GO BOWLING! PBA TOUR ROOKIES CONTINUE TO CHASE MYKEL HOLLIMAN
Thanks to his runner-up finishing in the USBC Masters, Mykel Holliman of Collierville, Tenn., took a comfortable lead in the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour’s rookie competition points and retained his edge after the first four events of the FloBowling PBA Summer Tour.
Holliman, a 26-year-old left-hander, ranked 31st on the overall 2019 PBA Points list, 4,565 points ahead of Kenneth Ryan of Farmingdale, N.J., on the list of 2019 Bowl4life PBA Rookie Watch candidates. Wichita’s Patrick Hanrahan is third among rookies. Also in position to make a challenge are former Teen Masters winners Mike Coffey of Melbourne, Fla., and Greg Young of Viera, Fla., along with Jake Rollins of Glen Rock, N.J. With five title events in the Summer Tour and the U.S. Open remaining, a big finish or two by the leading rookies could re-shape the race.
Competition points won’t decide who wins the Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year Award, but that’s a key category for consideration in voting to be conducted at the end of the 2019 season. The Rookie of the Year will receive a $2,500 bonus from Chuck Gardner’s Bowl4Life Foundation and the foundation will donate an additional $2,500 to a youth bowler scholarship in the ROY’s name.
WILL THE REAL ZAC/ZACH TACKETT PLEASE STAND UP?
Professional bowling has had a few players over the years who are sometimes mistaken for one another because they share the same name: Walter Ray (and Walter) Williams; Gary Jr. (and Gary) Faulkner; Don (and Don) Johnson among others.
The latest additions to the list arose during the PBA Harry O’Neale Chesapeake Open when Zac and Zach Tackett competed in the same event for the first time. They are not related to each other, but are similar in stature if not in other ways:
• Zac Tackett without an “h” is formally Zachery Tackett, brother of 13-time PBA Tour champion and former Player of the Year EJ Tackett. This Zac turns 23 on Aug. 27. He’s 5-foot-10, weighs 165 pounds and is a right-hander player who lives in Huntington, Ind. He is a fourth-year PBA member who won his only title in a PBA Central Region “Challenge” Tournament in Monroe, Mich., in 2019. Zac’s bowling hero, he noted, is “probably (Norm) Duke.”
• Zach Tackett is formally Zachary Tackett who will turn 22 in December. He’s 5-foot-9, weighs 165 pounds and is a left-handed two-hander who lives in Virginia Beach, Va. This Zach is a PBA rookie who bowled in the PBA Harry O’Neale Chesapeake Open, his first tournament as a member. His bowling hero is Jason Belmonte.
BUTTURFF, PATE WIN PAN AM DOUBLES GOLD MEDAL AFTER DISQUALIFICATION
The United States duo of Jakob Butturff and Nick Pate, both PBA members, were awarded Pan American Games gold medals for men’s doubles in the wake of the disqualification of Puerto Rico’s Jean Francisco Perezafter he tested positive for chlorthalidone, a drug on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances.
The drug in question is a diuretic frequently used to treat high blood pressure, but one that also can serve as a masking agent, according to WADA. It has no performance-enhancing benefits. Puerto Rico’s national bowling team has filed a protest, seeking to overturn the ruling. Perez and partner Cristian Azcona had posted a combined 12-game total of 5,816 pins to top Butturff and Pate’s 5,545 total.
In the wake of the disqualification, in addition to awarding the gold medals to the Team USA players, Colombia’s Manuel Otalora and Alfredo Quintana moved into second place and Mexico (Jose Llergo and Arturo Quintero) was awarded the bronze.
John Marsala of St. Louis defeated Ron Profitt of Brookfield, Ohio, 256-191, to win the 22nd PBA50 Progressive/Gerdeman Insurance-Al Smith Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep Central/Midwest Classic at Al-Mar Lanes in Bowling Green, Ohio, Sunday.
The title was Marsala’s first of the year in the PBA Central Region and his second career PBA Regional title. He earned $3,500 along with his title.
Profitt defeated Brian LeClair of Albany, N.Y., 213-202, to advance to the championship match after eliminating Brad Snell of Mount Prospect, Ill., 218-203, in the first stepladder match.
• Mark Myers of Phoenix and his non-member partner Greg Thompson Jr. of Tempe, Ariz. posted a 9-3 match play record and a combined 20-game total of 9,543 pins Sunday to win the PBA Tony Reyes Memorial Member/Non-Member Doubles at 4th Street Bowl in San Jose, Calif.
Myers won his first PBA Regional while Thompson, a four-time PBA Regional winner, doesn’t get credit for a fifth title because he is no longer a member. The winning team shared the $4,000 first prize.
Myers and Thompson defeated Robbie Porter of Rancho Cordova, Calif. and non-member Gary Lenox of Hillsboro, Ore., who had a 4-8 match play record and 9,455 pins.
The Tony Reyes Memorial is named in honor of the late PBA Tour champion who died in 2012.
• College student Noah Gallegos of Golden, Colo.., defeated fellow non-PBA member Brandon Knowles from Westminster, Colo., 239-235, to claim his first PBA win and the $2,500 first prize in the seventh annual PBA Lakewood Storm Southwest Open, presented by New American Funding, at Holiday Lanes in Lakewood, Colo., Sunday.
Gallegos, who has completed two years of study toward a pharmacy degree at McKendree University, finished the qualifying rounds in fourth place, earning a bye until the Round of Eight in the single-elimination match play finals. The son of two-time PBA Regional champion Steve Gallegos, Noah started the best-of-three-game match play with a 2-0 win over PWBA player Jennifer Russo of Monmouth Junction, N.J., to advance to the semifinal round where he recorded a 241-235 victory over top seed Kris Koeltzow from Wheat Ridge, Colo., set up the final match. Knowles overcame former Lakewood winner Francois Lavoie of Canada, 221-215, in the other semifinal match.
• This weekend’s PBA Regional calendar includes the PBA50 Greater Jasper Central/Midwest Open at Eastown Recreation in Jasper, Ind.; the Emerald Bowl Southwest Challenge for non-champions in Houston, Texas, and the Dave Husted Northwest/West Open presented by Hammer at Husted’s Milwaukie Bowl in Milwaukie, Ore.
• The PBA’s schedule of Regional tournaments over the Aug. 23-25 weekend will be the PBA50 Sky Lanes Asheville South Open in Asheville, N.C., and the PBA50 Coldwater/Roto Grip Central/Midwest Open at Pla-Mor Lanes in Coldwater, Ohio.
• The PBA closes its August schedule of Regional activity with the PBA60 Kingsport Super Senior South Open presented by Storm at Warpath Lanes in Kingsport, Tenn., Aug. 26-28, followed by the PBA60 Wilson & Sons Pest Control Super Senior Open at Victory Lanes Family Entertainment Center in Mooresville, Tenn., Aug. 29-31. The end-of-month weekend also includes the PBA50 Strike Zone Alleys Eastern Open presented by Hammer in Pottsville, Pa.; the PBA Illinois Valley Midwest Open at I.V. Super Bowl in Peru, Ill., and the PBA50 Mooresville South Open presented By Columbia 300 at Victory Lanes Family Entertainment Center in Mooresville, N.C.
• Action resumed Saturday and Sunday in the FloBowling PBA Summer Tour points competition where Mid-County Bowling & Entertainment Center in Middletown, Del., is hosting the PBA Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic.Updated points standings will follow each Summer Tour event at this link: https://www.pba.com/SeasonStats/PointsList/132?list=10. The FloBowling PBA Summer Tour points competitions also will determine the USBC Cup points leaders, and the eight qualifiers for both the FloBowling PBA ATX Invite and the PBA China Tiger Cup Invitational.
• With his win in the PBA Wilmington Open, BJ Moore became the third first-time title winner in 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour competition, joining Louisville’s Matt Ogle (Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship with Sean Rash) and Kyle Sherman of O’Fallon, Mo. (PBA-PWBA Storm Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles with Amanda Green).
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