bowl today and the field will be cut to the top five for the TV finals. The TV finals will be aired live on ESPN on Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time.
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