onefrombills
01-22-2009, 01:23 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mike Jakubowski | PR/Media Relations
Professional Bowlers Association | 719 Second Avenue, Suite 701 | Seattle, WA 98104
Tel: 414.651.6965 | Fax: 206.332.9722 | mike.jakubowski@pba.com
Shafer Races into Lead in H&R Block Tournament of Champions
Duke Sits in 34th Place in Bid for Fourth Straight Major Title after First Eight Games
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (January 21, 2009) – Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., averaged 255 for eight games to take the first round lead in the Professional Bowlers Association H&R Block Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes Thursday.
Shafer, a four-time Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour champion, held a 115-pin lead over Dave Husted of Milwaukie, Ore.
Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., who is seeking a fourth consecutive PBA major title, was in 34th place after the opening round with a 1,773 pinfall total. He was 63 pins out of the 24th spot needed to advance to match play.
Shafer, who has advanced to the championship round in 11 major tournaments without winning a title, wasn’t about to get ahead of himself.
“It’s always nice to start well,” he said. “I was bowling on the same pair with Dave Husted and he pushed me, which was good. In practice before the tournament, I figured it was going to be high scoring. Normally that’s not my thing, but I just wanted to keep up with the transition in lane conditions. If you miss a change, you’re liable to shoot 180 and that’s not what you want to do.
“But I’m not thinking about a title. Maybe 20 years ago I’d have done that, but I’m too old to think like that now,” he grinned. “Maybe I’ll keep my eye on 24th place just to see what the cut number is, but that’s about all at this stage of the game.”
The full field will bowl one more eight-game qualifying round Thursday morning before the field will be cut to the top 24 qualifiers who will bowl three eight-match match play rounds Thursday evening, Friday afternoon and Friday evening. The top four after 48 games will advance to Sunday’s stepladder finals which will air at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern, 9:30 a.m. Pacific) on ESPN.
First prize in the tournament is $50,000 plus a three-year Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour exemption.
LUMBER LIQUIDATORS PBA TOUR
H&R BLOCK TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
Red Rock Lanes, Las Vegas, Nev.
First Round (after 8 games)
1, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 2,045
2, Dave Husted, Milwaukie, Ore., 1,930
3, Mike DeVaney, San Diego, 1,922
4, Michael Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 1,919
5, Del Ballard Jr., N. Richland Hills, Texas, 1,917
6, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,910
7, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 1,909
8, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,904
9, Brian Voss, Kennesaw, Ga., 1,897
10, Rhino Page, Topeka, Kan, 1,885
11, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,883
11, Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 1,883
13, Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,881
14, David Traber, Hebron, Ill., 1,880
15, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 1,876
16, Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 1,866
17, Dave D'Entremont, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, 1,855
18, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 1,854
19, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 1,852
20, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,839
21, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 1,837
21, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,837
23, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,836
23, Tony Reyes, San Bruno, Calif., 1,836
25, Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 1,834
26, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 1,828
27, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,827
28, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 1,825
29, Robert Smith, Columbus, Ohio, 1,820
30, Dave Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 1,804
31, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 1,784
32, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 1,783
33, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 1,782
34, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,773
35, Mike Mineman, Collinsville, Ill., 1,754
36, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 1,753
37, Larry Laub, Lincoln, Calif., 1,752
38, Wayne Webb, Sacramento, Calif., 1,750
39, Mike Aulby, Indianapolis, 1,749
39, Rick Lawrence, Waxahachie, Texas, 1,749
41, Mark Roth, Fulton, N.Y., 1,748
42, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 1,747
43, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 1,745
43, Sean Swanson, Springfield, Mo., 1,745
45, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 1,744
46, John Nolen, Waterford, Mich., 1,736
47, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., 1,733
48, Ernie Schlegel, Vancouver, Wash., 1,728
49, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,705
50, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,699
51, Nelson Burton Jr., Stuart, Fla., 1,694
52, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 1,688
53, Roy Buckley, Westerville, Ohio, 1,687
54, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 1,684
55, Teata Semiz, North Brunswick, N.J., 1,632
56, Steve Cook, Granite Bay, Calif., 1,623
57, Don McCune, Las Vegas, 1,613
58, Dave Soutar, Bradenton, Fla., 1,544
59, Jason Hurd, Titusville, Fla., 1,511
60, Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., 1,455
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) features the best bowlers in the world competing in National, Regional and Senior Tour events and will award over $4.3 million in prize money during the 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators PBA National Tour. The organization has more than 4,000 members spanning 13 countries, and nearly one million viewers tune-in to watch the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour every Sunday on ESPN throughout the season. PBA sponsors include Bayer, Brunswick, CLR, Denny's, Etonic, Flomax, GEICO, Go RVing, H&R Block, Lumber Liquidators, Motel 6, Pepsi-Cola and the USBC, among others. For more information on the PBA, log on to www.pba.com.
Mike Jakubowski | PR/Media Relations
Professional Bowlers Association | 719 Second Avenue, Suite 701 | Seattle, WA 98104
Tel: 414.651.6965 | Fax: 206.332.9722 | mike.jakubowski@pba.com
Shafer Races into Lead in H&R Block Tournament of Champions
Duke Sits in 34th Place in Bid for Fourth Straight Major Title after First Eight Games
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (January 21, 2009) – Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., averaged 255 for eight games to take the first round lead in the Professional Bowlers Association H&R Block Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes Thursday.
Shafer, a four-time Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour champion, held a 115-pin lead over Dave Husted of Milwaukie, Ore.
Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., who is seeking a fourth consecutive PBA major title, was in 34th place after the opening round with a 1,773 pinfall total. He was 63 pins out of the 24th spot needed to advance to match play.
Shafer, who has advanced to the championship round in 11 major tournaments without winning a title, wasn’t about to get ahead of himself.
“It’s always nice to start well,” he said. “I was bowling on the same pair with Dave Husted and he pushed me, which was good. In practice before the tournament, I figured it was going to be high scoring. Normally that’s not my thing, but I just wanted to keep up with the transition in lane conditions. If you miss a change, you’re liable to shoot 180 and that’s not what you want to do.
“But I’m not thinking about a title. Maybe 20 years ago I’d have done that, but I’m too old to think like that now,” he grinned. “Maybe I’ll keep my eye on 24th place just to see what the cut number is, but that’s about all at this stage of the game.”
The full field will bowl one more eight-game qualifying round Thursday morning before the field will be cut to the top 24 qualifiers who will bowl three eight-match match play rounds Thursday evening, Friday afternoon and Friday evening. The top four after 48 games will advance to Sunday’s stepladder finals which will air at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern, 9:30 a.m. Pacific) on ESPN.
First prize in the tournament is $50,000 plus a three-year Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour exemption.
LUMBER LIQUIDATORS PBA TOUR
H&R BLOCK TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
Red Rock Lanes, Las Vegas, Nev.
First Round (after 8 games)
1, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 2,045
2, Dave Husted, Milwaukie, Ore., 1,930
3, Mike DeVaney, San Diego, 1,922
4, Michael Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 1,919
5, Del Ballard Jr., N. Richland Hills, Texas, 1,917
6, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,910
7, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 1,909
8, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,904
9, Brian Voss, Kennesaw, Ga., 1,897
10, Rhino Page, Topeka, Kan, 1,885
11, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,883
11, Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 1,883
13, Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,881
14, David Traber, Hebron, Ill., 1,880
15, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 1,876
16, Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 1,866
17, Dave D'Entremont, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, 1,855
18, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 1,854
19, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 1,852
20, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,839
21, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 1,837
21, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,837
23, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,836
23, Tony Reyes, San Bruno, Calif., 1,836
25, Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 1,834
26, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 1,828
27, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,827
28, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 1,825
29, Robert Smith, Columbus, Ohio, 1,820
30, Dave Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 1,804
31, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 1,784
32, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 1,783
33, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 1,782
34, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,773
35, Mike Mineman, Collinsville, Ill., 1,754
36, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 1,753
37, Larry Laub, Lincoln, Calif., 1,752
38, Wayne Webb, Sacramento, Calif., 1,750
39, Mike Aulby, Indianapolis, 1,749
39, Rick Lawrence, Waxahachie, Texas, 1,749
41, Mark Roth, Fulton, N.Y., 1,748
42, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 1,747
43, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 1,745
43, Sean Swanson, Springfield, Mo., 1,745
45, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 1,744
46, John Nolen, Waterford, Mich., 1,736
47, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., 1,733
48, Ernie Schlegel, Vancouver, Wash., 1,728
49, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,705
50, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,699
51, Nelson Burton Jr., Stuart, Fla., 1,694
52, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 1,688
53, Roy Buckley, Westerville, Ohio, 1,687
54, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 1,684
55, Teata Semiz, North Brunswick, N.J., 1,632
56, Steve Cook, Granite Bay, Calif., 1,623
57, Don McCune, Las Vegas, 1,613
58, Dave Soutar, Bradenton, Fla., 1,544
59, Jason Hurd, Titusville, Fla., 1,511
60, Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., 1,455
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) features the best bowlers in the world competing in National, Regional and Senior Tour events and will award over $4.3 million in prize money during the 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators PBA National Tour. The organization has more than 4,000 members spanning 13 countries, and nearly one million viewers tune-in to watch the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour every Sunday on ESPN throughout the season. PBA sponsors include Bayer, Brunswick, CLR, Denny's, Etonic, Flomax, GEICO, Go RVing, H&R Block, Lumber Liquidators, Motel 6, Pepsi-Cola and the USBC, among others. For more information on the PBA, log on to www.pba.com.