Nolan Hughes
Standings and Match Play Results
Anthony Simonsen came up two pins shy in last Sunday’s Go Bowling U.S. Open title match, but he’s back with a vengeance this week in Illinois.
Simonsen led the 96-player Groupon PBA Illinois Classic through qualifying, averaging more than 240 at David Small’s Victory Lanes in Decatur, Ill.
He tallied total pinfall of 5,284 (+884) for his 22 games on the 43-foot oil pattern named after Chicago legend Carmen Salvino.
The top 32 players following Qualifying Round 2 on Wednesday competed in the Advancers Round on Thursday afternoon. Following those six games, the top 24 players moved on to the elimination match play bracket.
The top eight players in the field earned a one-round bye in the elimination match play bracket. Matt Ogle, defending champion Santtu Tahvanainen, EJ Tackett, Boog Krol, AJ Chapman, Ethan Fiore and Bill O’Neill joined Simonsen with the night off.
The ninth through 24th qualifiers competed in the first round of the bracket on Thursday night. Each match is the best of seven games.
Tomas Käyhkö made quick work of Darren Tang. The Finnish two-hander took a 3-0 lead with games of 246, 300 and 253 before completing the sweep with a 206-192 victory.
Deo Benard took his time in a seven-game defeat of Matt Russo. Though the match pitted two left-handed players, Benard threw a back-up ball and played the right side of the lane.
While Simonsen is the only player in PBA Tour history to win a title throwing a back-up ball, Simonsen only utilized the shot during select matches and the stepladder finals.
Benard has been throwing a back-up ball since the fourth frame of Game 1 on Tuesday, nearly 30 games ago.
Only one other left-hander, Brandon Runk, remains in title contention. Runk defeated Kyle Troup in seven games to earn a date with Simonsen in the Round of 16.
Another featured player in the upcoming HBO docuseries “Born to Bowl,” Jason Belmonte, fell in seven games during the Round of 24. Belmonte ran out of gas against Alec Keplinger, dropping three of the last four games each with a sub-200 performance.
Jake Peters came up short on Thursday, falling to Kevin McCune in five games.
Peters grew up in Decatur and learned how to bowl at this very bowling center. He shot his first-ever 300 game on lanes 31-32, which will be the TV pair for Sunday’s championship round.
Zach Wilkins dispatched Julian Salinas in six games. After a slow start in Game 1, Wilkins averaged 250 for his next five games to put away the talented rookie.
It appeared Ryan Barnes and Michael Davidson had turned the typically high-scoring oil pattern into a backyard brawl. Neither player broke 240 until the fourth game of the match, where Barnes distanced himself with games of 245 and 256 to close out the match.
Barnes will face EJ Tackett in the Round of 16, starting at 12 p.m. ET (11 a.m. CT) Friday on BowlTV.
The Round of 8, determining the finalists of the season’s fourth title event, will begin at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT).
The winners of each bracket, as well as the highest-seeded loser in the Round of 8, will advance to the stepladder finals.
The stepladder finals will air live Sunday, March 15 at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT) on The CW.
Round of 24 Results
No. 16 Brandon Runk def. No. 17 Kyle Troup, 4-3
No. 9 Zach Wilkins def. No. 24 Julian Salinas, 4-2
No. 10 Shawn Maldonado def. No. 23 Patrick Dombrowski, 4-3
No. 15 Kevin McCune def. No. 18 Jake Peters, 4-1
No. 14 Deo Benard def. No. 19 Matt Russo, 4-3
No. 11 Tomas Käyhkö def. No. 22 Darren Tang, 4-0
No. 12 Alec Keplinger def. No. 21 Jason Belmonte, 4-3
No. 20 Ryan Barnes def. No. 13 Michael Davidson, 4-2
Round of 16 Matches
No. 1 Anthony Simonsen vs. No. 16 Brandon Runk
No. 8 Bill O’Neill vs. No. 9 Zach Wilkins
No. 2 Matt Ogle vs. No. 15 Kevin McCune
No. 7 Ethan Fiore vs. No. 10 Shawn Maldonado
No. 3 Santtu Tahvanainen vs. No. 14 Deo Benard
No. 6 AJ Chapman vs. No. 11 Tomas Käyhkö
No. 4 EJ Tackett vs. No. 20 Ryan Barnes
No. 5 Boog Krol vs. No. 12 Alec Keplinger
Tournament Schedule
All times Eastern
Friday, March 13 — The CW
12 p.m. — Elimination Match Play – Round of 16 (best of seven games)
7 p.m. — Elimination Match Play – Round of 8 (best of seven games)
Sunday, March 15 — The CW
4 p.m. — Finals
