Monacelli Leaves Ebonite, Returns To Brunswick

Monacelli, a 20-time PBA Tour champion and PBA Hall of Famer, confirmed to FloBowling today is the first day of a new two-year contract with Brunswick. The native of Venezuela had been with Ebonite since 2012.

Amleto Monacelli has left Ebonite and signed with Brunswick in a move that bolsters Brunswick’s already deep roster of legendary PBA stars.

At Brunswick, Monacelli, 57, joins PBA Hall of Famers Johnny Petraglia, Parker Bohn III, and Walter Ray Williams Jr. to create a world-class team of bowling’s biggest stars.

“I’m really grateful to Ebonite for their support through the years and extremely happy to be with Brunswick,” Monacelli said. “In the back of my mind, I always wanted to finish my career with Brunswick because I had some of my best years with them.”

Monacelli joined Brunswick in 1988 and left in 1996 but during that stretch, he won 15 of his PBA titles. He also won both of his PBA Player of the Year awards (1989, 1990) while on staff with Brunswick.

“My first contract was with Brunswick when Johnny Petraglia brought me in,” Monacelli said. “They did my green card and helped me with the process to become legal to stay in the United States. To me, that was a big thing and it meant a lot those years with Brunswick. I won more titles with them than anybody.”

Monacelli continues to be active on both the PBA Tour and the PBA50 Tour. His most recent PBA Tour title came in 2016 at the DHC PBA Japan Invitational. He has also won eight PBA50 titles, including four majors, since turning 50 seven years ago.

During the 2018 U.S. Open, Monacelli made news when he was excluded from the exempt list from the event and was forced to bowl the qualifier. He went on to advance to not only advance through the qualifier but made the first cut and narrowly missed match play, finishing in 28thplace.

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.

Kulick Wins 3rd US Open in Reno

Professional sports history was made Wednesday night when Bowling's U.S. Women's Open was held outdoors on Virginia Street under the iconic Reno Arch. Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., defeated Missy Parkin of Lake Forest, Calif., 170-160, to win the major title.

Playing against the wind, dust and the setting desert sun, Kulick won her third career U.S. Women's Open title while overcoming some of the most challenging lane conditions in the history of professional bowling.

"I don't know what it is about this event, but I always gear up for it," said Kulick, who also won the U.S. Women's Open in 2003 and 2010. "To have this type of atmosphere, it brings a lot of attention to our sport, which is much needed. The Bowling Proprietors' Association of America, Ebonite and all the sponsors are trying to showcase women's bowling, and I support it."

The five players in the finals, which will be broadcast July 3 at 8 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2, battled challenging lane conditions over the course of the evening under a unique setting in downtown Reno.

"Kelly faced the dual challenge of competing against the best female players from across the globe in the face of playing conditions U.S. women's bowling has never before seen," said Steve Johnson, BPAA executive director. "Great credit goes to the incredible competitors in this year's finals for helping us to do the seemingly impossible - hosting a competition that may have topped last year's U.S. Women's Open at Cowboys Stadium."

Added Johnson, "Congratulations to the hundreds of players from throughout the world who came to Reno to compete and who have helped drive an incredible resurgence for the popularity of bowling."

With winds gusting between 18-24 mph throughout the finals, the players were forced to deal with adverse conditions throughout the evening. Dust on the lanes drastically affected the scoring pace and forced the bowlers to resort to using plastic balls much of the night.

"It was like bowling in the desert," said Kulick, who entered the finals as the top seed and only had to bowl one match to win the title. "Sitting there and watching what was happening before me really helped give me the advantage of figuring out what I had to do to win."

Despite throwing splits in the eighth and the ninth frame, Kulick entered the 10th frame with a chance to shut out Parkin. Kulick spared in the final frame to lock up the title and knock off the second-seeded Parkin.

In the semifinal match, Parkin took down No. 3 seed Shannon O'Keefe of Arlington, Texas, 150-148, in a match that was back and forth the whole way. Parkin locked up the win when O'Keefe, needing a double, left a pocket 10 pin in the final frame.

O'Keefe advanced to the semifinal by defeating fourth seed Stefanie Nation of Grand Prairie, Texas, 182-165. In the opening match of the five-player stepladder finals, Nation took down Lynda Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, 166-158.

The U.S. Women's Open was accompanied this week by the inaugural Senior U.S. Women's Open. In Tuesday's finals, Robin Romeo of Newhall, Calif., defeated Lucy Sandelin of Tampa, Fla., 225-188, to win the title.

Joining the Brands of Ebonite International as sponsors of the 2012 Bowling's U.S. Women's Open for the second year in a row include: Jani King, the official cleaning company of bowling; and Lipton Naturals, the official tea of the 2012 Bowling's U.S. Women's Open. Additional sponsors include: Brunswick Bowling & Billiards, the official lane provider of Bowling's U.S. Women's Open; Eldorado Resorts, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus Resort Casinos; Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority (RSCVA); Kegel; Dexter; Bowling Music Network; and Turbo Grips.

For more information on the U.S. Women's Open, visit BowlingsUSWomensOpen.com.

New Balls From Ebonite International

The Ebonite Innovate is an upper mid-performance ball that likes to be extremely responsive to down lane friction. The High Traction Reactive (HTR 3.0) Pearl coverstock is Red/Navy/ Purple, while the “Verve” Core is Radius of Gyration (RG) of 2.49 / RG Differential .046 in #15 Available June 12, 2012. 

Ebonite Endure is the new, mid-performance product from Ebonite. Ebonite suggests “The Endure will provide you with great performance on fresh conditions and those that are in transition.” The Black/Yellow/Blue cover of Traxion Reactive Hybrid wraps the V5 core (the Elevate and Game Changer). Available July 31, 2012. Radius of Gyration (RG) of  2.50 / RG Differential .051 in #15.