Reigning PBA Southwest Region Player of the Year Shawn Maldonado of Houston, Texas, outlasted fellow Texans Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Dino Castillo of Highland Park and Mike Scroggins of Amarillo to win the 11th annual PBA Dallas Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeons Southwest Open hosted by Brunswick Zone Watauga in Watauga, Texas, Sunday.
With his victory, Maldonado has won four consecutive PBA Southwest Regional tournaments. While the PBA doesn’t maintain such records for regional competition, the 29-year-old Houston two-hander’s win in four consecutive regional tournaments is thought to be a first in the PBA Southwest Region.
Maldonado, a third-year PBA member, led Saturday’s 10 games of qualifying and won his first two matches of the 16-game round robin finals before losing his next three games. Castillo and Malott took turns atop the leader board before Maldonado won his next 10 matches. Malott defeated Maldonado in their position round match, 279-218, to narrow Maldonado’s final margin of victory to 38 pins and to stay ahead of Scroggins and Castillo.
For his win in Watauga, Maldonado earned a $5,000 first prize along with his seventh career PBA Regional title. He won his first three titles during the 2014 season.
DUKE, MALOTT TO DEFEND ROTH/HOLMAN DOUBLES TITLE IN PBA FALL CLASSIC
Two-time defending Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles champions Norm Duke and Wes Malott will begin defense of their 2011 and 2015 titles during the South Point Bowling Plaza PBA Fall Classic which will take place Oct. 19-26 in Las Vegas.
Preliminary rounds of the Roth/Holman doubles event will kick off the Fall Classic, starting with an eight-game qualifying round on Monday, Oct. 19, followed by two six-game match play rounds for the top 12 teams on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The top five teams after a combined 40 individual games will advance to the ESPN stepladder finals which will be held on Saturday, Dec. 19, at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno as part of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII. The finals will air Sunday, Jan. 17, at 1 p.m. ET and will be counted as a 2016 title for each member of the winning team.
As of Sept. 23, 48 teams had entered the Roth/Holman doubles event. For a current roster of teams, click here: http://www.pba.com/Content/files/Downloads/2015%20FALL%20CLASSIC%20(Doubles).pdf
Following the doubles event, the Fall Classic continues with the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, a PBA Tour singles event, Wednesday and Thursday. The PBA South Point West Challenge, a regional tournament for players who haven’t won a PBA title, is set for Friday, Oct. 23. The inaugural PBA Team Challenge, a wide-open five-player team event, is set for Saturday and Sunday with qualifying, Baker format match play and Baker format stepladder finals. For a current roster of teams, click here:
http://www.pba.com/Content/files/Downloads/2015%20FALL%20CLASSIC%20(Team).pdf
The PBA50 Western Open, a PBA West Region tournament for players ages 50-and-older, will conclude the Fall Classic on Monday.
All of the South Point Bowling Plaza PBA Fall Classic competition will be covered live on PBA’s online video-streaming service, Xtra Frame. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.
TEAM FISH UNVEILS “BOWL FOR THE CURE” FUND-RAISING PROJECT
Team Fish, the group of young PBA members who have banded together for fun and friendship, is adding “fund-raising” to its portfolio. Led by North Carolina team members Connor Pickford of Charlotte and Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, Team Fish is unveiling a custom-designed t-shirt that will be sold to raise money in support of the efforts to find a cure for breast cancer.
Pickford, who lost his mother Valerie to breast cancer in September 2001, and Troup, whose grandmother died from the disease in 2010 and whose mother is a breast cancer survivor, are leading the Team Fish effort to raise money as part of the national October Breast Cancer Awareness month campaign. The special breast cancer t-shirt can be ordered through the Team Fish page on Facebook. Orders are now being accepted. All proceeds from the t-shirt sales will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure through the bowling family’s Bowl for the Cure program.
MARSHALL KENT SHINES IN PABCON MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS
PBA’s 2014 Rookie of the Year, Marshall Kent of Yakima, Wash., won a pair of gold medals, a silver and a bronze, for Team USA in the Pan American Bowling Confederation Men’s Championships at AMF Bolera Paradise Lanes in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in mid-September.
Kent won the all-events gold medal and teamed with fellow PBA star Sean Rash and amateur John Janawicz to win trios. Janawicz also won singles and the Masters finale. Team Colombia, with PBA members Andres Gomez, Jaime Gonzalez, Jaime Monroy, Manuel Otalora and non-member Santiago Mejia, won the team title by 61 pins over the favored U.S. team (Bill O’Neill, Chris Barnes, Janawicz, Kent, Rash and Tommy Jones).
Barnes won silver in singles and trios with O’Neill and Jones. O’Neill and Jones won silver in doubles with Kent and Rash claiming the bronze medal.
28-EVENT EXTENDED 2012-13 PBA TOUR SERIES NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE
PBA fans now have access to television coverage of the entire extended 2012-13 PBA Tour schedule on the PBABowling channel on YouTube. The 2012-13 season included a unique 14-month schedule as the PBA was preparing to return to a calendar-year schedule at the start of 2014. For that reason, the 2012-13 season included two PBA World Series of Bowling (eight animal pattern championships plus two PBA World Championships), along with the 2013 Winter Swing (which included a full schedule of PBA League telecasts), the 2013 Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational, the complete 2013 Summer Swing from Milwaukee, the 2013 U.S. Open and two Round1 Japan Cup finals.
To access the complete schedule of telecasts now available on YouTube, click here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwuUW8zaol89fM1TzbSNEMMrCJjiXkJ54
NEXT UP ON XTRA FRAME: KOKOMO SHOOTOUT, IOWA MIDWEST OPEN
PBA action returns to Xtra Frame on Sunday, Oct. 4, with the Kokomo Central Shootout presented by Security Federal Savings Bank from Heritage Lanes in Kokomo, Ind., followed by the PBA Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest Open from Thunderbowl in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Oct. 10-11, where a projected $10,000 first prize and a PBA Tour title will be at stake.
The Iowa Midwest Open is the final Xtra Frame event leading into the PBA Fall Classic, a multi-event Xtra Frame extravaganza hosted by South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas beginning Oct. 19. During the Fall Classic, Xtra Frame will provide live coverage of the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship qualifying and match play rounds Oct. 19-20, start-to-finish coverage of the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, Oct. 21-22, and the new PBA Team Challenge, Oct. 24-25.
Bowling fans who want to sample Xtra Frame can subscribe on a three-day (72-hour) basis for only $3.99. Fans can lock in the entire October package with a full month Xtra Frame subscription for only $7.99. But PBA’s best package is the 12-month XF Season Ticket for $64.99, or $5.41 per month. To sign up, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.
PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: McCUNE WINS 21ST REGIONAL TITLE IN OHIO
Top qualifier Eugene McCune of Munster, Ind. defeated J.R. Raymond of Bay City, Mich., 211-161, to win $3,000 and his 21st PBA Regional title in the PBA Rex & Griffin Bigelow Memorial/BW3’s/Nance Construction Central Open presented by MOTIV at Troy Bowl in Troy, Ohio, Sunday.
Raymond defeated Dan MacLelland of Canada, 246-199, to advance to the championship match after MacLelland eliminated Aaron Lorincz of Saginaw, Mich., 211-203, in the opening match.
● Rhino Page of Orlando, Fla., defeated Webber International University competitor Nate Garcia of Port St. Lucie, Fla., 259-170, to win the inaugural PBA Sarasota South Open at Sarasota Lanes Sunday. Page earned $2,300 along with his seventh PBA Regional title.
Page posted a 6-4 match play record and an 18-game pinfall total of 4,257, including match play bonus pins, to qualify first for the stepladder finals. Garcia earned his place in the title match by defeating Scott Newell of Deland, Fla., 211-189, in the semifinal round. In the first stepladder match, Newell defeated Chris Polizzi of Spring Hill, Fla., 238-178.
● Amateur Mike Dole of Loves Park, Ill., won five of his eight matches and finished with a total of 3,767 pins for 15 games to defeat PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., by 65 pins to win the PBA Budweiser Midwest Open at Cherry Lanes inside Diamond Jo Casino on Sunday. The win was Dole’s first in PBA Regional competition, but he does not get credit for a title because he is a non-member. He earned $2,000 while Weber earned $1,000 for second place.
● Brian LeClair of Albany, N.Y., outscored Sammy Ventura of Syracuse, N.Y., by 182 pins over 17 games to win the PBA50 Lakeview Lanes Eastern Open presented by Brunswick at Lakeview Lanes Sunday in Fulton, N.Y.
LeClair, in his first year of PBA50 competition, trailed Ventura by 91 pins after Saturday’s qualifying round, but averaged 254 over the first four games on Sunday to open a 103-pin lead and was never challenged thereafter. Ventura out-dueled Sam Maccarone of Blackwood, N.J., for the runner-up spot, rolling a 257 final game to regain second place.
● Next weekend is the final chance to earn PBA and PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional Challenge points for 2015. The schedule includes the PBA and PWBA-PBA Women’s Tomball Southwest Open at Tomball Bowl in Tomball, Texas; the Battle at Black Oak Casino West Open at Black Oak Lanes in Tuolumne, Calif.; the Break Point Alley Member/Non-Member Doubles presented by MOTIV in Tavares, Fla.; the Monte Skeels Allstate and PWBA-PBA Women’s Midwest Open tournaments at Liberty Lanes in Carpentersville, Ill., and the PBA50 Mel Westrich Memorial Central/Midwest Open presented by Storm at Delphos Recreation Center in Delphos, Ohio,
For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.
QUICK NOTES
● Bowling fans who may not have had a chance to watch the Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship on CBS Sports Network can now watch the final event of the PWBA season on Xtra Frame. Look for the show in the Xtra Frame archives.
● Now is your chance to book a room through HotelPlanner.com’s link on pba.com for a chance to win a $200 lodging certificate in the September sweepstakes sponsored by PBA’s official hotel booking partner. And if you subscribe to Xtra Frame before Oct. 1 (monthly plan at $7.99 or XF Season Ticket for $64.99), you will automatically enter both the MOTIV and DV8 monthly sweepstakes for a chance to win a new high-performance MOTIV or DV8 bowling ball. September winners will be announced in early October.