onefrombills
10-31-2008, 12:15 AM
Pluhowsky tops women's field in Thursday's Round of 16 in Omaha.
WES MALOTT AND SHANNON PLUHOWSKY ATOP QUALIFYING IN OMAHA
Omaha, Neb. - 10/30/2008
Wes Malott of Argyle, Tex. and Shannon Pluhowsky of Phoenix, Ariz. finished atop their respective fields in Thursday’s Qualifying at the Pepsi Viper Championship at Thunder Alley in which the top 32 men and top 10 women advanced to Friday’s match play.
Malott, who ended the first block of qualifying in seventh, was able to remain consistent in his second block with scores of 213, 241, 258, 221, 248, 255 and 236 to finish with a score of 3261, averaging 232.93 over the 14-games. He bested No. 2 and All-Time PBA Title leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla. by 81 pins.
“After last week, I had a fairly poor performance … I have somewhat of a history of lower back pain and I wasn’t able to perform to the best of my ability,” Malott said. “But this week I feel really good. I also was able to work out some timing issues in my swing and kind of came together with the right ball choices as always.”
“Tomorrow is match play, I’ll be crossing pairs and I don’t have to worry about breaking pairs down,” Malott added. “I’ve been working with my ball rep on some strategies for tomorrow in case the pattern starts to flatten out.”
Pluhowsky, one of only two lefties in the Women’s Series field, moved from third after the first block to finish as the leader, with a 14-game total score of 3032. Pluhowsky averaged 216.57, and led second-place Michelle Feldman of Auburn, N.Y. by 29 pins.
“I bowled pretty well on this pattern (Viper) at the Women’s U.S. Open so I tried to take what I did there and use it here,” Pluhowsky said. “But obviously bowling with all the guys makes it a little different. I’ll pretty much have the same game plan tomorrow. It’s not easy to throw a lot of strikes, so you have to make spares when possible.”
Former Husker Michael Machuga finished third on the day and had a 300 during his first block. Mitch Beasley, who just missed the cut in 34th, also had a 300 in the first block.
Ted Baer, owner of Thunder Alley, received a Commissioner’s exemption to compete in today’s field as a result of bidding on an exempt spot in an auction to benefit Bowl for the Cure. Baer finished 61st with 2,650 pins.
Friday’s competition continues with the men’s match play; round one (11 a.m. – 3 p.m.) which cuts to the top 16; and round two (6-10 p.m.) to determine the final four finalists. The women’s match play will also take place on Friday between 6-10 p.m. and will determine the final two.
WES MALOTT AND SHANNON PLUHOWSKY ATOP QUALIFYING IN OMAHA
Omaha, Neb. - 10/30/2008
Wes Malott of Argyle, Tex. and Shannon Pluhowsky of Phoenix, Ariz. finished atop their respective fields in Thursday’s Qualifying at the Pepsi Viper Championship at Thunder Alley in which the top 32 men and top 10 women advanced to Friday’s match play.
Malott, who ended the first block of qualifying in seventh, was able to remain consistent in his second block with scores of 213, 241, 258, 221, 248, 255 and 236 to finish with a score of 3261, averaging 232.93 over the 14-games. He bested No. 2 and All-Time PBA Title leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla. by 81 pins.
“After last week, I had a fairly poor performance … I have somewhat of a history of lower back pain and I wasn’t able to perform to the best of my ability,” Malott said. “But this week I feel really good. I also was able to work out some timing issues in my swing and kind of came together with the right ball choices as always.”
“Tomorrow is match play, I’ll be crossing pairs and I don’t have to worry about breaking pairs down,” Malott added. “I’ve been working with my ball rep on some strategies for tomorrow in case the pattern starts to flatten out.”
Pluhowsky, one of only two lefties in the Women’s Series field, moved from third after the first block to finish as the leader, with a 14-game total score of 3032. Pluhowsky averaged 216.57, and led second-place Michelle Feldman of Auburn, N.Y. by 29 pins.
“I bowled pretty well on this pattern (Viper) at the Women’s U.S. Open so I tried to take what I did there and use it here,” Pluhowsky said. “But obviously bowling with all the guys makes it a little different. I’ll pretty much have the same game plan tomorrow. It’s not easy to throw a lot of strikes, so you have to make spares when possible.”
Former Husker Michael Machuga finished third on the day and had a 300 during his first block. Mitch Beasley, who just missed the cut in 34th, also had a 300 in the first block.
Ted Baer, owner of Thunder Alley, received a Commissioner’s exemption to compete in today’s field as a result of bidding on an exempt spot in an auction to benefit Bowl for the Cure. Baer finished 61st with 2,650 pins.
Friday’s competition continues with the men’s match play; round one (11 a.m. – 3 p.m.) which cuts to the top 16; and round two (6-10 p.m.) to determine the final four finalists. The women’s match play will also take place on Friday between 6-10 p.m. and will determine the final two.