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.
Belmonte Leads Plastic Ball Championship Round of 64
Jason Belmonte has taken the 14 game lead in the PBA GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship. After 14 games, Belmonte is leading the field with a score of 3366 (+566, 240.43 Average). Jason has thrown two 300 games and finished his second block with 811 for his last three games.
Walter Ray Williams, Jr. is currently in second with 3339. Others in the top 5 include Mike Fagan (3320), Wayne Garber (3293), and Brian Ziesig (3241). The field will now be cut to the top 32, with the cut score at 3035 (+235, 216.79 Average).
Scores have been pretty high so far for this event, with only one bowler averaging under 200. This event is being bowled on a modified version of the PBA Shark pattern. This pattern is the same length, but has a lighter volume of oil. This volume makes up for the weaker surface of the polyester bowling balls.
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.
Mike Scroggins Wins Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open
The Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open presented by USBC was created to show bowlers the differences between PBA oil patterns and typical house oil patterns. This tournament used different patterns, with the “red” pattern being the easiest and highest scoring and the “blue” pattern being the toughest. The Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open did a good job of showing exactly how easy these patterns are. There were lots of high scores this week, with several bowlers averaging well over 250 on the red pattern.
Patrick Allen led all bowlers for the week, finishing in first after 48 games, with a total score of 12,308 (+2708, 247.67 Average). The cut to the top 6 was 12,138 (+2538, 243.5 Average). In the round of 4 (Bowlers #3 – #6), Walter Ray Williams, Jr. defeated Mike Machuga, 257-244, and Mike Scroggins defeated Michael Fagan, 218-183. Scroggins went on to bowl against tournament leader Patrick Allen. Scroggins won the match, 227-215. In the other semifinal match, Wayne Garber took on Walter Ray Williams, Jr. The two tied with a score of 237. Garber won the rolloff with a score of 19 to Williams’ 17.
Scroggins and Garber went on to face each other in the finals. Scroggins started the game off great and didn’t look back. He ran the front nine strikes and had a nine-spare-nine in the tenth for a 278 game to beat Garber’s 229 Game. Congratulations to Mike Scroggins!
See which equipment the bowlers were using at MyBowlingBlog.com/InTheBag.
DV8 Hell Raiser