Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y. appears to have picked up where he left off last season. Ciminelli led Wednesday's Tournament Qualifying Round (TQR) with a 1,710 pinfall to easily earn a spot in the Pepsi Viper Championship at Thunder Alley in Omaha, Neb.

Last season, the 22-year-old made a name for himself, by advancing past five TQRs into the main field. In fact, he became only the fourth bowler to lead a TQR in back-to-back events in both the Lumber Liquidators Earl Anthony Classic in Reno and the PBA Exempt Doubles Classic in Las Vegas. Ciminelli went on to finish a career-best 10th in Medford last year.

In Wednesday's TQR, Ciminelli bested the field by at least 67 pins.

"You always have to think that you can finish No. 1 because if you have that attitude, even if you don't get it, but you're close, you have a good shot of making it past the TQR," Ciminelli said. "I never made it out (of TQR) on Viper (lane condition) before. I was 0-2 coming into this event. Last year it was the Scorpion pattern which I usually have good luck on, but I didn't make it out."

Ciminelli is confident that he can continue his success here in Omaha.

"The key is just for me to stay relaxed," he said. "As soon as I get anxious, any time I had too much adrenaline, the ball would not read the lane right."

Also earning spots in Thursday's Round of 64 were: Rick Miller of Lincoln. Neb. with a score of 1643, Scott Newell of Deland, Fla. with 1608 pins, Lonnie Waliczek of Wichita, Kan. with a score of 1551, P.J. Haggerty of Clovis, Calif at 1546 and Jonathan Van Hees of Newport, R.I. with a score of 1530.

Competition continues with the qualifying Round of 64. There are two squads of qualifying (A and B). Each squad will bowl one 7-game block on Thursday, Oct. 30 in which the top 32 players will advance. The Women's Series Round of 16 also takes place on Thursday.

Bowlers making the cut will return on Friday morning, Oct. 31 for nine games of round robin match play for the Round of 32 and Round of 16. The top four finalists will advance to the live ESPN finals in stepladder match play on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 1 pm ET.