Ciminelli Tops PBA Viper Championship on Sunday

Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, NY, with a strike in the 10th frame of his final game Sunday, captured the top berth for the Professional Bowlers Association’s Viper Championship presented by PBA Bowling Challenge at South Point Bowling Center, Las Vegas, NV.

 

The Viper Championship is the second of five PBA Tour events that compose the PBA World Series of Bowling V.
Ciminelli, who won his only PBA Tour title in the 2011 Earl Anthony Memorial, battled for the lead all day, but didn’t make the move into first place until the final frame of his 14th game. His 268 final game gave him a total of 3,244 pins (231.71 average) and the lead by 18 pins over Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas. England’s Stuart Williams finished third and Australia’s Jason Belmonte earned the fourth berth in the Nov. 2 Viper finals with a 3,178 total, 32 pins ahead of D.J. Archer of Friendswood, Texas, who rolled the only 300 of the Viper event in the final game.

 

“Considering how demanding the lane conditions were, I threw a lot of strikes,” Ciminelli said. “The lanes were just downright tough, especially after the high scores we had Saturday (in the Cheetah Championship).

 

“The first three games today, I had the pocket, but I couldn’t knock pins over. I figured the day was going to be short, just like it was Saturday. But I changed balls and the pins started falling. It didn’t matter if I hit the pocket light, heavy, whatever. As long as I kept my feet slow and got the ball out on the lane, everything fell into place.”

 

NFL all-pro wide receiver Terrell Owens, who is making is professional bowling debut in the World Series, averaged 145.71 on the Viper lane condition Sunday.

 

“Bad day,” he said. “It’s frustrating because I know I can do better, but it’s all a learning process. I’m a competitive person. I’m not going to give up.”

 

All qualifying rounds from the World Series are being covered live on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel, and via “live scoring” on pba.com. For daily, monthly or yearly subscriptions to Xtra Frame, click on the Xtra Frame link on the pba.com home page.

 

PBA VIPER CHAMPIONSHIP presented by PBA Bowling Challenge

South Point Bowling Center, Las Vegas, Sunday

 

SEMIFINAL ROUND STANDINGS (after 14 games; top 4 advance to ESPN stepladder finals at 3 p.m. PT on Saturday, Nov. 2, at South Point Exhibition Hall B)

1, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,244.
2, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,226.
3, Stuart Williams, England, 3,207.
4, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,178.
5, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 3,146, $4,000.
6, Joonas Jehkinen, Finland, 3,112, $3,500.
7, Shota Kawazoe, Japan, 3,107, $3,000.
8, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 3,097, $2,500.
9, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 3,091, $2,200.
10, Paul Moor, England, 3,053, $2,000.
11, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 3,050, $1,800.
12, John Szczerbinski, North Tonawanda, N.Y., 3,032, $1,700.
13, Dom Barrett, England, 3,017, $1,650.
14, Patrick Girard, Canada, 2,998, $1,600.
15, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 2,995, $1,550.
16, Mike Keily, Golden, Colo., 2,994, $1,500.
17, Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 2,973, $1,450.
18, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 2,971, $1,400.
19, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 2,957, $1,350.
20, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 2,933, $1,300.
21, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 2,913, $1,263.
21, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2,913, $1,263.
23, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 2,897, $1,225.
24, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 2,891, $1,200.

 

300 Games: D.J. Archer.

Norton Leads Early First Round of PBA Viper Championship

California attorney Scott Norton averaged Sunday to take the early first round lead in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA)’s Viper Championship, the second of five GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IV events being conducted at South Point Bowling Center, Las Vegas, NV.

Norton, a 30-year-old left-hander who won his only PBA Tour title in the 2010 Chameleon Championship, rolled games of 222, 252, 228, 226, 238, 279, 229 and 269 for an eight-game total of 1,943 pins and a 29–pin edge over rookie Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, MI, among the early finishers in the Viper qualifying round. The other half of the 240-player field will bowl its Viper qualifying round later Sunday.

After the full field has bowled the eight-game round, the top 16 players will return Sunday night for a six-game semifinal round to determine the top four players who will bowl for the Viper Championship title on Saturday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. PT in a special arena setting inside South Point’s Exhibition Hall A.
Norton, the 2010-11 PBA Rookie of the Year, said improved focus was the key to Sunday’s performance after finishing 105th in Saturday’s Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Cheetah Championship qualifying round.

“Yesterday I had a little trouble on one side of the center, and by the time I figured it out, it was too late,” he said. “So I tried to improve my focus level today and it was much higher. It seems like sometimes when it’s a little tougher on the left side of the lane, I have the magic ball roll that works. That doesn’t always happen, but sometimes, and today it worked.”

The Costa Mesa, CA, resident also said he returned to PBA Tour competition this season with a new attitude.

“I took the summer off, except for bowling a mixed doubles league with my mother (hall of famer Virginia Norton). I kind of went back to my roots and asked myself why I do this in the first place,” he said. “The idea is to have fun and that’s sometimes that’s hard to remember out here.

“I moved into a new house, I’m getting settled into my life, and it’s just a new perspective. As passionate as I am about this game, and as much as I love to compete, at the end of the day I still have family and friends who love me.”

Rounding out the top five among the early finishers were Nidiffer in second place with 1,914 pins, Brad Angelo of Lockport, NY, in third with 1,909 pins, Chris Loschetter of Avon, Ohio, in fourth with a 1,907 total and Finnish native Mika Koivuniemi of Hartland, MI, in fifth with 1,880 pins.

Sunday’s B squad qualifying and Viper Championship semifinal round will be webcast live on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel.