Pete Weber (pictured left) of St. Ann, Mo., won his first seven matches in the Lucas Oil PBA Milwaukee Open Wednesday night at AMF Bowlero to storm into a 23–pin lead over Chris Barnes (right) of Double Oak, Texas, heading into Thursday's final two match play rounds.

Weber, who entered the opening round of Milwaukee Open match play in fifth place, steadily moved up to finish the day with a 43-game total of 9,792 pins, including 210 match play bonus pins.

His only loss came in his final match against fellow 37-time PBA Tour titlist Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., 213-201. Barnes, a 14-time PBA Tour winner, held the lead early in the round and finished with 9,769 pins.

Canada's Dan MacLelland (left), who is trying for his first PBA Tour title and the first ever by a Canadian, was in third place with 9,615 pins followed by Duke (right) with a 9,603 total and three-time Tour winner Eugene McCune (below left) of Munster, Ind., with 9,588 pins.

The first round of Milwaukee Open match play was contested on the challenging 40-foot Bear lane conditioning pattern, a scoring environment similar to the U.S Open lane condition which is considered the most difficult in bowling. Weber has won the U.S. Open a record five times, so he embraced the challenge.

"I don't mind this pattern at all," he grinned. "The lanes were a little different today than they were yesterday (for the Bear Open)," he added. "I started the day with a 160 game, so I changed to a ball I figured wouldn't work, and I shot 240, 230, 230, 230 in the last four games of qualifying.

"Tonight I tried another ball I didn't think would work, used it for three games on the left lane along with a different ball on the right lane, and I felt good about it.

"I got to move inside to the fourth and fifth arrow, and I like playing in there. My arm swing was loose and when your arm swing is loose, good things happen."

Wednesday, the Milwaukee Open match play finals conclude with an eight-game round on the 32-foot Wolf Open pattern at 11 a.m. and eight games on the 52-foot Badger lane condition at 5:30 p.m. The top five players after 59 games will advance to the Milwaukee Open stepladder finals Sunday at noon.

The Milwaukee Open is the fourth and final event in the GEICO PBA Summer Swing presented by Lucas Oil. Finalists in the Milwaukee Open qualified during the Badger, Wolf and Bear Open tournament, conducted on three different lane conditions over the past eight days at AMF Waukesha, AMF West and AMF Bowlero, respectively.

The Milwaukee Open match play rounds are being covered live, exclusively on PBA's online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.

The stepladder finals for the Badger, Wolf, Bear and Milwaukee Opens will be contested Saturday at 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. respectively. The GEICO Summer King of the Swing special event will follow the Milwaukee Open finals Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The Summer Swing finals will air on five consecutive Tuesdays at 7 p.m. ET beginning June 11.

 

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PBA Milwaukee Open - Match Play Round One

Players with position, hometown, W-L-T record and 43-game total including bonus pins (30 per win, 15 for a tie). The top five after 59 games advance to stepladder finals.

1, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 7-1, 9,792
2, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 5-3, 9,769
3, Dan MacLelland, Canada, 6-2, 9,615
4, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 6-2, 9,603
5, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 4-4, 9,588
6, Mike Fagan, Fort Worth, Texas, 3-4-1, 9,562
7, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 3-4-1, 9,545
8, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 4-4, 9,517
9, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 2-6, 9,515
10, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 2-6, 9,427
11, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 4-4, 9,396
12, Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga., 5-3, 9,391
13, Aaron Lorincz, Belleville, Mich., 4-4, 9,387
14, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 5-3, 9,383
15 (tie), Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 5-3, and Andres Gomez, Colombia, 3-5, 9,380
17, Jake Peters, Decatur, Ill., 4-4, 9,352
18, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 4-4, 9,333
19, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 5-3, 9,314
20, Patrick Girard, Canada, 3-5, 9,225
21, Jon VanHees, Charlestown, R.I., 2-6, 9,204
22, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 2-6, 9,157
23, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3-5, 9,131
24, Brian Valenta, Lockport, Ill., 4-4, 9,103

 

PBA Milwaukee Open - Match Play Round One

Players with position, hometown and 35-game total. The top 24 advance to match play.

1, Bill O'Neill , Langhorne, Pa. 7896
2, Mike Fagan , Fort Worth, Texas, 7877
3, Chris Barnes , Double Oak, Texas, 7862
4, Chris Loschetter , Avon, Ohio, 7824
5, Pete Weber , St. Ann, Mo. 7804
6, Andres Gomez , Colombia, 7757
7, Anthony LaCaze , Melrose Park, Ill. 7751
8, Aaron Lorincz* , Belleville, Mich. 7736
9, Dan MacLelland , Canada, 7726
10, Eugene McCune , Munster, Ind. 7717
11, Patrick Allen , Wesley Chapel, Fla. 7678
12, Jon VanHees , Charlestown, R.I. 7665
13, Norm Duke , Clermont, Fla. 7634
14, E.J. Tackett , Huntington, Ind. 7627
15, Michael Haugen Jr. , Phoenix, 7622
16, Ryan Ciminelli , Cheektowaga, N.Y. 7616
17, Dino Castillo , Carrollton, Texas, 7609
18, Ryan Shafer , Horseheads, N.Y. 7607
19, Jason Sterner , McDonough, Ga. 7592
20, Jake Peters , Decatur, Ill. 7589
21, Nathan Bohr , Wichita, Kan. 7575
22, Tommy Jones , Simpsonville, S.C. 7543
23, Patrick Girard , Canada, 7524
24, Brian Valenta , Lockport, Ill. 7515

Missed Cut:
25, Mika Koivuniemi , Hartland, Mich. 7489
26, Osku Palermaa , Finland, 7478
27, Sean Rash , Montgomery, Ill. 7476
28, Andrew Graff , Las Vegas, 7408.