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Bowling News USA - February 26, 2010 Belmonte Storm's To the Lead at the Open...

 

Storm's Jason Belmonte, Australia’s two-handed star, made one of the most difficult scoring conditions in bowling look easy Thursday as he raced into the third round lead in the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open at Woodland Bowl.

Belmonte, who sat in sixth place after the first 12 qualifying games, averaged a blistering 248.33 for his six qualifying games Thursday to finish with an 18-game total of 4,117 pins and a 178-pin lead over Dave Beres of Waukesha, Wis. At one point in his round, Belmonte rolled consecutive games of 280, 278 and 278 to break away from the field.

Storm staffer Andres Gomez of Colombia was in third place with 3,920 pins followed by 2005 U.S. Open champion Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, at 3,915 and Bill O’Neill of Southampton, Pa., at 3,914. O’Neill was in 185th place after the first six games.

"I grew up bowling long-format tournaments in Australia where there was lots of qualifying and match play games,” the 26-year-old said. “I think most bowlers will tell you that if you're consistently bowling well, you have a better chance in a long format competition.

“Today, for those three big games, I think that’s the best 36 shots I’ve ever thrown. You can’t bowl any better than that.”

Belmonte, an established international champion with his unusual method of rolling a bowling ball with both hands, is bowling his first full season on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour after winning his first and only title in the Bowling Foundation Long Island Classic last March to earn a PBA Tour exemption.

His ability to generate significantly higher ball revolutions and hooking power than most conventional bowlers dazzled the near-capacity crowd watching the first of three squads Thursday morning.

“The general consensus is that I would bowl better on the ‘burn’," he said, referring to the second squad of the day when lane oil is moved around by the first squad to sometimes create a higher scoring environment. “Actually I've never done that well on the conditions where there's lots of carrydown oil. When I bowled on that condition yesterday I was 40 over and very happy to do that well.

“On the fresh condition like we had today I'm usually more confident. If I can play an area where nobody has played, that can be an advantage for me.”

The top 88 in the field of 352 advance to a nine-game cashers’ round Friday morning. The top 24 after 27 games will advance to eight-game match play rounds Friday night and Saturday to determine the four finalists for Sunday’s live ESPN telecast at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.

At stake is the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour’s final major title of the 2009-10 season, a $60,000 first prize and a three-year PBA Tour exemption.

67TH LUMBER LIQUIDATORS U.S. OPEN
Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis, Thursday, Feb. 25

THIRD ROUND (after 18 games)

1, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 4,117. (Storm)
2, David Beres, Waukesha, Wis., 3,939.
3, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 3,920. (Storm)
4, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,915.
5, Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., 3,914.
6, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 3,905.
7, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 3,895.
8, Robert Smith, Columbus, Ohio, 3,894.
9, PJ Haggerty, Clovis, Calif., 3,877.
10, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 3,861.
11, Dave D'Entremont, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, 3,857.
12, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 3,853.
13, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 3,846.
14, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 3,837.
15, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 3,832. (Storm)
16, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 3,820.
17, Brian LeClair, Athens, N.Y., 3,819. (Roto Grip)
18, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 3,816.
19, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 3,804.
20, Jason Wojnar, Chicago, 3,803.
21, (tie) Troy Wollenbecker, Miami, and Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 3,801.
23, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 3,783. (Roto Grip)
24, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3,780. (Storm)
25, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 3,775. (Roto Grip)
26, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 3,774.
27, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 3,754. (Storm)
28, Chad Kloss, West Allis, Wis., 3,752.
29, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 3,744.
30, Daniel Hannagan, Mt. Juliet, Tenn., 3,739.
31, (tie) Bob Hale, Louisville, Ky., and Anthony Jordan, Sycamore, Ill., 3,738.
33, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 3,734. (Storm)
34, Ronnie Russell, Camby, Ind., 3,732.
35, Shannon Buchan, Waterloo, Iowa, 3,730.
36, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 3,729.
37, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 3,719.
38, Ken Jessee, Huber Heights, Ohio, 3,717.
39, Rudy Kasimakis, Baldwyn, Miss., 3,709.
40, Rick Hara, Darien, Ill., 3,700. (Storm)
41, Ken Simard, Greenville, S.C., 3,698.
42, (tie) Steve Harman, Indianapolis, and Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 3,696.
44, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 3,692.
45, (tie) Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., and Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 3,690.
47, Stevie Weber, Chalmette, La., 3,686.
48, Jeff Carter, Springfield, Ill., 3,684. (Storm)
49, Jesse Buss, Wichita, Kan., 3,680.
50, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 3,678.
51, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 3,677.
52, Todd Book, Wapakoneta, Ohio, 3,675.
53, Scott Gilmore, Lafayette, Ind., 3,674.
54, Shannon Pluhowsky, Kettering, Ohio, 3,665.
55, Tim Pfeifer, Cranberry Twp., Pa., 3,651.
56, Jimmy Cook, Indianapolis, 3,646.
57, J.R. Raymond, Belleville, Ill., 3,643.
58, John Szczerbinski, Wichita, Kan., 3,642.
59, (tie) Patrick Girard, Canada, and Mark Sullivan, Indianapolis, 3,640.
61, Brian Voss, Alpharetta, Ga., 3,638.
62, George Brooks, Loveland, Colo., 3,636.
63, Terry Krawec, Canada, 3,633.
64, Antonio Medina, Davenport, Iowa, 3,632.
65, Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,631. (Storm)
66, Carleton Chambers, Detroit, 3,627.
67, Ron Dixon, Boynton Beach, Fla., 3,621.
68, (tie) Jeffrey Roche, Dearborn, Mich., and Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 3,618.
70, Michael Christensen, Great Falls, Mont., 3,615.
71, Jack Laffey, Indianapolis, 3,613.
72, (tie) Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., and Tony Reyes, San Bruno, Calif., 3,612.
74, (tie) John May, Lincolnton, N.C., and Bo Goergen, Midland, Mich., 3,609.
76, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 3,608.
77, (tie) Mitch Beasley, Puyallup, Wash., and Matthew Zasowski, Buffalo, N.Y., 3,607.
79, Andro Simounet, Babson Park, Fla., 3,605.
80, Josh Brown, Molalla, Ore., 3,604.
81, Craig Hanson, Orlando, Fla, 3,603.
82, Bobby Hall II, Landover, Md., 3,602.
83, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 3,600.
84, Joe Green, Maplewood, Ohio, 3,599.
85, (tie) Corey Young, Steeleville, Ill., and Joel Carlson, Omaha, Neb., 3,597.
87, Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 3,596.
88, Chris Hansen, Chicago, 3,594.

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February, 2010