Rhino Page (pictured left) of Wesley Chapel, Fla., averaged 235.6 for eight games to take the first round lead in the Professional Bowlers Association Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes Wednesday.

Page, a three-time Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour titlist, had a 1,885 pinfall to hold a 43-pin lead over Mike Fagan (right) of Patchogue, N.Y. in second with 1,842.

Australian two-hander Jason Belmonte (1,840) is mere three pins behind in third place with Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., (1,833) in fourth and Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C (1,825) in fifth.

Page is hoping to avenge his defeat in the championship match of last year's Tournament of Champions where he threw a four-count washout in the 10th frame, handing the victory to Patrick Allen. Allen, currently in 21st after today's first round, defeated Page 267-263.

"I was miserable for about a day," said the 26-year-old Page recalling last year's defeat. "Obviously it was a big disappointment, but I wasn't going to let it affect me. I just kept looking ahead.

"I'm coming in here really focused and motivated this year and I'm off to a good start but there's a long way to go."

The 63-player field will bowl another eight-game qualifying round at 5 p.m. this afternoon and one more eight-game qualifying round Thursday morning. The field will then be cut to the top 24 qualifiers who will advance to match play which begins Thursday evening and continues with two additional rounds on Friday. The top four after 48 games will advance to Sunday's stepladder finals which air at 1 p.m. Eastern (10 a.m. Pacific) on ESPN.

The Tournament of Champions, one of four majors on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour, is open exclusively to Tour exempt-player champions; the winners of the most recent PBA Regional Players Championship and Regional Players Invitational; the USBC Masters winner; the USBC Senior Masters, PBA Senior U.S. Open and PBA Senior World Championship winners; all Tournament of Champions past winners, PBA Hall of Famers and the PBA Women's Championship winner (Kelly Kulick, 26th 1,737).

 

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PBA Tournament of Champions - Standings after Round 1

Pos	Player	Hometown	Games	Total	Avg.	+/- 200
1.	Rhino Page	Wesley Chapel, Fla.	8	1885	235.63	285
2.	Mike Fagan	Patchogue, N.Y.	8	1842	230.25	242
3.	Jason Belmonte	Australia	8	1840	230.00	240
4.	Sean Rash	Wichita, Kan.	8	1833	229.13	233
5.	Tommy Jones	Simpsonville, S.C.	8	1825	228.13	225
6.	Pete Weber	St. Ann, Mo.	8	1815	226.88	215
7.	Wes Malott	Pflugerville, Texas	8	1807	225.88	207
8.	Robert Smith	Columbus, Ohio	8	1799	224.88	199
9.	Walter Ray Williams Jr.	Ocala, Fla.	8	1797	224.63	197
10.	Mika Koivuniemi	Howell, Mich.	8	1796	224.50	196
11.	Bryan Goebel	Shawnee, Kan.	8	1792	224.00	192
12.	Michael Haugen Jr.	Carefree, Ariz.	8	1783	222.88	183
13.	Eugene McCune	Munster, Ind.	8	1781	222.63	181
14.	Wayne Webb	Sacramento, Calif.	8	1774	221.75	174
(tie)	Amleto Monacelli	Venezuela	8	1774	221.75	174
(tie)	Ernie Schlegel	Vancouver, Wash.	8	1774	221.75	174
17.	Anthony LaCaze	Melrose Park, Ill.	8	1766	220.75	166
18.	Norm Duke	Clermont, Fla.	8	1763	220.38	163
19.	Danny Wiseman	Baltimore	8	1760	220.00	160
20.	Dave Wodka	Chatsworth, Calif.	8	1759	219.88	159
21.	Patrick Allen	Wesley Chapel, Fla.	8	1757	219.63	157
22.	Harry Sullins	Chesterfield Twp., Mich.	8	1756	219.50	156
23.	Michael Machuga	Erie, Pa.	8	1754	219.25	154
24.	John Nolen	Grand Blanc, Mich.	8	1739	217.38	139
25.	Jack Jurek	Lackawanna, N.Y.	8	1738	217.25	138
26.	Kelly Kulick	Union, N.J.	8	1737	217.13	137
27.	Tom Smallwood	Saginaw, Mich.	8	1730	216.25	130
28.	Joe Ciccone	Buffalo, N.Y.	8	1728	216.00	128
29.	Dave D'Entremont	Middleburg Heights, Ohio	8	1726	215.75	126
30.	Steve Jaros	Yorkville, Ill.	8	1725	215.63	125
31.	Brad Angelo	Lockport, N.Y.	8	1715	214.38	115
32.	Mike Scroggins	Amarillo, Texas	8	1713	214.13	113
(tie)	Ritchie Allen	Columbia, S.C.	8	1713	214.13	113
34.	Parker Bohn III	Jackson, N.J.	8	1709	213.63	109
35.	Lonnie Waliczek	Wichita, Kan.	8	1706	213.25	106
36.	Scott Norton	Costa Mesa, Calif.	8	1701	212.63	101
37.	Chris Barnes	Double Oak, Texas	8	1699	212.38	99
38.	Del Ballard Jr.	Keller, Texas	8	1697	212.13	97
39.	Tony Reyes	San Bruno, Calif.	8	1694	211.75	94
40.	Jason Couch	Clermont, Fla.	8	1689	211.13	89
41.	Mike DeVaney	San Diego	8	1685	210.63	85
(tie)	Doug Kent	Newark, N.Y.	8	1685	210.63	85
43.	Christopher Collins	Savannah, Ga.	8	1682	210.25	82
44.	Hugh Miller	Mercer Island, Wash.	8	1679	209.88	79
45.	Ryan Shafer	Horseheads, N.Y.	8	1678	209.75	78
46.	Mark Williams	Beaumont, Texas	8	1676	209.50	76
47.	Bill O'Neill	Southampton, Pa.	8	1671	208.88	71
48.	Brian Voss	Alpharetta, Ga.	8	1670	208.75	70
49.	Dale Traber	Cedarburg, Wis.	8	1667	208.38	67
50.	Dave Arnold	Dublin, Calif.	8	1661	207.63	61
51.	Tom Baker	King, N.C.	8	1641	205.13	41
52.	John Petraglia	Jackson, N.J.	8	1633	204.13	33
53.	Brian Himmler	Cincinnati	8	1628	203.50	28
54.	Bryon Smith	Roseburg, Ore.	8	1620	202.50	20
55.	Rick Lawrence	Waxahachie, Texas	8	1605	200.63	5
56.	Jeff Carter	Springfield, Ill.	8	1604	200.50	4
57.	Mike Mineman	St Louis	8	1602	200.25	2
(tie)	Mike Wolfe	New Albany, Ind.	8	1602	200.25	2
59.	Roy Buckley	Westerville, Ohio	8	1570	196.25	-30
60.	Mike Edwards	Tulsa, Okla.	8	1551	193.88	-49
61.	Dave Soutar	Bradenton, Fla.	8	1531	191.38	-69
62.	Don McCune	Las Vegas	8	1526	190.75	-74
63.	Carmen Salvino	Schaumburg, Ill.	8	1466	183.25	-134