Derick Holmes Wichita Senior Selected Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow

Derick Holmes of Wichita, KS, a senior at Wichita Southeast High School, has been selected as the 2014 Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow Award recipient.

The annual award recognizes star qualities, including distinguished bowling performance, academic achievement and civic involvement, in a male high school or college student who competes in bowling. It is named for the former Young American Bowling Alliance Executive Director, who spent much of his life helping young people through his association with junior bowling.

The award winner, selected by the International Bowling Campus Youth Committee, receives a $6,000 scholarship.

“To be selected for this award is such an amazing honor,” Holmes said. “I truly have had a fantastic high school career in bowling, and this just tops it off. This award inspires me even more because I know some of the nation’s best bowlers have won this award. And to be in the elite group of people this award represents just feels so amazing!”

Holmes,17, is the top-ranked student in his senior class with a 4.0 grade-point average (based on 4.0 scale) and was awarded the Gold Buffalo Award in October 2013 for having a 4.0 GPA his first three years of high school. He also has been named a Kansas Honors Scholar.

He is a 12-year member of the Boy Scouts and earned Eagle Scout in 2010. His community service includes working the annual blood drive at the high school the last three years and a Turkey Drive that collected 400 turkeys for the local food bank. He also is a Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) Junior Facilitator and volunteered at a four-day seminar to promote community involvement and leadership.

For his efforts on the lanes, he was selected to the 2012-2013 Dexter/USBC High School All-America Team. He won the Kansas State High School Activities Association individual state title as a junior and is a two-time KSHSAA all-state member.

Holmes, who plans to attend Wichita State in the fall, also is a competitive baseball player and has played baseball most of his life. In the fourth grade, he saw an advertisement for an after-school bowling league and joined with a friend.

“We weren’t very good, but we had a great time,” Holmes said. “Once I got to middle school, I wanted to get better and took a developmental league over the summer and started getting private lessons from the local professionals. Every year, I just got better and better, and to this day, the trend has continued. I love the sport of bowling, and my thirst for knowledge, and the drive to better myself, has kept me in the sport.”

As the 2014 Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow Award winner, Holmes receives an all-expenses paid trip to the 2014 USBC Convention, where he will receive his award. BOWL.com will live stream the USBC Convention, including the award presentation.

Go to BOWL.com/Scholarships to learn more about scholarships available to USBC Youth bowlers.

CHUCK HALL STAR OF TOMORROW AWARD WINNERS
Year, winner, hometown
1980 Chris Whitty, Simonton, Texas
1981 Drew Barthle, Tampa, Fla.
1982 Ricky Corona, Oakland, Calif.
1983 Dan Nadeau, Las Vegas
1984 Robert Beck, Houston
1985 Justin Hromek, Andover, Kan.
1986 Pat Healey, Wichita, Kan.
1987 Mark Fisser, Buena Park, Calif.
1988 Bradley Joinetz, San Antonio, Texas
1989 Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan.
1990 Jason McCarty, Fultondale, Ala.
1991 Chris Williams, Anchorage, Alaska
1992 Robert Smith, Moorpark, Calif.
1993 Vince Biondo, Hoffman Estates, Ill.
1994 Michael Mullin, New City, N.Y.
1995 John Miller, Wichita, Kan.
1996 David Eisenberg, Kendall Park, N.J.
1997 Todd Filter, Cedarburg, Wis.
1998 James (Eddie) Kirtley, Bowling Green, Ky.
1999 Andrew Cain, Glendale, Ariz.
2000 Scott Norton, Cypress, Calif.
2001 Sean Rash, Anchorage, Alaska
2002 Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas
2003 Marc D'Errico, Rochester, N.Y.,
2004 Patrick Haggerty, Weimar, Calif.
2005 Brandon Temple, Tempe, Ariz.
2006 Eric Helmrich, Saint Leonard, Md.
2007 Jonathan Buckert, Rochester, N.Y.
2008 Kyle Kahlden, Houston
2009 Chris Bardol, Brockport, N.Y.
2010 Andrew Koff, Miami, Fla.
2011 Brent Bowers, Mulvane, Kan.
2012 Kyle Anderson, Lockport, Ill.
2013 Joey Kopera, Orland Park, Ill.
2014 Derick Holmes, Wichita, Kan.

5 New Storm Ball Announcements

All 5 balls will be released on May 13, 2014. The urethane Thunder Line Pitch Black is pitch black and the cover is 1000 grit and Control Solid Urethane. Utilizing the Capacitor core, the high RG and medium differential core should provide only about two inches of track flare.  



The new additions round out the Hot line by adding the solid reactive cover Wipe Out and pearl cover Punch Out. The Wipe Out will feature the Turbine Core used in the Tropical Heats and the current Lights Out.

The green and navy Wipe Out R2S solid coverstock is finished to 3000 grit giving you a stronger cover than the Lights Out. If you need smooth and longer still, here comes the Punch Out in white and charcoal pearl R2S reactive cover featuring the same Turbine core.

In addition to the Thunder and Hot Line additions, look for two new Tropical Breezes in the Tropical Line. The new Teal/Blue and Orange/Teal Tropical Breezes. Containing Camber cores and pearl Reactor coverstocks, the new Breeze balls add colorful options and interesting fragrances to the Tropical Line. Sniff for Orange/Chocolate and Melon Mint on the new Breeze additions.

Big Scores for the Big Winner of Chicago Sun-Times "Beat The Champs"

The name of the game is "Beat The Champions," and Ryan Yanel took it literally.
Yanel's winning four-game series of 1143 - 289-300-300-254, with no handicap - in the men's finals of the 53rd Annual Chicago Sun-Times/BPA Beat The Champions contest March 9 not only set a "Champs" record, it even toppled the best effort of any pro on the target score show that kicks off the tournament each year.

The 28-year-old's two perfect games and 889 series for the first three games made mincemeat of the record 299 single and 815 series Robert Lawrence rolled on TV in 1992.

Yanel (highlighted in the Feb. 16, 2014 Chicago Sun-Times, right) also obliterated the three-game house record at host center River Rand Bowl in Des Plaines, 814.

And to think he did it all on an empty stomach.

"I only had a diet Cherry Coke for breakfast this morning," said Yanel, a former PBA card holder who owns the "Get A Grip Pro Shop" at Raymond's Bowl in Johnsburg.

"I just came in with a clear mind, had the right ball in my hand - a Hammer Black Widow Assassin - and went through the motions.

"I saw during practice that a lot of people were playing in, and I didn't like what I was seeing," Yanel said. "I saw a lot of 2-10s and 2-8-10s, so I moved right. I started moving in as things went on, though; every six shots or so, I moved my feet two boards and my target one board."

The 250-average bowler opened the finals with a 289 game on lanes 3 and 4, stringing 10 strikes before leaving a 2-pin on his first ball in the 10th. He converted the spare, then closed with a strike - the first of what would be 25 in a row for the two 300 games. (The final strike in his first 300 game is shown left).

"It's pretty cool having back-to-back 300s," said Yanel, who now has 47 perfectos to his credit. "I've never done that before, even though I've had two 300s in a [three-game] set. Even in my high series before today - 864 - I had only one 300."

Yanel had just one open frame all day. That came in the 10th frame of game 4, when he left the 4-10 split and failed to convert it.

By that time, the 2014 Ford Focus that goes to the champion had his name on the owner's title, and the rest of the field was fighting it out for second place. (Click here for the complete game-by-game results and prize payout.)
D'Andrey Fields, who averages 163 at Dolton Bowl, outlasted Classic Bowl's Graham Welch for runner-up honors, 990-986. Fields settled for a 40-inch Samsung LED flat panel HDTV for his prize.

"I really wanted that car; I need a new car," Fields mourned. All four of his games were consistently above average - 192-204-215-210 - but no match for the Yanel buzzsaw, even when 169 pins of handicap were added.

"I split a couple times but picked up most of them," Fields said. "I tried to move up on the approach and throw the ball down and into the pocket. A lucky strike that drove through the head pin gave me the edge [over Welch] - thank God for handicap!"

Welch thought he had dropped from the Top 5 altogether after closing with a 182 game.

"I really thought I was out of it," said Welch, who averages 198 at Classic Bowl. His earlier games of 205-267-289, plus 43 pins of handicap, proved enough to secure third place and a 32" Proscan HDTV-DVD combo.

Tim Allen, representing Diversey River Bowl, seemed a little in awe to finish fourth.

"There were so many good bowlers here today," he said. Allen, a 150-average bowler, had games of 187-193-215-165. to which he added 216 handicap pins for a 976 series.

Charles Cleghorn, a 209-average bowler from Willowbrook Lanes, finished fifth. His 965 series contained games of 267-205-267-223, and he received three pins of handicap. Cleghorn and Allen were also rewarded with televisions for their efforts.

"Ryan's Express" overshadowed Michael Watkins' own perfect game, which on any other day would have made him a cause celebre. The scratch bowler from Burr Oak Bowl put the finishing touches on his own 300 a few minutes after Yanel's in the third game. Watkins placed 23rd with an 844 series (216-173-300-155-0 hdcp).

Yanel, who said he entered "Champs" as a lark - "Just $3 to maybe win a car sounded pretty good" - received the keys from Steve Ursin of Arlington Heights Ford, representing the Chicagoland Ford Dealers (shown right in photo).

Nearly 23,000 bowlers - 22,592 - entered "Champs" this year. That raised the total participation since the tournament begain in 1961 to 5,703,726. Through 2013, $2,776,374.70 had been raised for Chicago-area charities (a complete total through 2014 will be available after tournament auditing is completed).
(Top five for the 2014 Sun-Times/BPA Beat The Champions men's finals: Ryan Yanel, Raymond's Bowl; D'Andrey Fields, Dolton Bowl; Graham Welch, Classic Bowl; Tim Allen, Diversey River Bowl; Charles Cleghorn, Willowbrook Lanes.)
- Lydia Rypcinski, ISBPA News

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.

Belmonte Win USBC Master AGAIN, First Repeater in 50 Years

By Lucas Wiseman, USBC Communications

Australia's Jason Belmonte became the first bowler in nearly 50 years to successfully defend a United States Bowling Congress Masters title on Sunday as he defeated EJ Tackett of Huntington, IN, 221-177.

Belmonte, the reigning Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year, opened up a big lead early and eased to the title at Brunswick Zone Carolier. With the victory, Belmonte, who earned $50,000 for the win, is just the third player to successfully defend a Masters title, joining Billy Welu (1964 and 1965) and Dick Hoover (1956 and 1957).

"This tournament is so difficult to win," said Belmonte, who won his ninth career PBA Tour title and his third major. "I always have high expectations for myself, but to go down in history as the third one and first in 50 years to win back-to-back is a huge honor."

In the title match, Belmonte got out of the gates quickly and took advantage of a slow start by Tackett, the reigning PBA Rookie of the Year. Belmonte started with a spare before rattling off four consecutive strikes to take command.

The match wasn't settled, however, until the final frame when Belmonte converted the 4 pin and struck on his final ball to shut out Tackett.

"I wish I would have had a chance, but Jason did what he had to do to win," Tackett said. "I'm disappointed I didn't win, but it's an experience I'm going to learn from this and hopefully next time I can win."

In addition to making history with consecutive Masters victories, Belmonte also added his name to a short list of players who have won back-to-back major titles. He won the Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions in January and is the seventh player in history to win back-to-back majors.

In the semifinal, Belmonte hung on for a one-pin victory over Michael Haugen Jr. of Phoenix, 235-234, by putting a spare on the board in the final frame and getting nine pins on the fill ball.

Belmonte, who entered the championship round as the fifth seed, took down No. 3 seed Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, MI, 202-173, and opened the stepladder finals with a 227-214 win over fourth seed Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, NY.

The Masters, which featured a total prize fund of $315,000, is part of the World Tenpin Bowling Association World Bowling Tour. A sold-out field of 468 players from 15 countries started the week in their quest to take home the trophy.

2014 USBC MASTERS
At Brunswick Zone Carolier, North Brunswick, NJ.

Sunday's results
Final standings

1, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 885 (four games), $50,000
2, EJ Tackett, Huntington, IN, 177 (one game), $25,000
3, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 234 (one game), $15,000
4, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, MI, 183 (one game) $10,000
5, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, NY, 214 (one game), $8,000

Stepladder results

Match One - Belmonte def. Ciminelli, 227-214
Match Two - Belmonte def. Smallwood, 202-173
Match Three - Belmonte def. Haugen, 235-234
Championship - Belmonte def. Tackett, 221-177

Barnes Wins 17th PBA Title in Doha, Qatar

Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, defeated woman bowler New Hui Fen of Singapore, 493-483, in the two-game championship match to win the H.H. Emir Cup, a World Tenpin Bowling Association/PBA International Tour tournament, Friday at Qatar Bowling Center.

The victory gave Barnes his 17^th PBA Tour title and his second PBA International Tour title. He previously won the Columbia 300 Vienna Open in Oct. of 2012. His last U.S. PBA Tour title came in the PBA Viper Championship during World Series of Bowling V in Las Vegas.

Fen’s scores included an eight handicap pins per game, an equality handicap provided to women in many international events.

Fen got off to an early lead after the first game of the championship match topping Barnes, 275-257, but Barnes overcame the deficit by beating in the second game, 236-208.

In the semifinal matches Fen defeated Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, PA, 489-397, and Barnes defeated another top international woman player, Shayna Ng of Singapore, 521-445.

The next stop for the PBA/WBT Tour will be the Bahrain Open March 1-7 in Oman, Bahrain.

H.H. EMIR CUP
Doha, Qatar, Feb. 28, 2014

Championship (two games, total pinfall; Fen score includes 8 handicap pins per game): Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas ($25,000) def. New Hui Fen, Singapore ($12,000), 493-483.

Semifinal Round (two games, total pinfall; Fen and Ng scores include 8 handicap pins per game): Barnes def. Shayna Ng ($6,000), Singapore, 521-445.
Fen def. Bill O’Neill ($6,000), Langhorne, Pa., 489-397.

Other PBA Cashers:
6, Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, $2,700.
8, Craig Nidiffer, Trenton, Mich., $2,700.
10, John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., $2,300.
13, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., $1,800.
14, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., $1,800.
16, Jason Belmonte, Australia., $1,800.
20, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., $1,500.
25, Andres Gomez, Colombia, $1,200.
26, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., $1,200.
29, Osku Palermaa, Finland, $1,200.
30, Tim Mack, Indianapolis, $1,200.
32, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, $1,100.