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.

Current Race for Senior Player Feautures a Bunch of Jr.s

Heading into the Etonic PBA Senior U.S. Open at the Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vegas June 3-8, the all-time leader in PBA Tour titles, Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr., holds a slim two-point lead in the 2012 PBA Senior Player of the Year race over “rookie” Bob Learn Jr. of Erie, PA.

After the first four tournaments of the season, Williams had 20 points in a Senior Tour race which awards 16, 8, 4, 2 and 1 points for first through fifth place finishes in standard events. The 47-time PBA Tour title winner earned 16 points for his third career Senior Tour win in the Senior Don Carter Memorial and two points each for fourth-place finishes in The Sun Bowl in the Villages and the Senior Mooresville Classic. Learn had 18 points, fellow “rookie” Lennie Boresch Jr. of Kenosha, WI, and PBA Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia of Jackson, NJ, had 16 each, and Ron Profitt of Brookville, Ohio was fifth with 12.

During the first of two major championships, stakes will rise for the Senior U.S. Open where top-five point values increase to 24, 12, 8, 4 and 2 points. The same elevated points will apply to the USBC Senior Masters June 10-15 at South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas.

The Senior U.S. Open will be covered extensively by PBA’s exclusive online bowling channel, Xtra Frame, Monday-Friday, June 4-8, concluding with the four-player stepladder finals Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. Pacific). To enroll as an Xtra Frame subscriber, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.

Reigning PBA Senior Player of the Year Ron Mohr of Eagle River, Alaska, will attempt to become the third two-time winner of the Senior U.S. Open, joining Wayne Webb (2008 and ‘09) and Tom Baker (2005 and ’06) as multiple winners. Mohr also finished second in the 2010 Senior U.S. Open.