Thursday, February 18, 2016

Canadian Rookie Graham Fach Takes Second Round Lead in Barbasol PBA Players Championship

by Bill Vint February 17, 2016 05:46

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Graham Fach, a 24-year-old left-hander from Gulph, Ontario, bowling in his second Professional Bowlers Association Tour event, averaged 248.38 to charge into the second round lead in the Barbasol PBA Players Championship at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl Wednesday.
fach w waterFach (pronounced “faw”) fired games of 276, 227, 195, 289, 235, 256, 245 and 247 during Wednesday’s second round to finish with 3,974 pins, overtaking first-round leader Sam Cooley of Australia by 56 pins.
Anthony Pepe of Elmhurst, NY, advanced from 12th to third place among the 36 players who advanced to Thursday’s cashers round with 3,887 pins. He was followed by PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, MO, with 3,848 pins and 2016 FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions winner Jesper Svensson of Sweden in fifth with a 3,830 total. Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, FL, who is pursuing a fifth different PBA major title, remained in contention in 17th place heading into the cashers round.
Fach, who finished 171st in the field of 417 players in his PBA debut in last week’s United States Bowling Congress Masters, entered the day in second place, 47 pins behind Cooley.
“After the Masters, I was a little upset; I thought I bowled well and didn’t get a check,” Fach said. “Today I felt pretty comfortable the whole day. I’m just trying to stay on the high from day one.”
Fach, a member of Canada’s national bowling team, said, “I’ve bowled some pretty big amateur tournaments that were kinda similar in format, but this is the first time bowling with this caliber of players, this much talent. It makes you want to strike a lot more because you know they’re going to.
“The biggest part for me is, no matter what pair you look at, there’s a big name professional. When you start anything as a rookie, you want to make a good impression. Fortunately, my impression here was better than the Masters, where I was barely in the top half of the field. I got comfortable with my ball motion here, and it let me play to my strength.
“Today just means I’ve proven to myself I can compete with the guys I grew up watching. My goals are to make some money, make the cut to match play, make the show and win a title. I think I’ve met two of them so far.”
The 2015 graduate of Ohio’s Urbana University, where he got his degree in sports management, said he’s well aware no Canadian has ever won a PBA Tour title.
“Yup, I’m aware. Every time Dan MacLelland makes a TV show, the point is made,” Fach said of MacLelland, a Windsor, Ontario native and former Saginaw Valley State All-American who has made nine PBA television shows without winning a title – including a runner-up finish in last week’s Masters. “The fact that he hasn’t won yet indicates how tough this Tour is.”
The PBA Players Championship continues with an eight-game qualifying round for A Squad Wednesday night. After 16 games, the top 36 players will advance to an eight-game cashers round at 10 a.m. Thursday to determine the 24 players who will advance to round-robin match play beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday. The final two match play rounds begin at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday. After 48 games, the top five players will compete for the $40,000 first prize live on ESPN Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
All preliminary rounds will be covered live, exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame online video-streaming service. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.
BARBASOL PBA PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday
Final Second Round Standings (after 16 games, top 36 advance to cashers’ round)
1, Graham Fach, Ontario, Canada, 3,974.
2, Sam Cooley, Australia, 3,918.
3, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 3,887.
4, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 3,848.
5, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 3,830.
6, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 3,829.
7, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 3,818.
8, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 3,806.
9, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 3,804.
10, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 3,783.
11 (tie), Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio, and Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,781.
13, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 3,777.
14, J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 3,757.
15 (tie), Osku Palermaa, Finland, and Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 3,755.
17, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 3,747.
18, Ronnie Sparks Jr., Ecorse, Mich., 3,735.
19, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3,731.
20, Dom Barrett, England, 3,727.
21, f-Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 3,722.
22, Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 3,716.
23, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 3,714.
24, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 3,710.
25, Patrick Allen, South Salem, N.Y., 3,706.
26, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 3,681.
27, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,674.
28, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 3,658.
29, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 3,656.
30 (tie), Francois Lavoie, Wichita, Kan., and Martin Larsen, Sweden, 3,654.
32, Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, 3,644.
33 (tie), Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., and John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 3,642.
35 (tie), Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., and Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 3,636.
Failed to advance:
37, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 3,629.
38, John Furey, Freehold, N.J., 3,616.
39, Jon Van Hees, Charlestown, R.I., 3,611.
40, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,610.
41, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 3,609.
42, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 3,607.
43, Shota Kawazoe, Japan, 3,602.
44 (tie), Chad Roberts, Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 3,594.
46, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 3,593.
47, f-Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,587.
48 (tie), Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, and Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 3,581.
50, Josh Conner, Columbus, Ohio, 3,576.
51, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 3,572.
52, David Simard, Quebec, Canada, 3,569.
53, Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 3,568.
54, Jesse Buss, Wichita, Kan., 3,565.
55, Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, 3,554.
56, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 3,549.
57, Patrick Girard, Canada, 3,545.
58, David Haynes, Las Vegas, 3,539.
59, B.J. Moore III, Apex, N.C., 3,536.
60, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 3,529.
61, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 3,527.
62, Lucas Legnani, Argentina, 3,525.
63, Brian Valenta, Lockport, Ill., 3,523.
64, Gregory Thompson Jr., Dublin, Calif., 3,520.
65 (tie), Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., and Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 3,517.
67, Mike Eaton Jr., Cincinnati, 3,516.
68, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 3,515.
69, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 3,514.
70, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 3,508.
71, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 3,489.
72, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 3,488.
73, Jaime Gonzalez, Colombia, 3,472.
74, Brett Cunningham, Clay, N.Y., 3,471.
75, Kyle Bigelow, Troy, Ohio, 3,470.
76, Andrew Graff, Las Vegas, 3,463.
77, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 3,459.
78, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 3,456.
79, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 3,452.
80, Anthony Kennard, Wapakoneta, Ohio, 3,439.
81, A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 3,425.
82, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 3,422.
83, Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., 3,418.
84, Manuel Otalora, Colombia, 3,405.
85 (tie), Aaron Lorincz, Belleville, Mich., and Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 3,404.
87, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 3,403.
88, Miguel Lopez, Wichita, Kan., 3,395.
89, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 3,381.
90, f-Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 3,378.
91, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 3,372.
92, f-Rocio Restrepo, Colombia, 3,364.
93, Kristopher Prather, Milton, Fla., 3,363.
94, Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 3,340.
95, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 3,329.
96, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 3,328.
97, Chris Colella, Templeton, Mass., 3,324.
98, Stuart Williams, England, 3,323.
99, Brad Miller, Maryland Hts, Mo., 3,318.
100, f-Liz Kuhlkin, Rotterdam, N.Y., 3,317.
101, Tony Johnson, Canton, Ohio, 3,315.
102, Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 3,306.
103, Carleton Chambers, Detroit, 3,300.
104, Tom Carter, Columbus, Ohio, 3,297.
105, Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 3,291.
106, f-Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 3,277.
107, Sean Johnson, Moundsville, W.V., 3,254.
108, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 3,248.
109, Frankie Mazzella, Staten Island, N.Y., 3,230.
110, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 3,229.
111, Terrance Bright, Atlanta, 3,201.
112, Cameron Weier, Tacoma, Wash., 3,192.
113, Brandon Dye, Columbus, 3,136.
114, Joshua Weiner, Hilliard, Ohio, 3,081.
115, Mark Nance Sr., Grove City, Ohio, 3,054.
116, Trey Ford III, Bartlesville, Okla., 2,985.
117, Frank Bellavia Jr., Niagara Falls, N.Y., 2,980.
118, James Owens, Vernon, N.Y., 2,802.
119, Larry Helton, Bolingbrook, Ill., 2,722.
120, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., withdrew.
f-denotes female
300 Games: Tom Hess, Kyle Troup, DJ Archer, David Haynes.

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