Canada’s Zach Wilkins Leads Top 36 Qualifiers into U.S. Open Cashers Round

by Bill Vint  |  Friday, February 21, 5:38 AM

LINCOLN, Neb. - During the third day of qualifying at the 2020 U.S. Open, patience and mental toughness turned out to be the biggest keys to success.

The challenging 37-foot oil pattern the competitors faced Thursday at Sun Valley Lanes was the final test for the 108-player field, which has been narrowed to just 36 contenders, who now are one step closer to the coveted green jacket and $30,000 top prize.

Canada's Zach Wilkins was among the top performers for the second

consecutive day, and the fact that he accomplished that with an eight-game score that was 360 pins lower than Wednesday's second round, perfectly illustrates what a test of versatility the U.S. Open really is.

"The lanes were incredibly hard today, and you had to be very mentally stable, so you didn't end up with your emotions all over the place," Wilkins said. "Being able to grind out the 190s, or even 180s, by making your spares, really kept you in it today."

Wilkins finished the 24 games of qualifying with a 5,331 total, a 222.13 average across three lane conditions ranging from 37 to 44 feet. He had blocks of 1,699, 1,996 and 1,636.

The 27-year-old two-hander improved from 45th place to third place to the overall lead after three days, relying on his own experience, both in his career and this week at Sun Valley Lanes, along with some sage advice from his mother.

"Today took a lot more patience, but the way I was able to stay in the moment yesterday, even though I was striking a lot more, helped me come into today with the same focus on every shot," Wilkins said. "I've really just got to thank my mom for teaching me how to stay composed, whether I'm striking a lot or struggling. It's about finding an emotional plateau and just staying at that level."

Wilkins was followed in the 24-game standings by reigning Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year Jason Belmonte of Australia and recent PBA Tournament of Champions winner Kristopher Prather of Plainfield, Illinois, who tied for second place with 5,255.

Two-time PBA major champion Anthony Simonsen of Little Elm, Texas, was fourth with 5,244, and USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, Florida, rounded out the top five with 5,220.

The final spot in the Cashers' Round went to former Team USA member Perry Crowell IV of Chesterfield, Michigan, who defeated two-time U.S. Open champion Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Oxford, Florida, 184-151, in a one-game roll-off after the two tied for 36th place with 5,003, a 208.46 average.

Each round of the 2020 U.S. Open, leading up to the championship round, is being broadcast live on FloBowling.

All 108 competitors this week bowled 24 games of qualifying over the three days, eight games each day, before Thursday's initial cut.

The eight-game Cashers' Round will introduce the week's fourth oil pattern and get underway Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern. The players will have a chance to practice on the 41-foot pattern Thursday night and again Friday morning before the start of competition.

"My hand was a little sore Monday after three practice sessions and a lot of games the week before, so I didn't get a chance to practice on the fourth oil pattern, but I'm going to take a look at it and bowl on it tonight," Wilkins said. "I'll come up with a game plan and make sure to include what has been helping me all week, which is staying mentally tough."

Following the Cashers' Round, the 32-game pinfall totals will determine the 24 players for the round-robin portion of the event, and their 56-game totals, including 30 bonus pins for each win in match play, will decide the five players for the championship stepladder.

Matches will take place over three blocks, with eight games Friday night and 16 games throughout the day Saturday.

FOX will have live coverage of the stepladder finals Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern.

Canada's Francois Lavoie is the defending champion at the U.S. Open, an event he also won in 2016 for his first PBA Tour title. He is one of 12 bowlers in history to win the U.S. Open on multiple occasions. Lavoie cruised into the next round in sixth place with a 5,210 pinfall total.

2020 U.S. Open
Sun Valley Lanes, Lincoln, Neb., Thursday

Third Round Standings (after 24 games; top 36 advanced to Cashers Round)
1, Zach Wilkins, Canada, 5,331. 

2, (tie), Jason Belmonte, Australia, and Kristopher Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 5,255. 

4, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 5,244. 

5, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 5,220. 

6, Francois Lavoie, Wichita, Kan., 5,210.
7, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 5,205. 

8, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 5,193. 

9, Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 5,190. 

10(tie), Jake Rollins, Glen Rock, N.J., Thomas Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., and Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 5,158.
13, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 5,142. 

14, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 5,111. 

15, Rhino Page, Spokane, Wash., 5,100. 

16, Patrick Girard, Canada, 5,089. 

17, Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas, 5,077. 

18, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 5,066.
19, Brad Miller, Raytown, Mo., 5,065. 

20, Christopher Sloan, Ireland, 5,064. 

21, Patrick Hanrahan, Wichita, Kan., 5,060. 

22, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 5,051. 

23, Michael Martell, Brooklyn, N.Y., 5,049. 

24, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Little Elm, Texas, 5,047.
25(tie), Dominic Barrett, England, and Osku Palermaa, Finland, 5,039. 27, Gregory Young Jr., Viera, Fla., 5,030. 

28, Mitch Hupé, Towanda, Kan., 5,025. 29(tie), Matt Ogle, Louisville, Ky., and Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 5,019.
31, EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 5,012. 

32, Andres Gomez, Hollywood, Fla., 5,007. 

33(tie), Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, and Matt Russo, Fairview Heights, Ill., 5,005. 

35, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 5,004. 

36, x-Perry Crowell IV* (a), Chesterfield, Mich., 5,003.

x-Crowell def. Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 184-151, in a one-game roll-off.

Did not advance:

36, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 5,003. 

38, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 5,000. 

39, Matthew Sanders (a), Evansville, Ind., 4,993. 

40, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 4,986. 

41, Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, 4,983. 

42, Darren Tang, San Francisco, 4,982.
43, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 4,981. 

44, Alexander Hoskins (a), Perry, Utah, 4,977. 

45, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 4,968. 

46, Spencer Robarge (a), Springfield, Mo., 4,965. 

47, Sean Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 4,963. 

48, AJ Chapman, South St. Paul, Minn., 4,962.
49, Kyle Sherman, O'Fallon, Mo., 4,959. 

50, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 4,942. 

51, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 4,933. 

52, Graham Fach, Canada, 4,932. 

53, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 4,931. 

54, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 4,923.
55, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 4,912. 

56, Michael Tang, San Francisco, 4,911. 

57, Anthony Neuer (a), Lewisburg, Pa., 4,903. 

58, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 4,896. 

59, Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., 4,895. 

60, Nate Garcia, Riverview, Fla., 4,885.
61, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 4,882. 

62, Mykel Holliman, Collierville, Tenn., 4,878. 

63, Ryan Ciminelli, Lancaster, S.C., 4,877.

64, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 4,865. 

65, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 4,864. 

66, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 4,850.
67, (tie), Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, and Jonathan Simoneau (a), Canada, 4,834. 

69, Victor Florie, Henrico, Va., 4,828. 

70, Russ Oviatt, Sioux Falls, S.D., 4,827. 

71, Stuart Williams, Phoenix, 4,811. 

72, Nicholas Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 4,801.
73, Michael Davidson, Versailles, Ohio, 4,798. 

74, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 4,787. 

75, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 4,774. 

76, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 4,763. 

77, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 4,745. 

78, Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 4,732.
79, Adam Zimmerman (a), Deer Park, N.Y., 4,731. 

80, Tom Hankey (a), Great Barrington, Mass., 4,727.

81, DJ Archer, Houston, 4,722. 

82, Pontus Andersson, Sweden, 4,719. 

83, Maria José Rodriguez, Colombia, 4,718. 

84, Richard Teece, England, 4,717.
85, Michael Coffey, Melbourne, Fla., 4,703. 

86, Michael Ruben (a), Selden, N.Y., 4,702. 

87, Sean Wilcox (a), Altamonte Springs, Fla., 4,699. 

88, Jason Sterner, Rockledge, Fla., 4,686. 

89, Solomon Salama (a), Beverly Hills, Calif., 4,676. 

90, Kenneth Ryan, Farmingdale, N.J., 4,674.
91, Kristopher Yadao (a), Fremont, Neb., 4,673. 

92, Ryan Burton (a), Los Altos, Calif., 4,670. 

93, Matthew Kuba, Tinley Park, Ill., 4,658. 

94, Trey Brand (a), Clever, Mo., 4,638. 

95, Richard Benard (a), Rio Rancho, N.M., 4,623. 

96, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 4,622.
97, Brent Boho, Colgate, Wis., 4,617. 

98, Alec Keplinger (a), Coldwater, Mich., 4,591. 

99, Blake Earnest (a), Wood River, Neb., 4,563. 

100, Michael Kristofik (a), Naperville, Ill., 4,551. 

101, Wesley Low, Palmdale, Calif., 4,538. 

102, Chad Stephen (a), Flint, Mich., 4,502.
103, Cameron Hurwitz (a), Rochester, N.Y., 4,469. 

104, Justin O'Shaughnessy (a), Jackson, Mich., 4,458. 

105, Roy Turner, O'Fallon, Mo., 4,425. 

106, Stephen Hahn, Ashburn, Va., 4,405. 

107, Duane Kilts (a), Marion, Iowa, 4,364. 

108, Mike Thompson, Sarasota, Fla., 4,146.

EJ Tackett Converts Break into Second Career PBA Tour Title in PBA Xtra Frame Storm Open

by bvint | Sunday, April 24, 2:59 PM

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. – EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., broke up a 7-9 split, converting the break into a string of three strikes that proved to be the difference in winning his second career PBA Tour title Sunday in the PBA Xtra Frame Storm Open at Liberty Lanes.

Tackett, the 2013 PBA Rookie of the Year, defeated top qualifier Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., 217-210, to win the $10,000 first prize after eliminating PBA Regional veteran Steven Taylor of Deer Creek, Ill., in the semifinal match.

“They say winning your second title is the toughest,” said Tackett, who won his first PBA Tour title in the 2015 PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open. “But I’ve been close and I’ve been bowling well. Maybe this will lead to something more."

“I really didn’t think I could bowl enough to beat Ryan; I thought it would take 250 to win,” Tackett said. “I got fortunate that he didn’t bowl a good game because that’s really uncharacteristic of how he’s been bowling.”

Ciminelli’s closing string of four strikes forced Tackett to mark in the 10th frame on the lane that was giving him difficulty.

“I liked the first shot,” he said, despite leaving a 4 pin. “I guess, being in the situation, I probably threw it a little hard, but the result was good. I was a little nervous on that (4 pin) spare, just because I’d missed one in match play earlier – against Ryan, actually.”

Taylor’s “Cinderella” bid for his first PBA Tour title, in only his second PBA Tour event after bowling in 103 regionals, came to an end with a 205-200 loss to Tackett in the semifinal match. Tackett threw one double and converted six single-pin spares, but Taylor threw one too many splits.

Taylor, an 11-year PBA Midwest Region competitor with three regional titles, rallied from an early 29-pin deficit with a string of six strikes to eliminate Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., 237-209, in the first stepladder match. The 40-year-old right-hander then watched 14-time PBA Tour titlist Patrick Allen of Mount Kisco, N.Y., start with five strikes, rolling into an early 33-pin lead, before throwing eight strikes in his last nine attempts for a 246-212 victory. Allen left a pocket 7-10 in the seventh frame and then saw his titles hopes disappear when he left and failed to convert the 3-7-9 split in the ninth frame.

The PBA Xtra Frame Storm Open is the second of 10 Xtra Frame events that will pay the PBA member with the highest points total at the conclusion of the series a $10,000 bonus. Tackett said his plan is to bowl the entire Xtra Frame series."

The series rewards good bowling, it rewards consistency on different patterns,” Tackett said. “They’re not just handing out titles and with a $10,000 bonus at the end, it’s worth going after.”

The PBA Xtra Frame Tour resumes June 25-26 with live coverage of the PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open from Lubbock, Texas. Fans can subscribe to Xtra Frame by clicking on the Xtra Frame logo on the pba.com homepage.

PBA XTRA FRAME STORM OPEN
Liberty Lanes, Carpentersville, Ill., Sunday

Final Standings
1, EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., $10,000.
2, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., $5,000.
3, Steve Taylor, Deer Creek, Ill., $2,500.
4, Patrick Allen, Mount Kisco, N.Y., $2,000.
5, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., $1,500.

Stepladder Results
Match One – Taylor def. Rash, 237-209.
Match Two – Taylor def. Allen, 246-212.
Semifinal Match – Tackett def. Taylor, 205-200.
Championship – Tackett def. Ciminelli, 217-210.

Final Match Play Standings (after 20 games, including match play bonus pins)
1, Ciminelli, 7-5, 5,256.
2, Tackett, 9-3, 5,192.
3, Allen, 7-4-1, 5,095.
4, Taylor, 8-4, 4,991.
5, Rash, 7-4-1, 4,979.
6, Aaron Lorincz, Saginaw, Mich., 6-6, 4,903, $1,100.
7, Scott Weber, LaSalle, Ill., 5-7, 4,883, $1,000.
8, Jordan Klassen, Canada, 7-5, 4,877, $900.
9, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, Texas, 5-6-1, 4,852, $875.
10, Craig LeMond, Jasper, Ind., 5-7, 4,804, $850.
11, n-Brian Traber, Waterford, Wis., 6-5-1, 4,791, $825.
12, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 6-6, 4,785, $800.
13, Blake Demore, Springfield, Mo., 3-9, 4,702, $780.
14, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 4-8, 4,693, $770.
15, n-Derek Roseberry, Louisville, Ky., 6-6, 4,668, $760.
16, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 3-9, 5,494, $750.

Jerseys, Balls Among PBA League Auction Items

From the BJI weekly eBowler Newsletter

A special PBA League auction has begun on pba.com, featuring a variety of autographed merchandise donated by PBA League members. Proceeds from the auction, which ends on March 26, will benefit NBA star Chris Paul’s CP3 Foundation.
The online auction brings to a close competition among PBA League teams that began during the PBA World Series of Bowling V at the South Point complex in Las Vegas last November. A special Skills Challenge pitted the eight team captains against each other in a series of unique bowling events, with the winner earning the right to name the charity that would benefit from the auction. Jason Belmonte, the captain of the L.A. X team owned by Paul, won the challenge, and he selected Paul’s charity as the benefactor.

Established in 2005, the Los Angeles Clippers’ all-star point guard’s CP3 Foundation provides funding for activities ranging from a scholarship program to food drives to recreational support programs for children in under-served communities. For more information about the CP3 Foundation, click here.

Bowling fans are asked to visit pba.com to check out the merchandise available, and then submit bids via email to bids@pba.com.

Included in the auction are a number of bowling balls and game-worn jerseys belonging to PBA League franchise players Belmonte, Pete Weber, Norm Duke, Sean Rash, Mike Fagan, Bill O’Neill, Osku Palermaa and Chris Barnes. Other items were donated by PBA Hall of Famers Amleto Monacelli, Parker Bohn III, Walter Ray Williams Jr., and other PBA League competitors, including established PBA champions and stars of the future.