SIMONSEN LEADS PBA LUBBOCK OPEN

Anthony Simonsen Leads PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open Qualifying

Texas teenager holds one-pin lead in bid for third PBA Tour title of 2016 season

LUBBOCK, Texas (June 25, 2016) – Nineteen-year-old Anthony Simonsen of Princeton, Texas, bidding to become the first Professional Bowlers Association player to win three PBA Tour titles in 2016, led the field of 151 players through Saturday’s qualifying in the Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open at South Plains Lanes.

Simonsen won his first PBA Tour title with partner Connor Pickford in the season-opening Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship and then became the youngest player ever to win a PBA Tour major when he won the United States Bowling Congress Masters in Indianapolis in February.

Simonsen, a two-handed player, averaged 236.6 during Saturday’s eight qualifying games to finish with a 1,893 pinfall total for a one–pin lead over Mitch Beasley of Clarksville, Tenn. Simonsen is hoping for a better outcome than he experienced earlier in June when he was leading qualifier in the Downums Waste Services PBA Jonesboro Open in Jonesboro, Ark. A 1-7 match play performance in Sunday’s finals in Arkansas dropped him to 14th place. Beasley, who is trying for his first PBA Tour title, led qualifying at the Firelake PBA Tournament of Champions in Shawnee, Okla., in February before losing to Sweden’s Jesper Svensson in the title match, 226-177.

Four-time PBA Tour titlist Mike Wolfe of New Albany, Ind., who hasn’t won since 2009, was in third place with 1,844 pins followed by one-time title winners Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., with a 1,832 total and 2015 PBA World Champion Gary Faulkner Jr. of Memphis, Tenn., with 1,826 pins.

The top 50 bowlers after Saturday’s eight game qualifying round advanced to Sunday’s four-game cashers round at 8:10 a.m. CDT. Based on 13-game pinfall totals, the top 16 players will advance to a modified round robin match play round at noon, leading to the five-player stepladder finals at 4:15 p.m. First prize is $20,000 plus a PBA Tour title if the winner is a PBA member.

All rounds of the Lubbock Sports Open are being video-streamed live on PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame. To enroll as an Xtra Frame subscriber, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.

PBA XTRA FRAME LUBBOCK SPORTS OPEN

South Plains Lanes, Lubbock, Texas, Saturday

Final Qualifying Standings (after 8 games; top 50 cashers round qualifiers)

1, Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 1,893.
2, Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 1,892.
3, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 1,844.
4, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 1,832.
5, Gary Faulkner, Memphis, Tenn., 1,826.
6, Sean Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,823.

7, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,819.

8, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,811.
9, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 1,810.
10, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 1,806.
11, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,801.
12, Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, 1,798.
13, n-Tyler Albracht, Amarillo, Texas, 1,797.
14, A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 1,792.
15, Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 1,788.
16, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 1,785.
17, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,778.
18, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,768.
19, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,766.
20, Jason Sterner, Cocoa, Fla., 1,764.
21, Kristopher Prather, Milton, Fla., 1,749.
22, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., 1,745.
23, Dom Barrett, England, 1,743.
24, Stuart Williams, England, 1,742.
25, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,740.
26, Jason Duran, Littleton, Colo., 1,735.
27, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 1,734.
28, n-Dylan Burns, Lawrence, Kan., 1,730.
29 (tie), Benjamin Canfield, Tempe, Ariz., and Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 1,729.
31, n-Tyson Branagan, Euless, Texas, 1,728.
32, Kris Koeltzow, Wheat Ridge, Colo., 1,727.
33, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 1,726.
34 (tie), Brett Spangler, Niles, Ohio, and n-Trey Sledge, Amarillo, Texas, 1,725.
36, n-Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 1,717.
37, Stephen Keblish, Oklahoma City, Okla., 1,714.
38, n-Thomas Peters, Belleville, Ill., 1,706.
39, Joe Findling, Mesquite, Texas, 1,703.

40, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 1,702.
41, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 1,700.
42 (tie), n-John Pierce, Denton, Texas, and Francois Lavoie, Wichita, Kan., 1,698.
44, n-Austin Boulds, Creal Springs, Ill., 1,673.
45, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,672.
46, James Grago, Rome, N.Y., 1,667.
47 (tie), n-Stefan Wood, Lubbock, Texas, and Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 1,664.
49, Anthony Colosimo, Pembroke Pines, Fla., 1,660.
50, n-Marshall Morrison, Amarillo, Texas, 1,653.

n – denotes non-member