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.
Machuga Flop (Bowling Tricks)
Here is the famous “Machuga Flop” as performed by Mike Machuga in the 2005 PBA Greater Omaha Classic. Mike had the match wrapped up and did this on his fill ball.
LaCaze and Nation win in PBA Earl Anthony Memorial
Former Collegiate All-American from Saginaw Valley State University Anthony LaCaze has won his first PBA title in the PBA Earl Anthony Memorial. LaCaze defeated Mike Wolfe in the semifinals, 190-158, to advance to the finals. Mike Machuga defeated Sean Rash, 188-183, to go on and face LaCaze in the finals. Tony LaCaze defeated Machuga, 214-206, to win the tournament. This is LaCaze’s first title, which gives him exempt status for the next season. He was using a Track 505A and a Hammer Vibe Onyx to win the tournament. See what the rest of the pros were throwing on the InTheBag site for the PBA Earl Anthony Memorial.
Former All-American from the University of Central Florida and Team USA member Stefanie Nation took on current Team USA member Lynda Barnes in the finals of the women’s event. Nation won the match, 201-181, to win the tournament. This is Stefanie Nation’s second career PBA Women’s title.
Congratulations to both of the champions! It is good to see former collegiate bowlers excelling on the PBA Tour.
Finals are set for PBA Earl Anthony Memorial
The round of 8 has concluded and the TV finals are set for the 2010 PBA Earl Anthony Memorial. The finals will be filled with former collegiate standouts and All-Americans. Former University of Nebraska All-American Mike Machuga will be bowling against former Wichita State University All-American and Team USA member Sean Rash. On the other side of the semifinals, Mike Wolfe will face off against former Saginaw Valley State University All-American Anthony LaCaze. Over on the women’s side, former San Jose State University bowler Lynda Barnes will be bowling against former Central Florida University All-American and Team USA member Stefanie Nation.
The TV finals will be aired live at 1:00 PM Eastern Time tomorrow (Sunday, January 17) on ESPN.
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.
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