BARNES SPARKS TEAM GEICO TO
VICTORY IN GEICO PBA TEAM SHOOTOUT

Team GEICO with Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association stars Patrick Allen, Mika Koivuniemi, Mike Wolfe, Brad Angelo, reigning Player of the Year Wes Malott and 2007-08 Player of the Year Chris Barnes took home the $108,000 first prize by winning the GEICO PBA Team Shootout Hosted by Six Flags.

Team GEICO, which advanced to the championship round with a 6-2 match play record, swept the three-match championship round which consisted of singles, Baker format doubles and Baker team matches. The singles and doubles contests were worth one point and the team event two points.

In the opening singles round, Barnes defeated Team Bayer’s Rhino Page, 224-189, after Team Bayer (Page, Tommy Jones, Michael Fagan, Bill O’Neill, Sean Rash and Jason Belmonte) earned its way into the championship round when Team GEICO defeated Team Lumber Liquidators (Parker Bohn III, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Pete Weber, Norm Duke, Steve Jaros and Mike Scroggins) in the final round-robin match, 206-205.

Bayer and Lumber Liquidators finished match play with 3-5 records, but Team Bayer won the total pinfall tie-breaker.

In the one-game doubles round where players alternated frames, Wolfe and Koivuniemi defeated Jones and Australian two-handed phenom Belmonte, 210-194.

Team Bayer’s only hope was to win the team match to force a 2-2 tie and a roll-off, but the future stars team fell short, 221-207. Barnes sealed the win for Team GEICO by striking on the first ball in the 10th frame.

“From early on in the tournament we worked well together,” said Barnes, GEICO’s captain. “With this team it was tough to make any bad calls in regard to determining a lineup that would match up with various (lane conditioning) patterns. Patrick (Allen) not only bowled well, but was very helpful in making some of those decisions.

“We all knew it was very important to get off to a quick start and get as big a lead as possible in each game with the ‘Endless 10th Frame,’” Barnes continued. “If the other team earned that bonus you wanted to make it very hard for them to catch up.”

The novel “Endless 10th Frame” gave teams that were behind in matches a chance to catch up with bonus strikes. While the bonus system came into play in a few matches, it didn’t impact the eventual outcome.

The GEICO PBA Team Shootout consisted of 12 round-robin, Baker-format matches leading to the championship round. The third annual made-for-TV event televised by ESPN was conducted outdoors on specially-constructed lanes at the Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J.


GEICO PBA TEAM SHOOTOUT
Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, N.J.

Final Standings
Team GEICO (Chris Barnes, Wes Malott, Patrick Allen, Mika Koivuniemi, Mike Wolfe and Brad Angelo), $108,000 def. Team Bayer (Tommy Jones, Rhino Page, Michael Fagan, Bill O’Neill, Sean Rash and Jason Belmonte), 4-0

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

Singles
Chris Barnes (Team Geico) def. Rhino Page (Team Bayer), 224-189 (one point)

Doubles
Mike Wolfe/Mika Koivuniemi (Team GEICO) def. Tommy Jones/Jason Belmonte (Team Bayer), 210-194 (one point)

Team (Baker format)
Team GEICO def. Team Bayer, 221-207 (two points)

FINAL MATCH PLAY STANDINGS
(Top two teams advanced to championship round)
Team GEICO, 6-2
Team Bayer, 3-5 (won total pinfall tie-breaker)
Team Lumber Liquidators, 3-5