Top story: Mika Koivuniemi looks to make his sixth consecutive stepladder finals on the PBA50 Tour.
Paul Fleming of Fort Worth, Texas led the PBA50 division with a 1,130 five-game pinfall (+130). Dan Knowlton,
John Marsala, Tom Adcock and Mika Koivuniemi round out the top five after the first round of qualifying.
The PBA50 Player of the Year front-runner John Janawicz sits in sixth place, followed by Brad Angelo, Chris Barnes, Keith Lesko and Parker Bohn III.
Mario Quintero, who captured the PBA50 World Championship title on Sunday, is in 11th place.
Dino Castillo, Anthony Crews, and Billy Froberg, who won the Senior Classic division of the PBA LBC National Championships, also rank inside the cut.
Jason Couch and Tom Hess (-12) are tied for 15th place and the final spots in the match play cut.
Fleming’s 226 pace would’ve placed him outside the top 10 during the PBA50 Monacelli Classic qualifying as part of the PBA50 World Series of Bowling II in July. But now in a bowling center with a reputation for low scores, Fleming finds himself in pole postion.
“It seemed like execution was at a premium,” Fleming said. “The lanes were definitely tough to navigate. It was good crossing with Chris (Barnes) because that gave me another look. I feel like I’m executing pretty well and saw the lanes well today.”
Fleming said he has been dealing with a knee injury and is looking forward to enjoying the ol’ ice-and-rest combo this afternoon. This evening, however, he will keep a close eye on his son Connor, who will be competing in the PBA division.
“My goal was to make the cut,” Fleming said. “The hope was maybe we both make the cut and we get partnered up. That would be a lot of fun for me.”
Top story: Reigning PWBA Player of the Year Jordan Richard returns to her college town, where she was a two-time D1 Player of the Year and three-time All-American at Arkansas State University.
Crystal Elliott, the leading contender for PWBA Tour Rookie of the Year, made a mockery of Hijinx’ reputation as a low-scoring center. Elliott led the PWBA division with a five-game total pinfall of 1,145 (+145).
“I feel that I was in a part of the lane that most people weren’t able to get in early,” Elliott said. “If I got (the ball) a little bit left, it would lay there. If I got it a little bit right, then it came back and slapped the rack. Ultimately I feel that that is what helped me be successful, especially the first three games.”
Elliott launched her professional career after completing her final season of college bowling at Jacksonville State. She led the Gamecocks to the NCAA title earlier this year, defeating Jonesboro-based Arkansas State in the championship.
Elliott said crossing with Jordan Richard, another player who has the rev rate and ball speed to play further left than most competitors, worked to both of their benefit.
Richard, an Arkansas State graduate, sits in third place at +105. She said she felt a lot of nerves early in her homecoming event, but settled in once she started to use her experience to her advantage.
“(Bowling here) brought me back to all the days that I've spent here becoming who I am,” said Richard, who earned three All-American honors and two D1 Player of the Year awards in her three seasons at Arkansas State. “I feel like I was good before I went to Arkansas State. When I came here, I learned discipline, to be more independent and trust myself that I was good enough. I feel like that’s what happened in this building.”
Stephanie Zavala is in second place two pins ahead of Richard, followed by Verity Crawley and Sarah Klassen to round out the top five.
Top story: EJ Tackett enters the event with a 229.81 average for his 475 games this season and has a chance to break the PBA single-season average record. With a total pinfall of at least 2,097 for his 10 games, Tackett will surpass Jason Belmonte’s record of 229.39 set in 2017.
Player of the Year Race: Anthony Simonsen became the first player to win three titles this season last weekend, but Tackett, in addition to potentially setting the average record, leads the tour in points and earnings. Other POY contenders David “Boog” Krol and Kyle Troup are in the field, while Marshall Kent and Bill O’Neill are not scheduled to compete.
Rookie of the Year Race: Alec Keplinger looks to build off his match play appearance in Houston, while Nate Purches looks to regain his World Series of Bowing XV form.
Brad Miller dominated the PBA division's opening round of qualifying, shooting 1,252 (+252) for his five games to lead the field.
Miller has been on a tear this summer. He nearly won the USBC Open Championships Regular Singles title, but his 815 series was beaten on the last day of the tournament. In last weekend’s mixed doubles event, Miller shot 1,710 for his 11 games, which was the second-highest mark of any player through the semifinals.
“I’m matching up to my equipment really well,” Miller said. “When I was bowling at my best a while back, I had six balls that I could take anywhere — it didn't matter the pattern; it didn't matter the house — and I'm almost back to that.”
Miller made a valiant run at an 2025 exempt berth during the PBA Tournament of Champions earlier this year, but came up short. He will have another opportunity next month in the PBA Tour Trials to earn exempt status.
“Going to Tour Trials and finishing top 12 would be really spectacular for a lot of reasons,” Miller said. “It’s going to be the biggest grind. The player field is going to be hard. Just the idea of trying to get exempt, it’s going to be really intense and a lot of bowling. I did not want to go into that tournament not throwing it well. I was really just using these tournaments to work on my game and get back in the mindset, and they just happen to be going well. The stars are aligning.”
Kyle Troup, Nathan Bohr, Chris Delaney, Dom Barrett and EJ Tackett round out the top six in the PBA division.
Tackett, who aims to set the PBA single-season average record, is tied with Barrett for fifth with a pinball of 1,141 (+141). Tackett needs to shoot at least 956 for his five games on Friday to break Jason Belmonte’s 2017 record average of 229.39.
Matt Russo won the last national tour title event in Jonesboro and ranks eighth halfway through qualifying.
Trey Brand, Ryan Barnes, Nate Stubler, François Lavoie, Brandon Flora, AJ Johnson, Nick Pate and Sean Rash are also inside the cut through five games.
Michael Davidson (+85) holds a one-pin advantage over Kyle Sherman and Stu Williams for the final berth inside the cut.
Qualifying continues on Friday.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
All times listed in Eastern
Thursday, Aug. 1
9 a.m. — PBA50 Qualifying Round 1 (five games)
2 p.m. — PWBA Qualifying Round 1 (five games)
6 p.m. — PBA Qualifying Round 1 (five games)
Friday, Aug. 2
9 a.m. — PBA50 Qualifying Round 2 (five games)
2 p.m. — PWBA Qualifying Round 2 (five games)
6 p.m. — PBA Qualifying Round 2 (five games)
Top 16 players in each division advance to match play
Trios teams matched up by seed; #1 seed in each division joins Team 1, etc.
All pinfall is dropped entering match play
Saturday, Aug. 3
9 a.m. — Trios Match Play Round 1 (eight baker games)
3 p.m. — Trios Match Play Round 2 (eight baker games)
Top five teams advance to stepladder finals
8 p.m. — Stepladder finals (baker games)
More information on the PBA/PBA50/PWBA Jonesboro Trios is available here.
