GREEN BAY, Wisconsin – Nicole Wilson of Northville, Michigan, shot 276 during Game 1 of qualifying to immediately jump to the top of the leaderboard at the 2024 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Green Bay Regional, which was held at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in Green Bay on Saturday.
What nobody knew at the time was that Wilson would remain in first place until the final balls were thrown.
The 32-year-old right-hander led the 48-player field at Ashwaubenon with an eight-game qualifying score of 1,644 (a 205.5 average) to secure the No. 1 seed for the four-player stepladder finals.
Once there, she picked up right where she left off just a couple hours earlier, striking on five of her first seven shots and staying clean to defeat No. 2 seed Carlene Beyer of Ogdensburg, Wisconsin, by a final score of 211-189 to win the 2024 PWBA Green Bay Regional and walk away with the trophy and the event’s $1,400 first-place prize. Beyer earned $700 for finishing second.
For Wilson, Saturday’s wire-to-wire win was made easier by the fact that she never felt the need to hunt for the right bowling ball; instead, she had it in her hands from the very beginning.
“I never changed balls all day,” Wilson said. “Once competition started, I adjusted my arm a little bit, and then it was just a matter of trying to make good shots.”
Wilson certainly managed plenty of those on Saturday, but none were bigger than the one she delivered on the first ball in the 10th frame of the title match.
Needing a mark and three pins to shut Beyer out, Wilson calmly stepped up and delivered a no-doubt strike to begin her final frame. From there, she toppled nine pins on her final two balls to officially lock up her first PWBA Regional win and a berth in the season-ending PWBA Regional Showdown, which will be held at Aloma Bowl in Winter Park, Florida, on Dec. 5-7.
The winner of the 2024 Regional Showdown will not only receive a cash prize, but she will also have her entry fees covered for all 2025 PWBA National Tour singles events as well.
Wilson wasn’t aware that she had won the Regional Showdown berth until informed by the tournament director during the trophy ceremony; nevertheless, she was very grateful for the prize and for the people who supported her as she fought to attain it.
“I didn’t know that winning here would allow me to be in the Regional Showdown, but it’s a pretty cool benefit because that’s such a premier event,” Wilson said. “I just really love bowling, and I have to thank my wife and my mom because they’re such huge supporters.”
Wilson didn’t seem to need much support on Saturday as she was one of just three players to average over 200 for the day on the Green Bay Regional’s challenging 39-foot oil pattern. Beyer and Elise Bolton of Apollo Beach, Florida, were the other two, averaging 200.88 and 200, respectively.
Beyer and Bolton squared off during the stepladder semifinals to see who would get the opportunity to challenge Wilson for the title.
Beyer took advantage of two early opens from Bolton to build a 40-pin lead through six frames of that match. Bolton used a trio of late strikes to try to mount a comeback. It was too little too late, however, as Beyer hung on for a 211-191 victory to advance to the title match. Bolton finished in third place and took home $600.
One game earlier, Bolton defeated Rebecca Hagerman of Loves Park, Illinois, by a mark of 245-215 during the opening match of Saturday’s stepladder finals. Hagerman’s fourth-place finish was worth $500.
The next PWBA Regional event will be contested Sept. 15 at the PWBA Cleveland Regional. The tournament will be held at Yorktown Lanes in Parma Heights, Ohio.
