FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mike Jakubowski | PR/Media Relations
Professional Bowlers Association | 719 Second Avenue, Suite 701 | Seattle, WA 98104
Tel: 800.903.0930 | Fax: 206.332.9722 | mike.jakubowski@pba.com

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (February 10, 2009) – Craig Tuholski of Washougal, Wash., struggled during the first half of the 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association Tour season but has been able to pinpoint his weaknesses and make the changes necessary to be successful on the lanes.

The 34-year-old right-hander got the validation he was looking for as he averaged 237.4 and took the overall lead at the United States Bowling Congress Masters with a 1,187 five-game total at Cashman Center on Tuesday.

Tuholski, bowling in his 13th event as an exempt player on the PBA Tour, ended the day with a 289 game and finished eight pins ahead of England’s Dominic Barrett, who is second with 1,179. Daniel Miyamoto of Mililani, Hawaii, is third with 1,173.

“It feels good to be in the lead at this tournament, but the biggest part of the event isn’t until match play,” Tuholski said. “I did what I wanted to do today and got myself in position to make match play, and hopefully, I can keep the same pace tomorrow.”

Tuholski admits that some of his struggles this season were in his mental game and some were physical things. During a recent break between events, he spent time working on both.

“If you’re not bowling well, you start watching the people who are, and you end up trying to throw the ball like they do, instead of like yourself,” said Tuholski, who entered the week 52nd on the PBA points list. “I fell into that trap, and I should’ve known better. The good news is that it’s not too late. I can still make a run and hopefully stay out here for another year.”

Tuholski and company now must focus on five more games of qualifying at Cashman Center on Wednesday. The field then will be cut to the top 25 percent, who will return for five additional games Thursday before the top 63 players advance to join defending champion Sean Rash in the double-elimination match play bracket.

In all, more than 400 of the best professional and amateur bowlers are in Las Vegas with their sights set on the $60,000 top prize.

This year marks the first time since 2001 that the Masters is being held on the same lanes that also will be home to the USBC Open Championships. The relationship began with the inception of the Masters in 1951 but ended when the Masters remained at the National Bowling Stadium from 2002 until January of 2004. It was then held in Milwaukee in October of 2004, and again from 2005 until 2007. Because of its return to the Open Championships venue, the Masters was not held in 2008.

LUMBER LIQUIDATORS PBA TOUR
USBC Masters
Cashman Center – Las Vegas, Nev.
February 10, 2009
Round 1 Qualifying After 5 Games (Name, Hometown, Pinfall)

1, Craig Tuholski, Washougal, Wash., 1,187. 2, Dominic Barrett, Walton On The Naze, England, 1,179. 3, Daniel Miyamoto, Mililani, Hawaii, 1,173. 4, (TIE) Tim Pfeifer, Cranberry Twp., Pa., and Daniel Dunleavy, Staten Island, N.Y., 1,170. 6, Chad Kloss, Greenfield, Wis, 1,163. 7, Brett Wolfe, Tempe, Ariz., 1,162. 8, (TIE) Robert Gotchall, Lincoln, Neb., and Corey Husted, Milwaukie, Ore, 1,161. 10, Mads Sandbaekken, Norway, 1,160. 11, Michael Fagan, Greenlawn, N.Y., 1,159. 12, Eric Copping, Websterville, Vt., 1,158.
13, George Lambert IV, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 1,157. 14, Steve Harman, Camby, Ind., 1,156. 15, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 1,150. 16, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 1,149. 17, John May, Lincolnton, N.C., 1,147. 18, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 1,140.
19, (TIE) Bob Knipple, Long Beach, Calif., and Wendy Macpherson, Henderson, Nev., 1,139. 21, Thomas Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 1,137. 22, Jay Nephew, Dallas, TX, 1,136. 23, (TIE) Ryan Shafer, Elmira, N.Y., and Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 1,135.
25, Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga., 1,127. 26, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,124. 27, Robert Smith, Thousand Oaks, Calif., 1,123. 28, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 1,121. 29, (TIE) Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., and Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 1,120.
31, Tyler Jensen, Wheat Ridge, Colo., 1,119. 32, Brian LeClair, Athens, N.Y., 1,115. 33, (TIE) Mike DeVaney, Temecula, Calif., and Keith Kolozsi, Las Vegas, Nev, 1,114. 35, Gonzalo Gonzalez, Venezuela, 1,113. 36, Chester Rogers Jr, Milwaukie, Ore, 1,110.37, (TIE) Anthony LaCaze, Glen Ellyn, Ill., and Jeff Carter, Springfield, Ill., 1,106. 39, Jason Walsh, Cumbalum, NSW, Australia, 1,104. 40, Tom Smallwood, Flushing, Mich., 1,102. 41, (TIE) Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., and Brad Snell, Mount Prospect, Ill., and Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,098. 44, Edward VanDaniker Jr, Essex, Md., 1,096. 45, Keith Odette, Waipahu, Hawaii, 1,095. 46, (TIE) Andres Gomez, Colombia, and Andrew Cain, Scottsdale, Ariz., 1,093. 48, Isao Yamamoto, Japan, 1,091.49, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 1,090. 50, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 1,088. 51, (TIE) Randy Weiss, Irmo, S.C., and Scott Merritt, Iowa City, Iowa, and Alex Medveditskov, Russia, and Edward Shuler, Vineland, N.J., 1,087.55, (TIE) Purvis Granger, Las Vegas, Nev., and Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,086. 57, (TIE) Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., and Vernon Peterson, Lake Wales, Fla., and Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,085. 60, Adrian Ang, Malaysia, 1,084. 61, (TIE) Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C., and Tom Baker, King, N.C., and Eddie Graham, Centerville, Ohio, 1,083. 64, (TIE) Nick Morgan, Sacramento, Calif., and Terrance Reeves, Valrico, Fla., 1,082. 66, (TIE) Brian Petty, Anchorage, Alaska, and PJ Haggerty, Clovis, Calif, 1,080. 68, Joe Bailey, Pittsburgh, 1,078. 69, (TIE) Andrew Loose, Chicago, and John Nolen, Waterford, Mich., 1,077. 71, Joe Ciccone, Buffalo, N.Y., 1,076. 72, Steven Villaneuva, North Las Vegas, Nev., 1,075. 73, (TIE) Timothy Behrendt, St Louis, and Scott Shimer, Kokomo, Ind., 1,074. 75, Charlie Bruno, Deptford, N.J., 1,072. 76, Chris Pierson, Waukesha, Wis., 1,071. 77, Scott Vanderlick, Sacramento, Calif., 1,070. 78, Tony Campagna Jr., Nashville, Tenn., 1,069.
79, Siu Hong Wu, Hong Kong, 1,068. 80, Syafiq Ridhwan, Malaysia, 1,067. 81, Bob Hale, Louisville, Ky., 1,066. 82, (TIE) Hernan Ramirez, Venezuela, and Ivan Miyasato, Clovis, Calif., and Ramon Estrada, Connellsville, Pa, 1,064. 85, (TIE) D.J. Archer, Mineral Wells, Texas, and John DeBenedetta Jr., Las Vegas, Nev., 1,062. 87, (TIE) Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., and Todd Book, Wapakoneta, Ohio, 1,061. 89, (TIE) Humberto Vazquez, San Pedro, Mexico, and Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 1,060. 91, (TIE) Victor Meyerhoff, San Francisco, Calif., and Derek Sapp, Keokuk, Iowa, 1,059. 93, Richard Leon, Venezuela, 1,058. 94, (TIE) Jason Lundquist, Delaware Water Gap, Pa, and Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 1,057. 96, (TIE) Kent Wagner, Palmetto, Fla., and Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., 1,054. 98, Jim Tomek Jr., Camp Hill, Pa., 1,053. 99, Jason Griffin, Kenosha, Wis., 1,052. 100, (TIE) Jeff Austreng, Waterford, Mich., and Tom Sorce, Blasdell, N.Y., 1,051. 102, (TIE) Jason Belmonte, Orange, NSW,Australia, and Jesse Buss, Wichita, Kan., 1,049. 104, David Traber, Hebron, Ill., 1,048. 105, (TIE) Steven Smith, San Diego, and Bryan Grimm, Sierra Vista, Calif., 1,047. 107, (TIE) Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., and Aaron Hardesty, Laramie, Wyo., 1,046.
109, (TIE) Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., and Scott Crane, Broken Arrow, Okla., 1,045. 111, (TIE) Russ Wilson, Lawrence, Kansas, and Miguel Lopez, Peoria, Ariz., 1,043. 113, Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 1,042. 114, Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 1,041. 115, Brian Hayes, Lakewood, Colo., 1,040. 116, Ben Laughlin, Glendale, Ariz., 1,039. 117, Tyson Branagan, Carrollton, Texas, 1,038. 118, (TIE) Ron Nelson Jr., Bridgeview, Ill., and Ward Rauch, Cheboygan, Mich, 1,037. 120, Cyrus Cheung, Hong Kong, 1,036.
121, (TIE) Marcio Antonio Vieira, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, and Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,034. 123, (TIE) J.R. Raymond, Lebanon, Ill., and Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., and Rick Steelsmith, Wichita, Kan., and Will Kolbow, Chino, Calif., 1,033. 127, Theo Douthit, Phoenix, 1,032.
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. This season marks the 50th Anniversary of the PBA Tour.



About the USBC

The United States Bowling Congress, as the national governing body, ensures the integrity and protects the future of the sport, provides programs and services to nearly 2.5 million adult and youth members and enhances the bowling experience. For more information, log on to bowl.com. Bowl with US