Thursday, April 1, 2010

Malott Pushes to Lead of the PBA Marathon Open

Defending champion Wes Malott of Pflugerville, TX,
advanced from seventh place into the lead in the
Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open at AMF Country
Club Lanes Wednesday in a bid for his first title of the season in the tour’s final event and a chance to play spoiler in the 2009-10 PBA Player of the Year race.

Malott, who won the 2008-09 PBA Player of the Year in the final event last year, averaged 246 as he finished Wednesday’s demanding Shark round with an 18-game total of 4,434 pins and a 155-pin lead over Brad Angelo of Lockport, NY, who had 4,279 pins.

Twelve-time PBA champion Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, was in third place 
with 4,274 pins followed by Sean Rash of Wichita, KS, at 4,266 and Dave 
D’Entremont of Middleburg Heights, OH, at 4,261. None of the top five have won 
a title this season.

Malott, after taking last week off to tend to illnesses in his family, ate the Shark 
condition alive. He didn’t have a game under 211 and six of his nine games 
were 242 or higher, including a 280 final game.

“I was looking forward to bowling the Plastic Ball Championship last week, but 
the night before the tournament, my son got sick and my wife took him to the 
hospital. While she was there, she got sick and wound up being admitted, so I 
thought it was my job to go home and take care of my family. It was the right 
thing to do.

“While I was home, I found out a dear old friend isn’t doing well, so I wanted 
to dedicate this week to him. Whenever I have gotten down on myself a little, I 
think about him and I’ve been able to refocus on what I need to do.

“One of my goals since I started to win out here is to get at least one title a 
year, and I don’t have one yet this year,” Malott said. “It’s been an up-and-
down year, but so far this week things are going well. I’ve got a little lead, but 
I’m not one to look ahead of myself, so I’ll take it one day, one pattern at a 
time and we’ll see.”

“This is my last chance to make something out of this year,” said Barnes, who is 
still looking for his first title of the season. “I had my struggles in the 
(Thunderbowl Lanes) arena (during the World Series of Bowling in Detroit in 
August), but other than that, it probably would have been a pretty good year.

 “It’s still early in the tournament,” Barnes added. “One of the unique 
challenges of the Marathon Open format is that every day you have to come up 
with a new game plan. It’s nice to have an event like this with multiple 
patterns and lots of games. By no means do two rounds determine anything, but 
this format will prove out who is the best player this week.”

While the leaders duked it out, the only three players with a chance to win 
Player of the Year honors remained in contention. Walter Ray Williams Jr. of 
Ocala, FL, and Bill O’Neill of Southampton, PA, who are tied for the Player 
of the Year points lead, advanced to Thursday’s third round in 14th and 29th 
places, respectively. Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, TX, who is third in the 
race, also advanced in 33rd place.

If Williams and O’Neill both advance to Sunday’s TV finals, the higher finisher 
would win the Player of the Year race. If one of the two makes it, that player 
would win. If neither make the TV show, Williams will win the title based on 
overall points for the reason unless Scroggins wins Sunday’s titles – in which 
case he would become Player of the Year.

The top 44 players at the conclusion of the Cheetah and Shark rounds advance to 
the “cashers’ rounds” Thursday where they will bowl two more seven-game rounds 
on the Viper and Chameleon lane conditions.

Over the course of the six-day event, the tournament leaders will bowl seven 
rounds, all on different lane conditioning patterns, to decide the top five 
players for the stepladder finals that will air Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern on 
ESPN. The tournament leader after 53 games will select the lane condition to 
be used for the TV finals.

LUMBER LIQUIDATORS PBA TOUR
LUMBER LIQUIDATORS MARATHON OPEN
AMF Country Club Lanes, Baltimore, Wednesday

SECOND ROUND (after 18 games, Shark lane condition)
1, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 4,434.
2, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 4,279.
3, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 4,274.
4, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., 4,266.
5, Dave D'Entremont, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, 4,261.
6, Todd Book, Wapakoneta, Ohio, 4,245.
7, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 4,216.
8, Stevie Weber, Chalmette, La., 4,184.
9, Jeff Carter, Springfield, Ill., 4,171.
10, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 4,156.
11, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 4,141.
12, (tie) Robert Smith, Columbus, Ohio, and Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 4,113.
14, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 4,112.
15, Eddie VanDaniker Jr., Essex, Md., 4,111.
16, Billy Oatman, Chicago, 4,108.
17, Bobby Hall II, Landover, Md., 4,107.
18, Joe Ciccone, Buffalo, N.Y., 4,106.
19, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 4,105.
20, Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga., 4,095.
21, Derek Sapp, Keokuk, Iowa, 4,091.
22, Tim Criss, Bel Air, Md., 4,087.
23, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 4,080.
24, Ryan Abel, Bel Aire, Kan., 4,067.
25, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 4,054.
26, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 4,041.
27, (tie) Eddie Graham, Centerville, Ohio, and Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 4,038.
29, Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., 4,037.
30, Jesse Buss, Wichita, Kan., 4,035.
31, Brian Waliczek, Birch Run, Mich., 4,031.
32, George Lambert IV, Canada, 4,024.
33, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 4,012.
34, Bob Hale, Louisville, Ky., 4,010.
35, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 4,000.
36, D.J. Archer, Mineral Wells, Texas, 3,994.
37, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 3,991.
38, Kevin Cartier, Beverly, N.J., 3,988.
39, Ronnie Horton, Christiansburg, Va., 3,977.
40, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,966.
41, Chris Hans, Richmond, Va., 3,964.
42, Mike DeVaney, San Diego, 3,956.
43, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 3,948.
44, William Barlow, Edgewood, Md., 3,944.

FAILED TO ADVANCE:
45, (tie) Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, and Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3,940.
47, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 3,939.
48, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 3,937.
49, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,936.
50, Ronnie Russell, Camby, Ind., 3,925.
51, Lee Vanderhoef, Greenville, S.C., 3,918.
52, (tie) David O'Sullivan, Orlando, Fla, and Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 3,916.
54, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 3,909.
55, Mitch Beasley, Puyallup, Wash., 3,908.
56, Steve Harman, Indianapolis, 3,904.
57, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 3,891.
58, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 3,871.
59, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 3,858.
60, Tim Mack, Indianapolis, 3,855.
61, John Nolen, Grand Blanc, Mich., 3,854.
62, Troy Wollenbecker, Miami, 3,839.
63, (tie) Travis Celmer, Wernersville, Pa., and Brian Voss, Alpharetta, Ga., 3,836.
65, Joe Bailey, Doylestown, Ohio, 3,831.
66, Gary Faulkner, Norfolk, Va., 3,815.
67, Wayne Garber, Modesto, Calif., 3,808.
68, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 3,785.
69, Michael Stocks, Leesburg, Va., 3,783.
70, Thomas Wall III, Fayetteville, N.C., 3,781.
71, Stuart Williams, England, 3,778.
72, PJ Haggerty, Clovis, Calif., 3,764.
73, Cassidy Schaub, Ashland, Ohio, 3,749.
74, Christopher Blackmore, Alexandria, Va., 3,742.
75, Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 3,738.
76, Vic Marotto, Wallingford, Conn., 3,723.
77, Robert Eddy II, Saginaw, Mich., 3,719.
78, Matt Freiberg, Somerset, N.J., 3,678.
79, Kevin Pickett, Mechanicsville, Va, 3,660.
80, Tim Pfeifer, Cranberry Twp., Pa., 3,659.
81, Chris Forry, Bridgeport, Conn., 3,656.
82, Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., 3,627.
83, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 3,623.
84, (tie) Chris Paroly, Plainview, N.Y., and John May, Lincolnton, N.C., 3,616.
86, Justin Warhol, Sound Beach, N.Y, 3,608.
87, Stephen Haas, Enola, Pa., 3,595.
88, John Di Santis, Wilmington, Del., 3,588.
89, Jeremy Merriner, Winchester, Va., 3,549.
90, Steven Black, Phoenix, 3,503.
91, Mike McDonnell, Chesterfield, Va, 3,497.
92, Ryon Collins, Richmond, Va., 3,477.
93, Diandra Asbaty, Chicago, 3,461.
94, Stanley Lobodzinski, Edgewood, Md., 3,457.
95, David Knight, Folcroft, Pa., 3,446.
96, Alvin Horne Jr, Coram, N.Y., 3,401.
97, Jeff Keller, Chesapeake, Va., 3,390.
98, Tom Lemanski, Hazlet, N.J., 3,387.
99, Kevin Brophy, Oakhurst, N.J., 3,369.
100, Philip Petersam, Baltimore, 3,340.
101, Wayne Bolin, Lumberton, N.C., 3,333.
102, Dave Jones Jr., Baltimore, 3,315.
103, Joshua Shriver, Winchester, Va., 3,299.
104, Donald Messinese, Churchton, Md., 3,295.
105, Gregory Smith, Baltimore, 3,289.
106, Brian DiCicco, Agawam, Mass., 3,262.
107, Ralph Ehrlich, N.Massapequa, N.Y., 3,245.
108, (tie) Phillip Johnson, Nasville, N.C., and Gary Mixon, Clinton, Md., 3,242.
110, Larry Klick, Erie, Pa, 3,236.
111, Jack Nealon, Bowie, Md., 3,226.
112, Matt Traina, Farmingdale, N.Y., 3,211.
113, Robert Tracey, Sykesville, Md., 3,187.
114, Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 3,157.
115, Mike Charney, Baltimore, 3,107.
116, Jeff Bragg, Linesville, Pa., 3,106.
117, Earl Langkam Jr, Toppa, Md, 3,078.
118, J.J. Vece, Wallingford, Conn., 3,077.
119, David Zeitz, Philadelphia, 3,011.
120, Tommy Dean Garland, Sykesville, Md., 2,862.
121, Colin Jones, Glen Burnie, Md., 2,834.
122, Barry Wilson Jr., Landover, Md., 2,832.
123, Howard Ridgeway, Cleveland, withdrew.
124, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., withdrew.
125, Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C., withdrew.
126, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., withdrew.
127, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., withdrew.
128, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., withdrew.
129, David Reed, Shoreham, N.Y., withdrew.
130, Hubert Register, Philadelphia, withdrew.
131, Shane Holbert, East Lansdowne, Pa., withdrew.
132, Joseph Costanzo, Plainview, N.Y., withdrew.
133, Larry Martin, Pasadena, Md, withdrew. 
 
300 Games (8) – Brad Angelo, Michael Machuga, Derek Sapp, Ryan Shafer, D.J. Archer, Robert 
Smith, Mitch Beasley, Joe Ciccone.

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