Chris Loschetter (pictured left) of Avon, Ohio, averaged 253.25 to take the qualifying round lead in the Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Cheetah Championship, the opening event of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IV, at South Point Bowling Center Saturday.

Loschetter, a 32-year-old Professional Bowlers Association veteran who is seeking his first PBA Tour title, rolled games of 249, 278, 236, 222, 244, 279, 289 and 258 on his way to a 2,026 total in front of a packed crowd at South Point.

He held a nine-pin lead over Mike Wolfe (right) of New Albany, Ind. Loschetter and Wolfe led a field of 16 qualifiers who advanced to Saturday night's six-game semifinal round.

The top four players based upon 14-game pinfall totals will advance to the ESPN stepladder finals which will be conducted on Saturday, Nov. 10, at 1 p.m. in the special arena setting in South Point's Exhibition Hall area. The finals will air on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 16.

"It was pretty high scoring. There was lots of striking going on," said Loschetter, who has finished second three times in 127 previous PBA Tour events. "I've been working on being more aggressive at the bottom of my arm swing, which helped my pin carry. Today the key was to not get down on yourself if you had a 220 game. I did a good job of keeping my composure."

Rounding out the top five were Ryan Ciminelli (left) of Cheektowaga, N.Y., in third place with 2,002 pins; and Eddie VanDaniker Jr. (right) of Chatsworth, Calif., and Jeff Roche of Dearborn, Mich., tied for fourth with 1,997 pins.

After winning seven of eight titles in the 2011 PBA World Series of Bowling, none of the 66 international players in this year's capacity field of 240 qualified for the Cheetah semifinal round.

Dominic Barrett (left) of England and Johan Helldén (right) of Sweden missed the cut for 16th place (Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,942) by seven pins in 18th place with 1,935. Barrett's compatriot and fellow PBA champion Stuart Williams was in 20th place with 1,932.

There will be no "three-peat" for Eugene McCune of Munster, Ind. The winner of the last two Cheetah Championships finished in a tie for 38th place with 1,899.

The eight-game qualifying totals from the Cheetah Championship also will count as the first of four qualifying rounds in the PBA World Championship.

Eight-game qualifying totals from Sunday's Viper, Monday's Chameleon and Tuesday's Scorpion Championships will be added to Cheetah qualifying scores to produce the 32-game totals that will determine the 24 players who will advance to the PBA World Championship match play rounds Wednesday and Thursday.

PBA fans can follow scoring as it happens by clicking on the "live scoring" feature on pba.com, or by watching the action live on Xtra Frame, PBA's online bowling channel.

GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling competition continues Sunday with Viper Championship qualifying squads bowling at 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., followed by the Viper Championship semifinal round at 8 p.m.

 

Related Articles

2012-13 PBA Tour Schedule & Champions

 

Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Cheetah Championship - Qualifying Round

Players with position, hometown and 8-game total. The top 16 advance to the semifinal round. Places 17 to 36 show earnings.

1, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 2,026
2, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 2,017
3, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 2,002
4 (tie), Eddie VanDaniker Jr., Chatsworth, Calif., and Jeff Roche, Dearborn, Mich., 1,997
6, Brett Spangler, Niles, Ohio, 1,990
7, Andrew Graff, Las Vegas, 1,984
8, Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., 1,982
9, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 1,971
10, Joe Ciccone, Buffalo, N.Y., 1,964
11, Lee Vanderhoef, Greenville, S.C., 1,961
11, PJ Haggerty, Roseville, Calif., 1,961
13, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,958
14, Josh Blanchard, Gilbert, Ariz., 1,956
15, Hugh Miller, Mercer Island, Wash., 1,946
16, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,942

Missed Cut:
17, Darren Andretta, New Hyde Park, N.Y., 1,940, $1,000
18 (tie), Dom Barrett, England, and Johan Hellden, Sweden, 1,935, $955
20, Stuart Williams, England, 1,932, $920
21 (tie), Patrick Girard, Canada, and Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga., 1,930, $895
23, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,927, $880
24 (tie), Carsten Warming Hansen, Denmark, and Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,922, $865
26, Randy Weiss, Columbia, S.C., 1,921, $850
27, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,920, $840
28, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,919, $830
29, Matt Taylor, Knightdale, N.C., 1,916, $820
30, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,914, $810
31 (tie), Craig Nidiffer, Trenton, Mich., and Paul Koehler, Stuart, Fla., 1,910, $795
33, David Haynes, Las Vegas, 1,907, $780
34 (tie), Mike Fagan, Dallas, and Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,904, $765
36, Dan MacLelland, Canada, 1,901, $750
37, Julio Cesar Blancas, Mexico, 1,900
38 (tie), Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., and Sean Swanson, Springfield, Mo., 1,899
40, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 1,898
41, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,897
42, Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1,891
43, Dennis Eklund, Sweden, 1,885
44, Perttu Jussila, Finland, 1,882
45 (tie), Gregory Thompson Jr., Dublin, Calif., and Jeff Frankos, Daly City, Calif., 1,880
47, Jon VanHees, Charlestown, R.I., 1,877
48 (tie), Osku Palermaa, Finland, and Craig Auerbach, Sunrise, Fla., 1,875
50, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 1,870, $100
51, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 1,869
52, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,868
53 (tie), Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., and Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 1,865
55, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 1,856
56, Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 1,854
57, Kim Hyun-Bum, Korea, 1,849
58 (tie), Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas; Brian Valenta, Lockport, Ill., and Martin Larsen, Sweden, 1,846
61 (tie), Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., and Craig LeMond, Jasper, Ind., 1,845
63 (tie), Andrew Frawley, Australia, and Tim Mack, Indianapolis, 1,843
65, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 1,842
66, Kyle Bigelow, Troy, Ohio, 1,840
67 (tie), Kevin Morillo, Venezuela; Jason Miller, Portland, Ore., and Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,837
70 (tie), Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., and Daniel Falconi, Mexico, 1,835
72, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 1,827
73, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 1,826
74, Robert McBride, Plano, Texas, 1,825
75, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 1,824
76 (tie), Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., and Chad Vendeville, Arlington, Texas, 1,823
78 (tie), D.J. Archer, Port Arthur, Texas, and Kevin Henderson, Albany, Ore, 1,822
80 (tie), Hafthor Hardarson, Iceland; Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., and Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 1,816
83 (tie), Erik Andersin, Sweden, and Kim Meen-Woo, Korea, 1,814
85, Mike DeVaney, Hemet, Calif., 1,809
86 (tie), Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio; Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., and Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 1,808
89, Roberto Silva, Mexico, 1,807
90, Kris Koeltzow, Wheat Ridge, Colo., 1,803
91, Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, 1,802
92 (tie), Fawaz Abdulla, Bahrain, and Jason Stadtler, Cherry Hill, N.J., 1,799
94, Adam Monks, Conway, S.C., 1,798
95 (tie), Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore., and Kim Bolleby, Sweden, 1,797
97 (tie), David Beres, Waukesha, Wis., and Mattias Olsson, Sweden, 1,796
99, Yoon Yeo-Jin, Korea, 1,794
100 (tie), Jacob Heger, Houston, and Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 1,791
102, Jim Pratt, Glendale, Ariz., 1,790
103, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 1,787
104, Chris Groom, Lancaster, Calif., 1,786
105, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 1,785
106, Doug Scheidig, Royersford, Pa., 1,781
107 (tie), Mik Stampe, Denmark, and Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 1,779
109, Mike Williams II, Montgomery, Ala, 1,778
110 (tie), Kim Hyun-Suk, Korea, and Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 1,777
112, Helen Johnsson, Sweden, 1,776
113, Mike Bailey, Allen, Texas, 1,772
114, Humberto Vazquez, Mexico, 1,770
115 (tie), Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., and Scott Halvarson, Lakewood, Wash., 1,768
117 (tie), Brad Miller, St. Charles, Mo., and Kirk Sauro, Dearborn Heights, Mich., 1,767
119 (tie), Tommy Martin, Olive Branch, Miss., and Mathias Ã…rup, Sweden, 1,766
121 (tie), Hernan Ramirez, Venezuela; Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, and Greg Knolton, Bartlett, Tenn., 1,763
124, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 1,758
125, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 1,755
126, John Szczerbinski, North Tonawanda, N.Y., 1,754
127 (tie), Thomas Ault Jr., Portland, Ore., and Mikael Kanold, Sweden, 1,752
129, Travis Celmer, Wernersville, Pa., 1,751
130, Jesse Buss, Wichita, Kan., 1,748, $100
131, Eric Forkel, Henderson, Nev., 1,747
132 (tie), Chad Pojas, Wahiawa, Hawaii, and Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 1,746
134 (tie), Andrew Cain, Phoenix, and Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 1,741
136, Aaron Lorincz, Belleville, Mich., 1,740
137 (tie), Wayne Stellick, Aurora, Colo., and Ahmed Saad Al-Hadyan, Saudi Arabia, 1,736
139, Brett Cooper, Newburyport, Mass., 1,735
140, William Guszczo, Orland Park, Ill., 1,732
141, Kevin Brophy, Oakhurst, N.J., 1,731
142, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 1,729
143, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 1,728
144, Dale Renken, St. Jacob, Ill., 1,727
145, Erik Gulbrandson, Superior, Wis., 1,725
146, Frank Guccione, Castle Rock, Colo., 1,724
147 (tie), Mike Armstrong Jr., Battle Ground, Wash., and Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 1,722
149, Lee Rucker, Fort Myers, Fla., 1,720
150, Kim Ojala, Sweden, 1,717
151, Kelvin Wiggins, Rocky Mt., N.C., 1,716
152, John Furey, East Windsor, N.J., 1,715
153 (tie), Chris Hans, Rocky Mount, N.C., and Patrick King, Yankton, S.D., 1,712
155, Yousif Falah, Bahrain, 1,710
156, Giorgio Clinaz Jr., Venezuela, 1,705
157, Brett Cunningham, Clay, N.Y., 1,704
158, Ernest Lukacs Jr., Manville, N.J., 1,699
159, Missy Parkin, Lake Forest, Calif., 1,698
160, Matt Ramshaw, Longview, Wash., 1,697
161 (tie), Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., and Nathan Urrutia, Banning, Calif., 1,695
163, Robert Piroozshad, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1,694
164 (tie), Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., and Evan Nash, Kennewick, Wash., 1,689
166, Cha Ji-Hyun, Korea, 1,688
167, Peter Hellström, Sweden, 1,676
168, Allen Blansette, Napa, Calif., 1,674
169, Shawn Lee, Centennial, Colo., 1,673
170, Rob Gotterbarn Jr., Garden City South, N.Y., 1,671
171, Eduardo Yzcaray Jr., Venezuela, 1,670
172 (tie), Travis Anderson, Washington, Ill., and Jo Nam-Yi, Korea, 1,666
174, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,665
175, Jake Peters, Decatur, Ill., 1,661
176, Alejandro Reyna, Costa Rica, 1,658
177, Kyle Leiffer, Weed, Calif., 1,655
178, Justin Stevens, Aiea, Hawaii, 1,654
179, Patrick Bohm, Sweden, 1,651
180, Bryan Viator, Friendswood, Texas, 1,650
181 (tie), Justin Bychkowski, Fairfield, Conn., and Rohn Morton, Vancouver, Wash., 1,649
183, Jimmy Mortensen, Denmark, 1,646
184, Manuel Mrosek, Germany, 1,644
185, Aaron Ramsden, Pleasant Valley, Mo., 1,640
186, Glenn Morgan, Carson City, Nev., 1,637
186, Frederik Øhrgaard, Denmark, 1,637
188, Kevin Gallagher, Torrance, Calif., 1,632
189, Hakim Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia, 1,627
190, Thomas Biniek Jr., Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1,625
191 (tie), Mahdi Assad, Bahrain, and Myles Duty, Modesto, Calif., 1,619
193, Magnus Johnson Jr., Sweden, 1,618
194 (tie), Chris Cundiff, Lake Station, Ind., and Isaac Amkie, Mexico, 1,616
196, Kasey Normandin, Canada, 1,614
197, Gustavo Salinas, Mexico, 1,607
198, Matt Meyer, Alexandria, Minn., 1,605
199, Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., 1,598
200, Mohamed Sultan, Bahrain, 1,597
201, Michael Menard, Canada, 1,595
202, Carlos Cottone, Venezuela, 1,581
203, James Hobson, Converse, Texas, 1,579
204, Michael Smith, Centenniel, Colo., 1,576
205, Tim Arnold, Las Vegas, 1,572
206, John Cicero, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1,564
207, Jeff Evans, Supply, N.C., 1,561
208 (tie), Mohamed Al-Jahrami, Bahrain, and Kenneth Bland Jr., Germany, 1,556
210, Sean Daniels, Aloha, Ore., 1,538
211, Jamar Lee, Livermore, Calif., 1,523
212, Dave Gillson, Phoenix, 1,521
213, Kim Jin-Han, Korea, 1,507
214, Diego Lopez, Colombia, 1,506
215, Philip Medley, Washington, Mich., 1,502
216, Dustin Ochoa, Cibilo, Texas, 1,501
217 (tie), Paul Nilsen Sr., Murrieta, Calif., and Mohammed Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia, 1,497
219, Masood Saberi, Bahrain, 1,495
220, Hameed Taqi, Bahrain, 1,491
221, Chris DosSantos, Fairhaven, Mass., 1,489
222 (tie), Josh Lewis, Asheville, N.C., and Kyle Martinez, Broken Arrow, Okla., 1,487
224, Josh Willis, Orleans, Ind., 1,474
225, Steve Ford, Seaside, Ore., 1,461
226, Wes Newman, Panama City, Fla, 1,446
227, John Perry, Nuevo, Calif., 1,440
228, Adam James, Redmond, Wash., 1,439
229, Ben Davis, Ashland, Ky., 1,437
230, Glen Nakagawa, Highland Village, Texas, 1,412
231, Shawn St. Andre, Garden Grove, Calif., 1,407
232, Richard Rezendes, Cumberland, R.I., 1,394
233, Ted Sidehamer Jr., Newport News, Va., 1,382
234, Troy Behanna, Pasadena, Texas, 1,377
234, Mickey Fry, Akron, Ohio, 1,377
236, Branden Lee, Chicago, 1,359
237, Chris Ashworth, Gallatin, Tenn., 1,353
238, Paolo Joquico, Philippines, 1,300
239, Gradie Merritt-Foster, Park Forest, Ill., 1,220
240, J.T. Jackson, Sherman Oaks, Calif., 1,173

300 Games (11): Daniel Falconi, Johan Hellden, Mike Fagan, PJ Haggerty, Carsten Warming Hansen, Jason Belmonte, Thomas Larsen, Jeff Roche, Chris Hans, Tommy Jones, Jesse Buss.