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.

Three Jump From Storm, Roto Grip To EBI

Ebonite International has signed AJ Johnson, Shawn Maldonado and Keven Williams away from Storm and Roto Grip heading into the 2019 PBA Tour season.

Ebonite Marketing Manager Rob Gotchall tells FloBowling all three signed two-year deals. Johnson will represent the Ebonite brand, Maldonado will represent Hammer and Williams will represent Columbia 300.

Watch the 2019 PBA Hall of Fame Classic starting this Thursday LIVE on FloBowling

Although he has yet to win a PBA title, Johnson, 26, is considered a rising star on the tour. He’s a four-time member of Team USA and helped the United States win the gold medal in team event at the 2017 World Championships.

Johnson has several second-place finishes on the PBA Tour, including finishing runner-up at the 2015 USBC Masters in his first year on tour. As the top seed, Johnson lost in the championship match to Jason Belmonte, 202-157.

A two-hander from Houston, Maldonado, 32, joined the PBA Tour in 2013 and has more than $227,000 in earnings over that stretch. He finished fifth in the Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship with DJ Archer for his best finish in 2018.

One of Maldonado’s biggest career finishes came at the 2016 U.S. Open, when he finished third. Maldonado lost in the semifinal match after eventual champion Francois Lavoie fired a 300 game at him.

Williams, 25, a hard-throwing two-handed lefty, made his first career championship round appearance in 2018, losing to Marshall Kent, 218-210, in the semifinal of the Go Bowling! 60thAnniversary Classic.

Big Start Vaults Bill O’Neill Into FloBowling PBA Wolf Open First Round Lead

by jschneider  |  Monday, October 15, 5:51 PM   from PBA.com

OWASSO, Okla. – Nine-time Go Bowling! PBA Tour winner Bill O’Neill fired a 1,506 six-game pinfall total Monday to take the first round lead in the FloBowling PBA Wolf Open, the first of three events making up the weeklong FloBowling PBA Fall Swing at The Lanes at Coffee Creek.

Bowling on PBA’s 33-foot Wolf lane condition, O’Neill, who makes his home in Langhorne, Pa., bowled games of 298, 278, 236, 207, 252 and 235 to average 251 for the round.

“I wanted to play it safe by starting the round with a ball I was confident would control the lane and get to the pocket consistently,” O’Neill said. “I felt if I can do that, I can make the smaller adjustments necessary to get the pin carry.

“You don’t anticipate starting 290 and 270 but you certainly want to take advantage of a good start like that,” he added. “I was actually more satisfied with the end of the round because in the middle of the fourth game I made a ball change and moved 10 boards left on the approach which gave me the confidence that I was making the right adjustment decisions.

O’Neill, who turns 37 on Oct. 21, teamed with four-time and reigning PBA Player of the Year Jason Belmonte to win the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship earlier this season for his ninth career title.

“It’s been a pretty good year,” O’Neill said. “I wish I was winning more but I’ve been pretty happy with the way I’m bowling overall. With the way the game has evolved things aren’t as instinctual to me as they used to be. I just keep knocking on the door and hope I can put myself in the best possible position to win.”

O’Neill holds a commanding 76-pin lead over AJ Johnson of Oswego, Ill. who finished the round in second with a 1,430 pinfall total. Markus Jansson of Sweden finished third with 1,421 followed by Kristopher Prather of Plainfield, Ill., with 1,391 and 2018 USBC Masters Champion Andrew Anderson of Holly, Mich., rounding out the top five with 1,387.

The 102-player field returns for the second six-game qualifying round Tuesday that will determine the top five players who will advance to the stepladder finals at 7:30 p.m. CT, which can be seen live on PBA’s online bowling channel Xtra Frame on FloBowling.

After Tuesday’s Wolf Open stepladder finals, the Fall Swing continues with Bear Open qualifying Wednesday and Thursday.

Based on the combined 24-game qualifying totals from the Wolf and Bear events, the top 18 players will advance to Tulsa Open match play, consisting of two six-game round robin match play rounds, on Friday and the final six-game round on Saturday morning that will determine the top five players for the Tulsa Open stepladder finals at 12:30 p.m.

The entire Fall Swing is streamed live on Xtra Frame on FloBowling which is providing multi-stream coverage of every lane of competition. For subscription and schedule information visit www.flobowling.com. Lanetalk is providing Fall Swing tournament statistics which can be accessed by visiting the Lanetalk link on the pba.com homepage.

Lanetalk Quick Stats

Kristopher Prather had the best clean frame percentage with 98.33% (only one open); Sean Rash, who qualified ninth after the first round had the highest percentage of pocket hits with 86.57%. Chris Via, who qualified 10th, had the best pocket pin carry percentage with 88% on his pocket hits.

FLOBOWLING PBA WOLF OPEN

The Lanes at Coffee Creek, Owasso, Okla., Monday



FIRST ROUND QUALIFYING RESULTS (after six games)


1, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,506.
2, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 1,430.
3, Markus Jansson, Sweden, 1,421.
4, Kristopher Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 1,391.
5, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 1,387.
6, Keven Williams, Springfield, Mo., 1,385.
7, (tie) Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, and Rhino Page, Orlando, 1,382.
9, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,381.
10, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 1,366.
11, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 1,364.
12, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 1,360.
13, Dom Barrett, England, 1,358.
14, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 1,357.
15, (tie) AJ Chapman, St Paul, Minn., and EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 1,354.
17, Graham Fach, Canada, 1,347.
18, Darren Tang, San Francisco, 1,345.
19, Zachery Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 1,336.
20, (tie) Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., and Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., 1,333.
23, Sam Cooley, Australia, 1,319.
24, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 1,313.
25, (tie) Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, and Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 1,312.
27, Stuart Williams, England, 1,311.
28, (tie) Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., and Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 1,310.
30, (tie) Jason Belmonte, Australia, Charlie Brown Jr., Grandville, Mich., Francois Lavoie, Canada, and Matt Sanders, Indianapolis, 1,307.
34, (tie) JR Raymond, Clinton Twp., Mich., and Michael Tang, San Francisco, 1,306.
36, (tie) Thomas Larsen, Denmark, and Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 1,305.
38, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 1,302.
39, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 1,295.
40, Michael Davidson, Versailles, Ohio, 1,292.
41, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,288.
42, Kurt Pilon, Warren, Mich., 1,285.
43, (tie) Pontus Andersson, Sweden, and Ryan Ciminelli, Clarence, N.Y., 1,280.
45, (tie) Richie Teece, England, George Duke, Vidor, Texas, and Francois Louw, South Africa, 1,275.
48, Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, 1,274.
49, (tie) John Furey, Howell, N.J., and Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 1,265.
51, Humberto Vazquez, Mexico, 1,264.
52, (tie) Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., and Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 1,259.
54, Trey Ford III, Bartlesville, Okla., 1,256.
55, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,250.
56, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,249.
57, (tie)Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., and Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,247.
59, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 1,244.
60, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 1,238.
61, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 1,236.
62, (tie) Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., and Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 1,235.
65, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 1,232.
66, Kim Bolleby, Thailand, 1,231.
67, Dakota Vostry, Chicago, Ill., 1,227.
68, (tie) Daniel Fransson, Sweden, and Matt Kuba, Chicago Ridge, IL, 1,225.
70, Christopher Sloan, Ireland, 1,224.
71, Jim Pratt, Avondale, Ariz., 1,223.
72, Matt O'Grady, Rahway, N.J., 1,222.
73, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 1,220.
74, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 1,219.
75, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 1,217.
76, (tie) Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., and DJ Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 1,213.
78, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 1,203.
79, (tie) Kenneth Ryan, Morganville, N.J., and Rocio Restrepo, Colombia, 1,181.
81, Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 1,178.
82, Nicholas Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 1,174.
83, Zach Doty, Campbellsville, Ky., 1,171.
84, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 1,169.
85, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 1,163.
86, Kyle King, Glendale, Ariz., 1,162.
87, (tie) Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., and Nate Garcia, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 1,143.
89, David Krol, Nixa, Mo., 1,141.
90, Stephen Pavlinko Jr., Sewell, N.J., 1,135.
91, Kenneth Bland Jr., San Antonio, Texas, 1,111.
92, Matt Wozney, Clayton, Del., 1,084.
93, Julio Cesar Blancas, Mexico, 1,077.
94, Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, 1,058.
95, Russ Oviatt, Chandler, Ariz., 1,055.
96, Stephen Hahn, Sterling, Va., 1,030.
97, Michael Duran, Banning, Calif., 1,024.
98, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 1,022.
99, James Britton, Grand Prairie, Texas, 1,019.
100, Andrew Silverman, Akron, Ohio, 1,010.
101, James Sitters, Australia, 952.
102, Michael Foster, Tulsa, Okla., 869.

300 games – AJ Johnson, Marshall Kent