Anthony Simonsen Gets Boost from 300 Game

to Take PBA Wolf Open Lead after First Round

Rash, Belmonte, Duke and Allen round out top five heading into Tuesday’s second round

AURORA, Ill. - (Aug. 26, 2019) – Six-time Go Bowling! PBA Tour winner Anthony Simonsen of Little Elm, Texas, bowled a 300 game and averaged 235.8 on the Professional Bowlers Association’s 32-foot Wolf Lane condition Monday to lead the PBA Wolf Open after the first round at Parkside Lanes.

In the first event of the FloBowling PBA Summer Swing presented by the Brands of Ebonite International, Simonsen, the 2018 Wolf Open winner, bowled an 1,887 pinfall total with games of 200, 247, 243, 176, 300, 259, 225 and 237 to hold a 21-pin lead over 13-time tour winner Sean Rash of Montgomery, Illinois, in second with 1,866.

“Three years ago, I wouldn’t be looking forward to bowling on this condition,” said the 22-year-old Simonsen. “Fortunately, I’ve been able to learn from my experiences bowling on the shorter lane conditions which has resulted in better equipment choices and adjustments and just more confidence overall.”

Rash, who his coming off a runner-up finish in the PBA BowlerStore.com Classic, bowled games of 223, 191, 269, 246, 277, 220, 201 and 239.

Australian two-hander Jason Belmonte finished the round in third with an 1,858 pinfall. The four-time PBA Player of the Year, who is in pursuit of his fifth title of the season, had games of 216, 202, 268, 223, 239, 243, 259 and 208.

Rounding out the top five were PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, Florida, in fourth with 1,841 and Dick Allen of Lexington, South Carolina in fifth with 1,840.  Both players are trying for a third win this season. The 55-year-old Duke won the Go Bowling! PBA Indianapolis and Jonesboro Opens earlier this season to become the oldest player to win back-to-back tour titles.

The entire field returns for a six-game qualifying round Tuesday at Noon that will determine the top 18 players who will advance to a cashers round at 5 p.m. The top five players after the cashers round will advance to the stepladder finals at 8:30 p.m. CT.

After Tuesday’s Wolf Open stepladder finals, the Summer Swing continues with Bear Open qualifying on Wednesday beginning at 3:30 p.m. The Bear Open will use the same format as the Wolf Open but will be conducted on the 41-foot PBA Bear lane condition.

Based on the combined 28-game qualifying totals from the Wolf and Bear events, the top 24 players will advance to Illinois Open match play, consisting of two eight-game round robin match play rounds on Friday, and the final eight-game round on Saturday morning that will determine the top five players for the Illinois Open stepladder finals at 3:30 p.m.

In addition to titles in each event, the Wolf, Bear and Illinois Open tournaments will award competition points that will decide the five players who will earn bonus cash in the USBC Cup series ($20,000 first place), the eight players who will receive invitations to participate in the inaugural FloBowling ATX Invite at Dart Bowl in FloBowling’s home city, Austin, Texas, on Sept. 21, and the eight bowlers who will win expenses-paid trips to participate in the PBA China Tiger Cup, Nov. 19-21, in Shanghai.

The entire FloBowling PBA Summer Swing is streamed live on FloBowling. For FloBowling subscription and schedule information visit www.flobowling.com. 

PBA WOLF OPEN

First event of the FloBowling PBA Summer Swing presented by the Brands of Ebonite International

Parkside Lanes, Aurora, Ill., Monday

FIRST ROUND QUALIFYING RESULTS (after eight games)

1, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 1,887.
2, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,866.
3, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,858.
4, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,841.
5, Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 1,840.
6, Stuart Williams, England, 1,814.
7, Jason Sterner, Rochester, N.Y., 1,809.
8, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 1,796.
9, (tie) Greg Young, Viera, Fla., Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., and Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 1,792.
12, (tie) William Svensson, Sweden, and Nicholas Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 1,783.
14, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,781.
15, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,774.
16, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 1,770.
17, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 1,769.
18, Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 1,768.
19, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,767.
20, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 1,763.
21, Greg Ostrander, Brick, N.J., 1,758.
22, Sam Cooley, Australia, 1,750.
23, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,748.
24, Pontus Andersson, Sweden, 1,743.
25, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,741.
26, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 1,739.
27, AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa, 1,736.
28, Michael Martell, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1,735.
29, BJ Moore, Greensburg, Pa., 1,730.
30, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 1,722.
31, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 1,718.
32, (tie) Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., and Christopher Sloan, Ireland, 1,716.
34, Eduardo Astiazaran, Mexico, 1,708.
35, Kyle Sherman, O'Fallon, Mo., 1,687.
36, Kurt Pilon, Sterling Heights, Mich., 1,686.
37, Michael Tang, Johnstown, Ohio, 1,683.
38, Dom Barrett, England, 1,679.
39, Stephen Hahn, Sterling, Va., 1,675.
40, Kristopher Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 1,673.
41, Darren Tang, Las Vegas, 1,672.
42, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 1,666.
43, Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, 1,664.
44, Ryan Ciminelli, Lancaster, S.C., 1,659.
44, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 1,659.
46, (tie) Jake Rollins, Glen Rock, N.J., and Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 1,656.
48, Cody Shoemaker, Hanover, Pa., 1,652.
49, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 1,651.
50, Zacharay Wilkins, Canada, 1,650.
51, Tun Ameerul Al-Hakim, Malaysia, 1,646.
52, Ryan Lakota, Shorewood, Ill., 1,644.
53, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 1,641.
54, Zach Doty, Campbellsville, Ky., 1,635.
55, John Furey, Howell, N.J., 1,633.
56, Russ Oviatt, Chandler, Ariz., 1,625.
57, DJ Archer, Spring, Texas, 1,624.
58, Mitch Hupe, Canada, 1,622.
59, Rhino Page, Orlando, 1,621.
60, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 1,619.
61, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,616.
62, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 1,613.
63, Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 1,609.
64, (tie) Matt Sanders, Evansville, Ind., and Michael Davidson, Versailles, Ohio, 1,605.
66, (tie) Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., and Mike Coffey, Melbourne, Fla., 1,604.
68, Kenneth Ryan, Farmingdale, NJ, 1,600.
69, Andrew Suscreba, Clifton, N.J., 1,592.
70, JR Raymond, Clinton Twp., Mich., 1,591.
71, Francois Louw, South Africa, 1,586.
72, Raul Ayala Salazar, Ecuador, 1,585.
73, (tie) Richard Teece, England, and Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 1,563.
75, Zac Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 1,555.
76, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 1,548.
77, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 1,546.
78, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 1,538.
79, Matt Kuba, Chicago Ridge, IL, 1,530.
80, Tom Sorce, Blasdell, N.Y., 1,519.
81, Patrick Hanrahan, Wichita, Kan., 1,515.
82, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 1,505.
83, Christopher O'Neil, Decatur, Ill., 1,493.
84, Dakota Vostry, Chicago, Ill., 1,478.
85, Graham Fach, Urbana, Ohio, 1,454.
86, George Duke, Vidor, Texas, 1,449.
87, n-Matt Russo, Fariview Heights, Ill., 1,439.
88, n-Tannya Lopez, Mexico, 1,425.
89, Oskar Wirefeldt, Sweden, 1,417.
90, Mykel Holliman, Collierville, Tenn., 1,411.
91, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 1,408.
92, Chandler Stevens, Archbold, Ohio, 1,403.
93, Rafiq Ismail, Malaysia, 1,397.
94, Joseph Grago, Hampstead, N.C., 1,370.
95, (tie) Christopher Dower, Cary, Ill., and n-Kyle Salter, Montgomery. Ill., 1,366.
97, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 1,364.
98, James Grago, Hampstead, N.C., 1,328.
99, Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., 1,321.
100, Craig Schneider, Marcy, N.Y., 1,301.
101, Richard Lupo, St. Charles, Mo., 1,300.
102, Armando Santacruz, Ecuador, 1,222.
103, John Contos, Crystal Lake, 1,209.

300 games – Anthony Simonsen

n-denotes non-PBA member