DANNY WISEMAN ELECTED TO MARYLAND ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME
Baltimore’s Danny Wiseman, a 12-time PBA Tour champion and 2013 inductee into the PBA Hall of Fame, will be the first tenpin bowler inducted into the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame as part of an all-star lineup on Thursday, Nov. 14, at Michael’s 8th Avenue in Glen Burnie, Md.
Maryland’s 54th induction ceremony will include induction of three former world champion Baltimore Colts players (running back Lennie Moore, defensive tackle Art Donovan and linebacker Mike Curtis), NBA basketball legend Wes Unseld, premier track and field hurdler Renaldo Nehemiah and Wiseman.
While four duckpin bowlers have been honored by the 57-year-old hall of fame, Wiseman is the first tenpin player to be elected. He will be recognized as part of the organization’s hall of fame display at the Camden Yards complex in Baltimore. For more information about the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame, including dinner tickets, visit mdsahof.com.
Wiseman’s second annual Danny Wiseman Junior Scholarship Tournament is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 13, at AMF Country Club Lanes in Baltimore. Top youth bowlers from across the East Coast will compete in scratch and handicap divisions for $1,000 scholarship first prizes in each division (based on 60 entries per division). A full field of 140 is expected. Entry fee is $70. Last year’s event awarded more than $11,000 in scholarships. For more information, visit dannywisemanbowling.com.
BOHN WINS IN SLOVAKIA, KOIVUNIEMI ADDS TO 300 RECORD
PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III , a 33-time PBA Tour champion, won his first European Bowling Tour title Sunday when he defeated Finland’s Joonas Jehkinen, 255-218, to win the BNC Open at BNC Bowling Center in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Bohn, who earned approximately US$9,465, for his victory, averaged 252.75 in the Round of 16 to qualify No. 1 for the six-player stepladder finals. In the opening shoot-out match, Germany’s Tobias Börding rolled a 239 game to eliminate England’s Dom Barrett (206) and Pontus Andersson (165) of Sweden. In the three-player semifinal round shoot-out, Jehkinen (235) eliminated Börding (219) and PBA star and fellow Finn Mika Koivuniemi (196).
Earlier in the tournament, Koivuniemi rolled a 300 game, adding Slovakia as the 21st different country in which he has recorded a perfect game.
PBA REGIONAL ROUNDUP: PBA WEST/NORTHWEST RPI SET FOR OCT. 18-20 IN RENO
● The combined PBA West/Northwest Regional Players Invitational, the sixth and final regional championship tournament, will be held Oct. 18-20 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. The RPI, sponsored by the Sands Regency and presented by Roto Grip, will be webcast live, from start to finish, Saturday and Sunday on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel. To subscribe to Xtra Frame, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo for more information. At stake is a $6,000 first prize, a paid entry into the PBA World Series of Bowling V and a berth in the inaugural PBA RPI Finals which will be televised on ESPN.
The five RPI champions who have already earned berths in the World Series and RPI Finals are Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla. (South Region); Brian LeClair, Albany, N.Y. (East Region); Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio (Central Region); Dave Beres, Waukesha, Wis. (Midwest Region), and Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas (Southwest Region).
● Joe Paluszek of Bensalem, Pa., earned his third PBA Regional title when he defeated Danny Wiseman of Baltimore, 279-190, to win the PBA Tyler Cacioppo Crohn’s and Colitis Eastern Open at South Levittown Lanes in Levittown, N.Y., on Sunday.
Paluszek started with three strikes, converted a spare and struck out to collect the $2,500 first prize.
The new East Region event was part of a fund-raiser weekend to benefit 14-year-old Tyler Cacioppo, who suffers from Crohn’s Disease. The fundraiser began in 2009 after the Cacioppo family met PBA Tour champion Rhino Page while bowling in the pro-am portion of the GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship.
Page helped establish the “Rhino Page & Friends Lace Up to Strike Out Crohn’s & Colitis Fundraiser” and has participated in the event each year. Page, who is recovering from wrist surgery, participated in Friday’s pro-am using a 10-pound ball. It was his first PBA activity since April.
● Dave Wodka of Henderson, Nev., defeated Anthony Lavery of Denton, Texas, 233-228, to win his 16th PBA Regional title Sunday in the PBA Albuquerque (N.M.) Hammer Southwest Open at Silva Lanes.
Wodka earned two byes, automatically advancing to the semifinal round by finishing second in the 13-game qualifying portion of the tournament, and he advanced to the title match by defeating Joe Findling of Mesquite, Texas, 2-1, in their best-of-three-game elimination match.
● Jeff Zaffino of Warren, Pa., defeated Kenny Parks of Hammond, Ind., by 213 pins to win the PBA50 Mel Westrich Memorial Central/Midwest Open presented by Storm at Delphos (Ohio) Recreation Center Sunday. Zaffino posted an 11-3 match play record and 5,269 pins for 22 games, including match play bonus pins, to claim his 23rd overall PBA Regional title and a $1,400 first prize.
● The October regional calendar gets underway Oct. 4-6 with the PBA50 Tarheel Lanes South Open in Hendersonville, N.C., and a PBA50 Junction City Bowl Southwest/Midwest doubleheader in Junction City, Kan.
The Oct. 11-13 weekend includes the Young & Pratt Southwest Open at Dart Bowl in Austin, Texas; the Ken and Kathy Fowler Auto Centers West/Northwest Doubles at Yokayo Bowling Center in Ukiah, Calif.; the Herbalife Central Open presented by Kevin Bostrom and Motiv at Sherman Bowling Center in Muskegon, Mich.; the PBA50 Milton South Open at Avalon Bowling Center in Milton, Fla., and the PBA50 Allstate Midwest/Central Open at Elk Grove Village Bowl in Elk Grove Village, Ill.
In addition to the West/Northwest RPI and a non-champions event on Oct. 18 at Reno’s National Bowling Stadium, the Oct. 18-20 weekend includes the Franklin South Open at Franklin (Va.) Bowling Center; the Conroe Brunswick Southwest Open at 300 Bowl in Conroe, Texas, and the Lancer Lanes Midwest Open in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
PBA World Series of Bowling V gets underway on Oct. 25 at South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas.
For complete PBA regional schedule and entry information, visit pba.com and click on “Regional Tours” under the Schedules tab.
QUICK NOTES
● India’s Shaik Abdul Hameed has withdrawn from the PBA World Series of Bowling, reducing the representation of different nations to 22, still a World Series record. Hameed would have been India’s first World Series participant.