Pete Weber Moves Ito the Lead at Barbasol PBATournament of Champions

Pete Weber of St. Ann, MO, in his bid to tie the late Earl Anthony for the most Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) major titles won, charged into the second round lead in the Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions (TOC) Wednesday night at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, IN.

Weber, at age 50, averaged 242.19 including the only 300 game in the second round to finish with a 16-game total of 3,875 pins. With eight more qualifying games remaining Thursday before the cut to the top 24 for round-robin match play, the PBA Hall of Famer, Weber held a 41-pin lead over reigning PBA Player of the Year Sean Rash of Montgomery, IL.

Weber, a 36-time PBA Tour titlist, ranks fourth on the all-time PBA Tour titles list behind Walter Ray Williams Jr. (47), Earl Anthony (43) and Norm Duke (37). He is trying for his 10th major championship to equal Anthony’s record and his 37th overall title to tie Duke for third place on the career titles list. He won two of his major titles – the 1991 U.S. Open and 1992 Touring Players Championship – at Woodland Bowl.

“I kinda like it here. I have always enjoyed bowling here,” Weber said. “Winning this one would let me complete the Triple Crown for the second time (he has won the other two legs of the Triple Crown multiple times; the U.S. Open a record five times and the PBA World Championship twice).”

No player has ever won all three PBA Triple Crown events twice.

“I’ve bowled well all year, but something was missing,” Weber added. “My brother Rich straightened it out. It was just a smidgeon in my timing, but it worked. I just feel a lot more confident, and when you have a good reaction and good carry, it just loosens the swing up that much more.”

History is on the line, but Weber isn’t concerned about it.

“I don’t think about the majors. That’s the least thing I worry about,” he said. “It’s not Sunday. I’m thinking about making the top 24 first, and then if I make it to the TV show on Sunday, I’ll think about winning. Not now.”

Rash, with 3,834 pins, was followed by Osku Palermaa of Finland with a 3,825 total; first-round leader Scott Norton of Mission Viejo, CA, in fourth place with 3,812 and Stuart Williams of England in fifth place with 3,757 pins.

The TOC continues Thursday with the final eight-game qualifying round at 10 a.m. The top 24 players based on 24-game pinfall totals will then advance to an eight-game round-robin match play round at 5 p.m. The final two eight-game match play rounds will be held Friday at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. After 48 games, the top five players will advance to Sunday’s live ESPN stepladder finals at 2:30 p.m. ET.

All qualifying and match play rounds of the Tournament of Champions (and the PBA Hall of Fame induction ceremonies Saturday night) will be covered live, exclusively on PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame. For subscription information, visit pba.com.

BARBASOL PBA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis, Wednesday

Round Two (after 16 qualifying games)

1, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 3,875.
2, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 3,834.
3, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 3,825.
4, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 3,812.
5, Stuart Williams, England, 3,757.
6 (tie), Dom Barrett, England, and Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 3,703.
8, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,701.
9, Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga., 3,676.
10, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 3,675.
11, Mike DeVaney, Hemet, Calif., 3,671.
12, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 3,668.
13, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 3,651.
14, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 3,648.
15, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 3,644.
16, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 3,639.
17, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 3,631.
18 (tie), Andres Gomez, Colombia, and Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 3,617.
20, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 3,606.
21, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 3,602.
22 (tie), Mike Fagan, Dallas, and Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 3,588.
24, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 3,586.
25, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3,564.
26 (tie), Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, and Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 3,551.
28, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 3,541.
29 (tie), Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., and Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 3,537.
31, Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 3,534.
32, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 3,521.
33, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 3,516.
34 (tie), Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., and Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 3,504.
36, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 3,500.
37, Kurt Pilon, Warren, Mich., 3,496.
38, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 3,469.
39, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 3,466.
40, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 3,465.
41, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 3,455.
42, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 3,450.
43, Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 3,438.
44, Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 3,436.
45 (tie), Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, and Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,419.
47, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,415.
48, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 3,401.
49, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 3,367.
50, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 3,361.
51, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 3,345.
52, George Branham III, Indianapolis, 3,247.
53, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, withdrew, injury.

300 Games: Mike Scroggins, Scott Norton, Scott Newell, Pete Weber.

Scott Norton Blisters First Round of the Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions

Scott Norton of Mission Viejo, CA, threw back-to-back games of 300 and 296, and averaged 252.25 for eight games to take the first round lead in the Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions (TOC) lead Wednesday at Woodland Bowl, in Indianapolis, IN.

Norton, who is trying for his third title of the 2012-13 season, and his first major win, said “my pin carry today was ridiculous. It wasn’t a case of the conditions favoring left-handers. It was a matter of, if I hit the 1-2 pocket, I got a strike. It didn’t matter if I was high in the pocket, light or whatever, the pins fell.

“But if you’re going to win out here, you have to have days like that. Lord knows I’ve had enough of the other kind.”

Norton finished the opening round of qualifying with a total of 2,018 pins for a 37-pin lead over the all-time PBA Tour titles leader, Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, FL. Williams, a 47-time titlist, has never won the TOC. If he can win this week, he’ll become the eighth player in PBA history to complete the “Triple Crown” (TOC, U.S. Open and PBA World Championship), and the third ever to complete the “Grand Slam” (Triple Crown plus USBC Masters).

Pete Weber of St. Ann, MO, was in third place with 9,159 pins followed by Osku Palermaa of Finland with a 1,940 total and Dick Allen of Columbia, SC, in fifth place with 1,932 pins.

The 2013 TOC continues with the second of three eight-round qualifying squads today at 5 p.m. ET. After a third eight-game qualifying round Thursday at 10 a.m., the top 24 players based on 24-game pinfall totals will advance to round-robin match play. Match play rounds will be held Thursday at 5 p.m., and Friday at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. After a total of 48 games, the top five players will advance to Sunday’s live ESPN stepladder finals at 2:30 p.m. ET.

All qualifying and match play rounds of the Tournament of Champions (and the PBA Hall of Fame induction ceremonies Saturday night) will be covered live, exclusively on PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame. For subscription information, visit pba.com.

BARBASOL PBA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis, Wednesday

Round One (after 8 qualifying games)

1, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 2,018.
2, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 1,981.
3, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 1,959.
4, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 1,940.
5, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,932.
6, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 1,918.
7, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,891.
8, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,884.
9, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 1,881.
10, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,876.
11, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 1,875.
12, Mike DeVaney, Hemet, Calif., 1,874.
13 (tie), Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., and Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 1,867.
15, Mike Fagan, Dallas, 1,847.
16, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 1,838.
17 (tie), Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., and Andres Gomez, Colombia, 1,837.
19, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 1,836.
20, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,829.
21 (tie), Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., and Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 1,820.
23, Dom Barrett, England, 1,812.
24, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 1,811.
25, Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga., 1,808.
26, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,807.
27, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 1,788.
28, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 1,787.
29, Stuart Williams, England, 1,786.
30, Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 1,783.
31, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 1,777.
32, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 1,774.
33, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,771.
34, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,770.
35, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,768.
36, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 1,758.
37, Kurt Pilon, Warren, Mich., 1,756.
38, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 1,755.
39, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,746.
40, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 1,745.
41, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 1,743.
42 (tie), Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, and Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 1,726.
44 (tie), George Branham III, Indianapolis, and Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 1,712.
46, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,703.
47, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 1,699.
48, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,692.
49, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 1,673.
50, Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 1,654.
51, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 1,645.
52, Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 1,642.
53, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, withdrew, injury.

300 Games: Mike Scroggins, Scott Norton, Scott Newell.

Norton Leads Early First Round of PBA Viper Championship

California attorney Scott Norton averaged Sunday to take the early first round lead in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA)’s Viper Championship, the second of five GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IV events being conducted at South Point Bowling Center, Las Vegas, NV.

Norton, a 30-year-old left-hander who won his only PBA Tour title in the 2010 Chameleon Championship, rolled games of 222, 252, 228, 226, 238, 279, 229 and 269 for an eight-game total of 1,943 pins and a 29–pin edge over rookie Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, MI, among the early finishers in the Viper qualifying round. The other half of the 240-player field will bowl its Viper qualifying round later Sunday.

After the full field has bowled the eight-game round, the top 16 players will return Sunday night for a six-game semifinal round to determine the top four players who will bowl for the Viper Championship title on Saturday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. PT in a special arena setting inside South Point’s Exhibition Hall A.
Norton, the 2010-11 PBA Rookie of the Year, said improved focus was the key to Sunday’s performance after finishing 105th in Saturday’s Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Cheetah Championship qualifying round.

“Yesterday I had a little trouble on one side of the center, and by the time I figured it out, it was too late,” he said. “So I tried to improve my focus level today and it was much higher. It seems like sometimes when it’s a little tougher on the left side of the lane, I have the magic ball roll that works. That doesn’t always happen, but sometimes, and today it worked.”

The Costa Mesa, CA, resident also said he returned to PBA Tour competition this season with a new attitude.

“I took the summer off, except for bowling a mixed doubles league with my mother (hall of famer Virginia Norton). I kind of went back to my roots and asked myself why I do this in the first place,” he said. “The idea is to have fun and that’s sometimes that’s hard to remember out here.

“I moved into a new house, I’m getting settled into my life, and it’s just a new perspective. As passionate as I am about this game, and as much as I love to compete, at the end of the day I still have family and friends who love me.”

Rounding out the top five among the early finishers were Nidiffer in second place with 1,914 pins, Brad Angelo of Lockport, NY, in third with 1,909 pins, Chris Loschetter of Avon, Ohio, in fourth with a 1,907 total and Finnish native Mika Koivuniemi of Hartland, MI, in fifth with 1,880 pins.

Sunday’s B squad qualifying and Viper Championship semifinal round will be webcast live on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel.