Anthony Simonsen leads Lubbock Sports Southwest Open qualifying

26 June, 2016

PBA National Tour

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Nineteen-year-old Anthony Simonsen of Princeton, Texas, bidding to become the first Professional Bowlers Association player to win three PBA Tour titles in 2016, led the field of 151 players through Saturday’s qualifying in the Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Southwest Open at South Plains Lanes in Lubbock, Texas.

Simonsen won his first PBA Tour title with partner Connor Pickford in the season-opening Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship and then became the youngest player ever to win a PBA Tour major when he won the United States Bowling Congress Masters in Indianapolis in February.

Simonsen, a two-handed player, averaged 236.6 during Saturday’s eight qualifying games to finish with a 1,893 pinfall total for a one-pin lead over Mitch Beasley of Clarksville, Tenn.

Simonsen is hoping for a better outcome than he experienced earlier in June when he was leading qualifier in the Downums Waste Services PBA Jonesboro Open in Jonesboro, Ark. A 1-7 match play performance in Sunday’s finals in Arkansas dropped him to 14th place.

Beasley (left), who is trying for his first PBA Tour title, led qualifying at the PBA FireLake Tournament of Champions in Shawnee, Okla., in February before losing to Sweden’s Jesper Svensson in the title match, 226-177.

Four-time PBA Tour titlist Mike Wolfe (above right) of New Albany, Ind., who hasn’t won since 2009, was in third place with 1,844 pins followed by one-time title winners Jake Peters (left), Henderson, Nev., with a 1,832 total and 2015 PBA World Champion Gary Faulkner Jr. (right) of Memphis, Tenn., with 1,826 pins.

The top 50 bowlers after Saturday’s eight game qualifying round advanced to Sunday’s four-game cashers round at 8:10 a.m. CDT. Based on 13-game pinfall totals, the top 16 players will advance to a modified round robin match play round at noon, leading to the five-player stepladder finals at 4:15 p.m. First prize is $20,000 plus a PBA Tour title if the winner is a PBA member.

All rounds of the Lubbock Sports Open are being video-streamed live on PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.

2016 PBA Tour Schedule & Champions

PBA Lubbock Sports Southwest Open – Final Qualifying Standings

Players with position, hometown and 8-game total; top 50 advance to the cashers’ round; n-denotes non-member

1, Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 1,893
2, Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 1,892
3, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 1,844
4, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 1,832
5, Gary Faulkner, Memphis, Tenn., 1,826
6, Sean Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,823
7, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,819
8, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,811
9, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 1,810
10, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 1,806
11, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,801
12, Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, 1,798
13, n-Tyler Albracht, Amarillo, Texas, 1,797
14, A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 1,792
15, Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 1,788
16, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 1,785
17, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,778
18, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,768
19, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,766
20, Jason Sterner, Cocoa, Fla., 1,764
21, Kristopher Prather, Milton, Fla., 1,749
22, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., 1,745
23, Dom Barrett, England, 1,743
24, Stuart Williams, England, 1,742
25, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,740
26, Jason Duran, Littleton, Colo., 1,735
27, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 1,734
28, n-Dylan Burns, Lawrence, Kan., 1,730
29 (tie) Benjamin Canfield, Tempe, Ariz., and Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 1,729
31, n-Tyson Branagan, Euless, Texas, 1,728
32, Kris Koeltzow, Wheat Ridge, Colo., 1,727
33, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 1,726
34 (tie) Brett Spangler, Niles, Ohio, and n-Trey Sledge, Amarillo, Texas, 1,725
36, n-Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 1,717
37, Stephen Keblish, Oklahoma City, Okla., 1,714
38, n-Thomas Peters, Belleville, Ill., 1,706
39, Joe Findling, Mesquite, Texas, 1,703
40, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 1,702
41, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 1,700
42 (tie) n-John Pierce, Denton, Texas, and Francois Lavoie, Wichita, Kan., 1,698
44, n-Austin Boulds, Creal Springs, Ill., 1,673
45, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,672
46, James Grago, Rome, N.Y., 1,667
47 (tie) n-Stefan Wood, Lubbock, Texas, and Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 1,664
49, Anthony Colosimo, Pembroke Pines, Fla., 1,660
50, n-Marshall Morrison, Amarillo, Texas, 1,653