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Tuesday, April 27, 2021
College Male and Female Bowler of the Year Finalists Announced
Saturday, April 17, 2021
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
CHRIS VIA WINS 2021 U.S. OPEN
RENO, Nev. - Chris Via of Springfield, Ohio, has continued to put himself in position to become a champion on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour, and he broke through in a major way Sunday at the 2021 U.S. Open.
The 29-year-old right-hander claimed the first title of his career and a $30,000 top prize with a dramatic 214-213 victory over Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Arizona, at the famed National Bowling Stadium.
Via became the first No. 1 seed to win the prestigious title and coveted green jacket since 2015, and the title tilt came down to the final delivery of the long week.
Butturff had the opportunity to throw three strikes in his final frame to force a roll-off, but he fell short. He left a 2 pin after delivering two strikes, the second of which featured a messenger taking out the 7 pin.
"I fully expected to be bowling in a roll-off, especially after Jakob's first two shots, but the last one was a little off and didn't strike," said Via, who won a team gold medal with Butturff at the 2017 International Bowling Federation World Championships. "It was more shock at first when he didn't get it, then the realization that I won, and I'm a major champion. To do it at this event, and at the Stadium, the Mecca of bowling, is a dream come true."
The finalists were separated by one pin after seven frames and both working on spares in the eighth frame. Butturff followed with the first errant shot of his two games on the TV show, and a 3-7-9 split gave Via the opportunity to win.
After a fourth consecutive single-pin spare, Via could've put the game out of reach with nine, spare, strike in his final frame. Instead, he left the 2-8 combination on his first offering, spared it and struck on the fill ball to force Butturff to throw three strikes for a tie.
The loss marked the third runner-up finish for Butturff at the U.S. Open, with the first two coming in 2017 and 2018, where he was the top seed by more than 550 pins. He also lost the 2018 event by a single pin, falling 207-206 to England's Dom Barrett. Former Team USA member Rhino Page cruised to the win in 2017.
"If you keep finishing second at one of the most challenging and prestigious events, you're obviously doing something right," said Butturff, who also finished second in the PBA World Championship and Chameleon Championship this year, both part of the recent World Series of Bowling. "In these longer formats, it's about who has the patience and stamina, as well as versatility and the ability to both strike and spare. To keep getting to that level says something, and if I can keep giving myself opportunities to win it, hopefully I can eventually be the one winning by a pin."
The seven-time PBA Tour champion, including the 2019 United States Bowling Congress Masters, entered the stepladder as the second seed, hoping the different perspective, and the recent success of the No. 2 seeds at the U.S. Open, would offer a different fate. It certainly looked like that could be the case as he delivered nine strikes in his first match Sunday.
The 26-year-old left-hander was in complete control in the semifinal and rolled to a 257-203 win over 18-year-old Junior Team USA member Anthony Neuer of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Neuer, whose father, Andy, is a PBA Tour champion, was looking to become the youngest bowler to win a major title on the PBA Tour.
Though he fell short of that goal, he did add his name to the record book by becoming the fourth bowler in history, and first since 1991, to pick up the 7-10 split on a PBA telecast.
Anthony Simonsen became the PBA Tour's youngest major champion when he won the USBC Masters in 2016. USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke set the overall record when he won his first title in 1983 at 18 years, 345 days old.
Neuer's path to the semifinal was unobstructed, as a pair of open frames from Cristian Azcona of Clermont, Florida, helped the young southpaw pick up his first TV win on the PBA Tour.
The four-time member of Junior Team USA, struck in six of his first eight frames to deny Azcona the ultimate 27th birthday present by a score of 236-200.
Azcona also was looking to become the first bowler from Puerto Rico to win a PBA Tour major. His win at the PBA Xtra Frame Wilmington Open in 2018 made him the first bowler from the island to claim a PBA Tour title of any kind.
The day's opening match was a high-scoring all-urethane battle between Azcona and three-time PBA Tour champion Jason Sterner of Rochester, New York.
Azcona started with four consecutive strikes to build a 13-pin lead, and he delivered three more strikes in his final frame to lock out the 37-year-old right-hander. The final score was 258-256.
Sterner, who finished fourth in last week's USBC Masters and was looking for his first major title, bowled a near-maximum 100 games between the two events, both at the National Bowling Stadium.
All five major winners from this season now will meet in the PBA Super Slam, which will air live on FOX on April 18.
Joining Via in that event will be Kyle Troup (PBA Players Championship), Francois Lavoie (PBA Tournament of Champions) and Tom Daugherty (Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship) and Thomas Larsen (Masters).
The 2021 U.S. Open started with 108 competitors, all of whom bowled 24 games of qualifying across three oil patterns, before total pinfall determined the 36 bowlers who advanced to Friday morning's Cashers' Round on a fourth lane condition.
The final pattern, a 42-foot condition, was used throughout match play and was featured again on the TV show Sunday.
Following the Cashers' Round, 32-game pinfall totals determined the 24 players for round-robin match play, and their 56-game totals, including 30 bonus pins for each match they won, determined the five bowlers for Sunday's stepladder.
Via entered the Cashers' Round in 24th place and closed with games of 279, 300 and 240 to secure his spot in match play, qualifying 16th. In the rounds that followed, he moved up to 10th, then third, before a position-round win against Butturff earned him the top seed for the show.
The majority of the competitors this week earned direct entry into the event based on their on-lane performances throughout 2020, while 43 bowlers advanced to the 108-player field through last Sunday's eight-game pre-tournament qualifier.
For more information on the U.S. Open, visit BOWL.com/USOpen.
Thursday, April 1, 2021
2021 United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Masters Tournament Update
With the last block of 5 games happening for A and B Squads, the next hours will determine if C block bowlers that have completed their qualifying will benefit from players that are within the cut (around 28 under shown as -28), or bowlers outside the cut (more then 29 under) can create some magic.
Bowlers within the cut might get too conservative, play too much to not lose, roll a qualifier killer score, even a 150 game, and drop out of the top 64. The players not yet within the cut line (currently –28), must make up for their under 200 games, with 200 plus games to expunge the red ink.
A surprize just under the cut number. C block bowlers including Jason Belmonte, (Australia) and Jakob Buttruff (Tempe, AZ) tied at –30. The World Number One, Belmonte waits for the field to shift around above and below him, hoping the cut drops a few pins to include him. Buttruff, as the last USBC Masters Champion is seeded into the top 64, so he is in.
Other top players including: Osku Palermaa, (Finland) -33, AJ Chapman (Lewisville, TX) -46, Michael Tang (Pickerington, OH) -49, the Legends with double digit titles, Chris Barnes (Double Oak, TX), -51, and Tommy Jones (Simpsonville, SC) -56 even Chicago area member Gerald (Gerry) Marrs –62, right behind the Legends, will have an opportunity to move up in their last 5 games.
Chicago area bowlers: Nick Kruml (Downer Grove), +129 in 7th, AJ Johnson (Oswego) +116 in 11th, former Sandburg High School now Ambrose College bowler and amateur Cameron Crowe (Orland Park) +79 in 17th. will most likely survive the round.
A Pro that now lives in the area, Kris Prather (Romeoville) +84 is 15th and likely to move on also. Sean Rash (Montgomery) rolled his first block, but illness and an abundance of caution, to protect himself and the other competitors, withdrew with yet undetermined buy hopefully not COVID symptoms.
A couple other Chicago area bowlers I recognized bubbling around 150th: Joe Lichner an amateur from Warrenville at 147th and –211 was a customer, as a high schooler, of my Revolutions-Wheaton store, inside the now defunct Wheaton Bowl. Matt Kuba (Tinley Park) is 151st and –216, I worked with the current pro early in his bowling career at Revolutions-Tinley Park, inside Centennial Lanes.
Congratulations to all the bowlers testing themselves in one of the most challenging bowling events on the planet.
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Pete Weber Retired Today from PBA National Tour
Tampa, Fla.—Pete Weber and Walter Ray Williams Jr., two of the greatest players in PBA Tour history, announced their respective retirements today, following PBA Scorpion Championship best-of-five match play from the World Series of Bowling XII at AMF University Lanes.
Weber, a 37-time PBA Tour champion,
owns 10 major titles, tying him with Earl Anthony for second most in the history of the PBA. Weber, the 1980 PBA Rookie of the Year, is the only player to win the U.S. Open five times as well as the only player ever to win the Triple Crown (PBA World Championship, Tournament of Champions and U.S. Open) twice.
Williams holds the all-time record with 47 PBA Tour titles, eight majors among them. He’s been named the PBA Player of the Year a record seven times, the first in 1986 and the last in 2010, when he was 50 years old. Williams won at least one PBA Tour title in 17 consecutive seasons from 1993 to 2010.
“It was nice to have a good tournament at the end,” said Williams. “These young guys are very, very good. I gave it my all today, but I just happened to bowl somebody who bowled really well. Thanks, everybody, for all your support.”
Williams and Weber spent four decades competing against each other on the PBA Tour and rank first and fourth, respectively, in PBA Tour titles.
In their final event, both players qualified in the top 16 to advance to match play in the PBA Scorpion Championship. Both were eliminated, three games to two, by 2021 PBA World Champion Tom Daugherty, with Weber going out in the Round of 16 and Williams in the Round of 8.
Both Weber, 58, and Williams, 61, plan to continue competing on the PBA50 Tour and PBA Regional Tour.
Monday, March 15, 2021
LOCATION DETERMINED FOR 2021 INTERCOLLEGIATE TEAM AND SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIPS
ARLINGTON, Texas – The pinnacle events of the United States Bowling Congress Collegiate season, the Intercollegiate Team Championships and Intercollegiate Singles Championships, will be heading to the Spectrum Entertainment Complex in Wyoming, Michigan, in 2021.
The 2021 ITC and ISC will be held May 3-8 at the 40-lane venue, with the finals to be aired on CBS Sports Network. The dates and times of the broadcasts will be released at a later time.BowlTV.com will provide livestream coverage of all qualifying and match-play rounds of the 2021 events.
Spectrum Entertainment Complex was scheduled to host the 2020 ITC and ISC before the events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are thrilled to be looking ahead to the ITC and ISC and excited to work alongside Spectrum Entertainment Complex and the West Michigan Sports Commission to bring these events back to the Grand Rapids area,” IBC Youth Development Managing Director Gary Brown said. “Collegiate bowling programs across the country are competing every weekend, and we’re looking forward to being able to recognize the top student-athletes and crown national champions once again.”
The ITC also was held at the Spectrum Entertainment Complex in 2001, with Western Illinois and Nebraska winning the men’s and women’s titles, respectively. Spectrum Entertainment Complex worked in conjunction with the West Michigan Sports Commission to bring the event back to the Grand Rapids area.
“We are extremely excited to welcome back USBC and the Intercollegiate Team and Singles Championships to Greater Grand Rapids,” West Michigan Sports Commission President Mike Guswiler said. “It is a sign that we are getting past the challenges of this global pandemic by hosting these important sporting events safely. Our region remains a top bowling destination, which can be witnessed in the significant investments that have gone into our host venue, Spectrum Entertainment Complex. On behalf of the West Michigan Sports Commission and Spectrum Entertainment Complex, we welcome these collegiate bowlers and are certain they will enjoy their championship experience.”
The 2022 ITC and ISC will be held at Stardust Bowl in Addison, Illinois, from April 18-23. The 84-lane center originally was supposed to host the 2021 events but now will welcome the top collegiate bowlers prior to the start of the 2022 USBC Women’s Championships.
The 2022 Women’s Championships is scheduled to take place at Stardust Bowl from April 24-July 11.
Sectional assignments for the 2020-2021 USBC Collegiate season will be announced March 31 live on BowlTV.com. The ITC sectional qualifiers will take place April 16-18.
The 2020-2021 USBC Collegiate season was postponed until January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The regular season will conclude March 28.
For more information on USBC Collegiate, visit BOWL.com/Collegiate.
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Two-time PBA Tour champion Tom Daugherty will have an opportunity to win his first career major title after earning the top seed for the Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship stepladder finals. Daugherty will face EJ Tackett, Jakob Butturff, Chris Via or Kyle Troup in the championship match airing Saturday, Mar. 13 at 2 p.m. ET on FOX Broadcast Channel.
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