Jason Belmonte Averages 235 After Two Rounds

to Lead PBA Tournament of Champions

FAIRLAWN, Ohio (Feb. 6, 2019) – Australia’s Jason Belmonte began his quest for a record-tying 10th PBA Tour major title by averaging 235 after two rounds Wednesday to lead the PBA Tournament of Champions at AMF Riviera Lanes.

Finishing second after the first round earlier Wednesday with a 1,451 six-game pinfall total, the 35-year-old two-hander, who owns two Tournament of Champions titles, came back with a 1,373 pinfall in the second round to finish the day with 2,824 overall for 12 games.

The four-time PBA Player of the Year and 18-time PBA Tour titlist bowled games of 225, 247, 245, 215, 214 and 227 in the second round of the first major of the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season.

“I’m really striving to get a good roll on the ball and keep the shape of my ball rolling down the lane smooth,” Belmonte said. “I wanted to get the ball down the lane without a lot of sharp moves which I think helped my strike percentage.”

For Belmonte, a third TOC title would also tie him with Jason Couch and Mike Durbin for most wins in PBA’s signature tournament that requires a player to have a PBA title to compete.

“I don’t want to be cliché, but my job is to bowl as good as I possibly can and the wins and trophies will come,” Belmonte added.  “We’re only a third of the way through the tournament at this point but I’m looking at it from the perspective as more opportunity to bowl even better.”

Belmonte holds a 97-pin lead over Matt Ogle of Louisville, Ky., in second with a 2,727 pinfall and Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., in third with 2,698. Ogle and Rash teamed up to win the PBA Mark Roth-Marshall Holman Doubles Championship in January.  It was Rash’s 13th tour win and Ogle’s first.

Rounding out the top five were 2018 PBA Player of the Year Andrew Anderson of Holly, Mich., who finished the day in fourth with 2,693 and four-time PBA Tour winner Marshall Kent of Yakima, Wash., who finished fifth with 2,690.

The entire field returns Thursday for the third qualifying round at 11 a.m. ET. The field will then be cut to the top 24 players who will advance to the first eight-game match play round Thursday at 6 p.m. Match play continues Friday with rounds at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. that will determine the top five players who will advance to Sunday’s live stepladder finals on FOX at 4:30 p.m.

Fans can follow all rounds of qualifying and match play through PBA’s online streaming partner, FloBowling. For schedule and subscription information visit FloBowling.com.

PBA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
AMF Riviera Lanes, Fairlawn, Ohio, Wednesday

SECOND ROUND RESULTS

(after 12 games)

1, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,824.
2, Matthew Ogle, Louisville, Ky., 2,727.
3, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 2,698.
4, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 2,693.
5, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 2,690.
6, Dom Barrett, England, 2,663.
7, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 2,662.
8, Sean Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 2,653.
9, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 2,652.
10, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 2,649.
11, Jon Van Hees, Charlestown, R.I., 2,635.
12, Cristian Azcona, Puerto Rico, 2,626, 
13, Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 2,624.
14, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 2,622.
15, Rhino Page, Orlando, 2,619.
16, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 2,604.
17, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,597.
18, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, Texas, 2,589.
19, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 2,583.
20, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 2,581.
21, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 2,576.
22, Kurt Pilon, Sterling Heights, Mich., 2,573.
23, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 2,568.
24, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 2,566.
25, DJ Archer, Spring, Texas, 2,565.
26, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2,564.
27, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 2,563.
28, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 2,554.
29, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 2,550.
30, (tie) Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., and Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas, 2,549.
32, Darren Tang, Las Vegas, Nev., 2,548.
33, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 2,542.
34, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 2,541.
35, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 2,537.
36, Stuart Williams, England, 2,527.
37, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 2,516.
38, Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 2,511.
39, Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio, 2,508.
40, (tie) Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, and Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 2,502.
42, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,499.
43, (tie) Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., and Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 2,494.
45, Jason Sterner, Fayetteville, Ga., 2,489.
46, Matt O'Grady, Rahway, N.J., 2,475.
47, Richie Teece, England, 2,466.
48, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 2,454.
49, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 2,438.
49, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 2,438.
51, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 2,435.
52, Anthony Pepe, East Elmhurst, N.Y., 2,434.
53, Annop Arromsaranon, Thailand, 2,402, 
54, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 2,398.
55, JoJoe Yannaphon, Thailand, 2,389.
56, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 2,356.
57, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 2,352.
58, Graham Fach, Urbana, Ohio, 2,334.
59, Matt Sanders, Indianapolis, 2,246.
60, Stephen Pavlinko, Sewell, N.J., 2,231.
61, Anthony LaCaze, Hanover Park, Ill., 2,224.
62, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 2,206.
63, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 2,179.
64, Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., 2,021.
65, Ryan Ciminelli, Clarence, N.Y., 984.

300 games – Annop Arromsaranon, Cristian Azcona

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

(after 6 games)

1, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 1,470.
2, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,451.
3, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 1,438.
4, Jon Van Hees, Charlestown, R.I., 1,417.
5, Rhino Page, Orlando, 1,371.
6, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 1,366.
7, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,354.
8, (tie) Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,331 and Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 1,331.
10, Kurt Pilon, Sterling Heights, Mich., 1,326.
11, Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 1,324.
12, Dom Barrett, England, 1,315.
13, (tie) Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., and Sean Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,312.
15, (tie) EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind. and Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas, 1,311.
17, (tie) Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., and Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,308.
19, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,306.
20, (tie) Matthew Ogle, Louisville, Ky., and Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,305.
22, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 1,301.
23, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 1,298.
24, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 1,286.
25, Cristian Azcona, Puerto Rico, 1,285.
26, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 1,283.
27, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 1,282.
28, DJ Archer, Spring, Texas, 1,281.
29, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,278.
30, Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 1,277.
31, (tie) Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., and Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 1,261.
33, (tie) Shawn Maldonado, Houston, Texas, and Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 1,253.
35, Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio, 1,249.
36, Matt O'Grady, Rahway, N.J., 1,243.
37, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 1,239.
38, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 1,237.
39, Jason Sterner, Fayetteville, Ga., 1,231.
40, Stuart Williams, England, 1,230.
41, (tie) Osku Palermaa, Finland, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., and Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 1,227.
44, Richie Teece, England, 1,226.
45, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 1,223.
46, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 1,220.
47, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 1,215.
48, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 1,211.
49, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 1,210.
50, Graham Fach, Urbana, Ohio, 1,206.
51, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 1,197.
52, Darren Tang, Las Vegas, Nev., 1,196.
53, (tie) Matt Sanders, Indianapolis, and Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,195.
55, Anthony Pepe, East Elmhurst, N.Y., 1,192.
56, (tie) Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., and Stephen Pavlinko, Sewell, N.J., 1,169.
58, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 1,166.
59, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,141.
60, JoJoe Yannaphon, Thailand, 1,122.
61, Annop Arromsaranon, Thailand, 1,100.
62, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,077.
63, Anthony LaCaze, Hanover Park, Ill., 1,022.
64, Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., 989.
65, Ryan Ciminelli, Clarence, N.Y., 984.