Rash Defeats Simonsen to Win PBA Wolf Open

for 14th career Go Bowling! PBA Tour Title

Rash beats Simonsen 257-193 in title match of first tournament of the FloBowling PBA Summer Swing

AURORA, Ill. (Aug. 27, 2019) – In front of a hometown crowd, Sean Rash of Montgomery, Illinois, beat Anthony Simonsen of Little Elm, Texas, 257-193, in the title match to win the PBA Wolf Open Tuesday at Parkside Lanes for his second Go Bowling! PBA Tour title of the season and the 14th of his career.

In the opening tournament of the FloBowling PBA Summer Swing presented by the Brands of Ebonite International, Rash, the No. 3 seed for the finals was able to jump out to the early lead after Simonsen, the No. 1 seed, threw a gutter ball and opened in the third frame. After two spares in the fourth and fifth frames, Rash threw five consecutive strikes which sealed the match win.

Simonsen, who won the 2018 Wolf Open, was trying for his second title of the season after winning the PBA Players Championship in February for his sixth career title and second major.

“Anthony had a couple bad frames and I thought now is my chance to put it away,” Rash said. “I just took some deep breaths, refocused and made the good shots I needed to make.”

Rash advanced to the title match by beating No. 2 seed PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke in the semifinal 257-227.

“This is the third year we’ve hosted a tournament (at Parkside Lanes) and I’ve never made a show,” said Rash, who teamed with Matt Ogle to win the PBA Roth-Holman Doubles Championship in January for his first title of the season. “All I can say is it’s unbelievable to win here in front of my friends and family – it means a lot.”

Rash was coming off a runner-up finish in the PBA BowlerStore.com Classic last week where he lost to Tommy Jones 215-179 in the title match of that tournament.

“There have been some ups and downs but overall it’s been a solid season,” Rash said. “I’ve always felt that if I just continued to work hard and believe in myself, good things will happen.”

The 55-year-old Duke was trying for his third win of the season and the 41st of his career. He won the Go Bowling! Indianapolis and Jonesboro Opens earlier in the year to become the oldest player to win tour titles back to back.

In the opening stepladder match, Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, North Carolina beat Greg Young of Viera, Florida, 264-206, to advance to the second stepladder match where he lost to Rash 217-180. Troup was trying for his fourth career title and Young his first.

The FloBowling PBA Summer Swing continues with the first round of qualifying for the PBA Bear Open Wednesday which will be followed by second-round qualifying and cashers rounds Thursday to determine the top five players for the Bear Open stepladder finals at 8:30 p.m. CT.

After 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 Saturday morning. The top five players after 52 games, will advance to the PBA Illinois Open stepladder finals at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

The entire Summer Swing is streamed live on FloBowling. For 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., Tuesday

Final Standings

1, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., $10,000

2, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, $6,000

3, Norm Duke Clermont, Fla., $4,000

4, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C. $3,500

5, Greg Young, Viera, Fla., $2,500

Stepladder Results

Match One – Troup def. Young, 264-206.

Match Two – Rash def. Troup, 217-180.

Semifinal – Rash def. Duke, 257-227.

Final – Rash def. Simonsen, 257-193

CASHERS ROUND RESULTS

(20-game pinfall totals. Top five advance to stepladder finals)

1, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 4,691.
2, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 4,582.
3, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 4,531.
4, Greg Young, Viera, Fla., 4,492.
5, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 4,480.
6, Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 4,462, $2,000.
7, Jason Sterner, Rochester, N.Y., 4,459, $1,600.
8, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 4,444, $1,400.
9, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 4,415, $1,200.
10, Sam Cooley, Australia, 4,412, $1,000.
11, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 4,403, $900.
12, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 4,396, $800.
13, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 4,383, $750.
14, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 4,355, $740.
15, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 4,311, $730.
16, Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 4,306, $720.
17, Greg Ostrander, Brick, N.J., 4,295, $710.
18, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 4,287, $700.

SECOND ROUND QUALIFYING RESULTS

(14-game pinfall totals. Top 18 advance to cashers round)

1, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 3,238.
2, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 3,217.
3, Jason Sterner, Rochester, N.Y., 3,192.
4, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 3,174.
5, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,129.
6, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 3,112.
7, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 3,097.
8, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 3,086.
9, (tie) Arturo Quintero, Mexico, and Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 3,084.
11, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,083.
12, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 3,076.
13, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 3,075.
14, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 3,072.
15, Greg Ostrander, Brick, N.J., 3,066.
16, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 3,064.
17, Sam Cooley, Australia, 3,062.
18, Greg Young, Viera, Fla., 3,060.

Failed to advance:
19, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 3,059.
20, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 3,044.
21, Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 3,038.
22, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 3,031.
23, Nicholas Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 3,027.
24, Pontus Andersson, Sweden, 3,024.
25, Kristopher Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 3,006.
26, Tun Ameerul Al-Hakim, Malaysia, 2,998.
27, Stuart Williams, England, 2,997.
28, Mitch Hupe, Canada, 2,992.
29, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 2,991.
30, BJ Moore, Greensburg, Pa., 2,989.
31, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 2,987.
32, Dom Barrett, England, 2,981.
33, AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa, 2,974.
34, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 2,959.
35, William Svensson, Sweden, 2,957.
36, John Furey, Howell, N.J., 2,952.
37, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 2,941.
38, Kurt Pilon, Sterling Heights, Mich., 2,940.
39, Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., 2,936.
40, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 2,932.
41, Jake Rollins, Glen Rock, N.J., 2,931.
42, (tie) Zacharay Wilkins, Canada, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., and Michael Tang, Johnstown, Ohio, 2,922.
45, (tie) Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, and Kyle Sherman, O'Fallon, Mo., 2,895.
47, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 2,893.
48, Michael Davidson, Versailles, Ohio, 2,891.
49, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 2,889.
50, (tie) Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., and Michael Martell, Brooklyn, N.Y., 2,887.
52, Francois Louw, South Africa, 2,879.
53, Zach Doty, Campbellsville, Ky., 2,878.
54, Tom Sorce, Blasdell, N.Y., 2,872.
55, Russ Oviatt, Chandler, Ariz., and Darren Tang, Las Vegas, 2,870.
57, Kenneth Ryan, Farmingdale, NJ, 2,869.
58, Stephen Hahn, Sterling, Va., 2,860.
59, Christopher Sloan, Ireland, 2,851.
60, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 2,841.
61, DJ Archer, Spring, Texas, 2,831.
62, Dakota Vostry, Chicago, Ill., 2,830.
63, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2,821.
64, Ryan Ciminelli, Lancaster, S.C., 2,819.
65, Eduardo Astiazaran, Mexico, 2,813.
66, (tie) Shawn Maldonado, Houston, and Mike Coffey, Melbourne, Fla., 2,809.
68, Ryan Lakota, Shorewood, Ill., 2,794.
69, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 2,793.
70, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 2,779.
71, JR Raymond, Clinton Twp., Mich., 2,778.
72, Zac Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 2,775.
73, Andrew Suscreba, Clifton, N.J., 2,772.
74, Patrick Hanrahan, Wichita, Kan., 2,770.
75, Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 2,745.
76, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 2,744.
77, Raul Ayala Salazar, Ecuador, 2,735.
78, Matt Sanders, Evansville, Ind., 2,722.
79, Graham Fach, Urbana, Ohio, 2,717.
80, Christopher O'Neil, Decatur, Ill., 2,715.
81, Cody Shoemaker, Hanover, Pa., 2,710.
82, Richard Teece, England, 2,696.
83, Matt Kuba, Chicago Ridge, IL, 2,690.
84, Rhino Page, Spokane, Wash., 2,665.
85, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 2,639.
86, Mykel Holliman, Collierville, Tenn., 2,604.
87, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 2,598.
88, n-Matt Russo, Fariview Heights, Ill., 2,577.
89, Chandler Stevens, Archbold, Ohio, 2,542.
90, Christopher Dower, Cary, Ill., 2,508.
91, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 2,507.
92, Rafiq Ismail, Malaysia, 2,500.
93, Joseph Grago, Hampstead, N.C., 2,458.
94, Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., 2,438.
95, Oskar Wirefeldt, Sweden, 2,435.
96, Craig Schneider, Marcy, N.Y., 2,433.
97, George Duke, Vidor, Texas, 2,411.
98, n-Kyle Salter, Montgomery. Ill., 2,398.
99, n-Tannya Lopez, Mexico, 2,361.
100, James Grago, Hampstead, N.C., 2,354.
101, (tie) John Contos, Crystal Lake, and Richard Lupo, St. Charles, Mo., 2,299.
103, Armando Santacruz, Ecuador, 2,151.

n-denotes PBA non-member