Ciminelli Tops Qualifing Round Readies for Matchplay

Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, NY, led a field eighty players, 8 of which advanced out of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA)’s Tour Qualifying Round (TQR) Wednesday and completed the field of 64 for the Go RVing Match Play Championship which gets underway Thursday at Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center, Norwich, CT.

Ciminelli, who has already advanced to the television finals three times during
the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season, averaged 226.57 to finish
the seven-game qualifying round with a  1,586 pinfall total, 22 pins ahead of
Jesse Buss of Wichita, KS. Also advancing to complete the new PBA Bracket 
Battle field of 64 were Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, IL; Matt O’Grady, South
Amboy, NJ; Alexa Aguiar, Dartmouth, MA; Ryan Abel, Bel Aire, KS; David
O’Sullivan, Orlando, FL, and Justin Warhol, Sound Beach, NY.

Similar to the NCAA basketball championships’ play-in round, the eight TQR
players will face an uphill battle as the Go RVing Match Play Championship enters
its best-of-seven-game, single-elimination match play Round of 64 Thursday.
Wednesday’s qualifiers will be seeded into the Go RVing bracket against the top
eight Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour players on the 2009-10 Harry Smith Point 
Leader Award list:

Warhol, the No. 8 TQR qualifier, will be seeded 64th and paired against No. 1
seed Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, FL, a two-time title winner this season.

No. 7 qualifier O’Sullivan is the No. 63 seed will bowl U.S. Open champion and
No. 2 seed Bill O’Neill of Southampton, PA.

No. 6 Abel will inherit the 62 seed and will face No. 3 Wes Malott of Pflugerville,
TX.

No. 5 Aguiar will be seeded 61st and will bowl defending champion Chris Barnes
of Double Oak, TX, the No. 4 overall seed.

No. 4 O’Grady is the No. 60 seed and is paired against two-time 2009-10 winner
and No. 5 seed Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, TX.

No. 3 LaCaze, who won the Earl Anthony Memorial in January, is seeded 59th
and will meet Australia’s two-handed star, Jason Belmonte, the No. 6 seed.

No. 2 Buss will bowl No. 7 seed Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, SC.

Ciminelli, as the top TQR qualifier, becomes the 57th seed and will be matched
up with No. 8 Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, MI.

Two seeded players withdrew prior to the start of the event. San Diego’s Mike
DeVaney stayed home as he and wife Carrie await the imminent arrival of their
second child, and Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., is still nursing a back injury
suffered in Columbus, Ohio. Because of their withdrawals, Eddie Van Daniker Jr.
of Essex, MD. (Weber’s first-round opponent), and Canadian George Lambert IV
(DeVaney’s pairing) were granted byes and automatically advance to the Round of
32.

With the complete field in place, bowling fans have until the start of Round of
64 matches Thursday at 11 a.m. Eastern to complete their PBA Bracket Battle
forms, which are available at no cost on the PBA’s official website, pba.com.
The PBA Bracket Battle, like the NCAA basketball brackets played by millions of
Americans, give PBA fans a chance to play along during the Go RVing Match Play 
Championship by picking the winner of each match throughout the tournament.
Prizes will be awarded at the conclusion of the tournament on Sunday.

Thursday’s winners will continue competition in Friday’s best-of-seven-game
Rounds of 32, 16 and 8. The four remaining survivors will be matched up for
three-game, total pinfall matches Saturday evening to determine the two
finalists who will square off for the $25,000 top prize in Sunday’s three-game
finale on ESPN at 1 p.m. Eastern.

LUMBER LIQUIDATORS PBA TOUR
GO RVING MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP
Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center, Norwich, Conn., March 17

PBA TOUR QUALIFYING ROUND
(After 7 games, top 8 advance to Round of 64)
1, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 1,586.
2, Jesse Buss, Wichita, Kan., 1,564.
3, (tie) Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., and Matthew O'Grady, South Amboy, N.J., 1,544.
5, Alex Aguiar, Dartmouth, Mass., 1,520.
6, Ryan Abel, Bel Aire, Kan., 1,518.
7, David O'Sullivan, Orlando, Fla, 1,514.
8, Justin Warhol, Sound Beach, N.Y, 1,500.
9, Stephen Haas, Enola, Pa., 1,496, $1,000.
10, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 1,491, $800.
11, Chris Viale, Westfield, Mass., 1,486, $600.
12, Don Lango Jr., New Britian, Conn., 1,483, $500.
13, Bobby Hall II, Landover, Md., 1,481, $400.
14, Edward Roberts, Braintree, Mass., 1,474, $380.
15, Todd Lathrop, Colchester, Conn., 1,468, $460.
16, (tie) Matt Freiberg, Somerset, N.J., and Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 1,465, $335.
18, Scott Santos, Ledyard, Conn., 1,458, $320.
19, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 1,457, $310.
20, Stephen Fiume, Fiskdale, Mass., 1,450, $300.
21, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 1,449.
22, Christopher Colella, Templeton, Mass., 1,430.
23, Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 1,427.
24, (tie) Mike Danielson, Portland, Ore., and Jason Utter, Stevensville, Mich., 1,423.
26, Jonathan Van Hees, Charlestown, R.I., 1,411.
27, Michael Markis, Hawley, Pa, 1,402.
28, Chris Forry, Bridgeport, Conn., 1,398.
29, Sean McAuliffe, Staten Island, N.Y., 1,397.
30, (tie) Bill Holota, Bolton, Conn., and Tony Reynaud, Harwinton, Conn., 1,396.
32, Paul Pinto, Philadelphia, 1,390.
33, Vinny D'Ambrosio III, Staten Island, N.Y., 1,379.
34, Jeff Kubasak, Staten Island, N.Y., 1,376.
35, Billy Trudell, Coventry, R.I., 1,367.
36, Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., 1,366.
37, Vic Marotto, Wallingford, Conn., 1,361.
38, Robert Eddy II, Saginaw, Mich., 1,355.
39, Geoff Wetzler, Tolland, Conn., 1,349.
40, Dave D'Entremont, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, 1,346.
41, Chris Larsen, Norwich, Conn, 1,345.
42, Michael Tessier Jr., Woonsocket, R.I., 1,344.
43, Brandon Robertson, Clinton, Conn., 1,342.
44, Matthew Janas, Central Falls, R.I., 1,329.
45, Alex Cavagnaro, Lindenhurst, N.Y., 1,315.
46, Jason Payne, Niles, Mich., 1,311.
47, Joshua Shriver, Winchester, Va., 1,304.
48, Steven Black, Phoenix, 1,278.
49, Dan Furman, Amsterdam, N.Y., 1,272.
50, Bill DeHaas Jr., Andover, N.J., 1,270.
51, (tie) Jack Nealon, Bowie, Md., and Brian DiCicco, Agawam, Mass., 1,264.
53, Ryan Evans, Acton, Mass., 1,248.
54, Country Alfonso, Wallingford, Conn, 1,246.
55, Lydell Hickey, Bristol, Conn., 1,245.
56, Justin Feldman, Bradford, Pa., 1,241.
57, Justin Arnold, Groton, Conn, 1,235.
58, Joseph Costanzo, Plainview, N.Y., 1,203.
59, Craig Kleinman, North Windham, Conn., 1,200.
60, Ralph Ehrlich, North Massapequa, N.Y., 1,196.
61, Francis Mazzella, Staten Island, N.Y., 1,188.
62, Jason Mahon, East Haven, Conn., 1,187.
63, Joseph Truchan Jr., Ringwood, N.J., 1,178.
64, Steven Landry, Oakville, Conn., 1,176.
65, Christopher Sevick, Norwich, Conn, 1,165.
66, Jaime Tessier, Woonsocket, R.I., 1,164.
67, Robert Jette, Lisbon, Conn., 1,158.
68, Matthew Stewart, Niles, Mich., 1,157.
69, Neil Binder, Shelton, Conn., 1,152.
70, Jason Spanjers, Hamden, Conn., 1,135.
71, Larry Tryon, Peabody, Mass, 1,129.
72, Larry Wentz III, Bristol, Conn., 1,110.
73, Bryan Martinson, Lakeland, Fla., 1,096.
74, Brandon Joseph, Glastonbury, Conn., 1,079.
75, John Schaffer, Greentown, Pa., 1,070.
76, Aaron Graves, Danbury, Conn., 1,067.
77, Dominick Curra, Bedford Hills, N.Y., 1,065.
78, Vincent Carbone, Medford, N.Y., 1,061.
79, Andrew Nosar, Manassas, Va., 1,033.
80, Thomas Durand, West Haven, Conn., withdrew