Rhino Page (pictured left) of Dade City, Fla., set a blistering pace as the 50th anniversary Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions got underway at Woodland Bowl Wednesday, averaging 249 for his first 16 games to take an 18-pin lead over Canada's Dan MacLelland (right) into Thursday's third and final qualifying round.

Page, the 2008 PBA Rookie of the Year is now 31 and still recovering from wrist surgery in July of 2013. He leads the field of 113 players with 3,984 pinfall total.

MacLelland, who temporarily held the lead Wednesday night, finished with 3,966 pins in his bid for his first PBA Tour title. Right behind MacLelland was 50-year-old Mike Scroggins (left) of Amarillo, Texas, with a 3,894 total and Tom Smallwood (right) of Saginaw, Mich., with 3,868 pins.

MacLelland, a former Saginaw Valley State collegiate star, won his only PBA Regional title in 2010, but he has been close on the national tour, making eight television shows and finishing second in the 2010 Shark Championship plus fourth in last year's TOC.

"I'm not frustrated; I'm just trying to give myself chances," the 29-year-old MacLelland said.

"You have to roll with it, or you'll hinder yourself. The last few shows I've made, I think I've been doing the right things. I'm getting closer and closer. I won the gold medal (in the World Bowling Men's World Championships) in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates in December) against the same guys I'm bowling against now, so I know I can do it. It's just a matter of time."

Defending TOC winner Jason Belmonte (left) of Australia advanced from 21st after the opening round to fifth place, 141 pins behind Page. Belmonte, who won his third consecutive United States Bowling Congress Masters title Sunday in Green Bay, Wis., is the two-time reigning PBA Player of the Year, and he's trying for his fifth major title in three years.

Also in contention is Liz Johnson (right) of Cheektowaga, N.Y., in sixth place, 36 pins behind Belmonte. Johnson is the only woman ever to qualify for two PBA Tour television finals.

She hopes to join 2010 Tournament of Champions winner Kelly Kulick of Union, N.Y., as the second woman ever to win a PBA Tour title. Kulick also was in the hunt, sitting in 29th place heading into Thursday's final qualifying round.

Qualifying concludes Thursday, beginning at 10 a.m. ET. After 24 games, the field of 113 will be reduced to the top 24 players for three eight-match rounds of match play Thursday at 5 p.m., and Friday at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. The top five players after 48 games will compete for the $50,000 first prize and the second major title of the 2015 season Sunday at 1 p.m., live on ESPN.

All qualifying and match play rounds are covered live on PBA's Xtra Frame online video streaming channel.

 

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50th PBA Tournament of Champions - Second Round Standings

Players with position, hometown and 16-game total

1, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 3,984
2, Dan MacLelland, Canada, 3,966
3, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 3,894
4, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 3,868
5, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,843
6, Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, New York, 3,807
7, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 3,803
8, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 3,790
9, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 3,780
10, Brian Valenta, Lockport, Ill., 3,777
11, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 3,774
12, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 3,773
13, Dom Barrett, England, 3,751
14, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 3,749
15, Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas, 3,737
16, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 3,726
17, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,723
18, Mike Fagan, Fort Worth, Texas, 3,721
19 (tie), Osku Palermaa, Finland, and E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 3,720
21, Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio, 3,715
22 (tie), Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., and Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 3,712
24, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 3,707
25, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 3,686
26 (tie), Josh Blanchard, Gilbert, Ariz., and J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 3,679
28, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 3,673
29, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 3,669
30, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 3,663
31, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 3,661
32, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 3,660
33 (tie), Travis Celmer, Wernersville, Pa., and Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 3,656
35, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 3,651
36 (tie), Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., and Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 3,648
38, Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 3,645
39, Tom Daugherty, Tampa, Fla., 3,636
40, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 3,633
41, Paul Moor, England, 3,625
42, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 3,623
43, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 3,617
44, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 3,612
45 (tie), Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, and Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, Ariz., 3,604
47, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 3,603
48, Toby Contreras, Lee's Summit, Mo., 3,600
49 (tie), Jesse Buss, Belvidere, Ill., and Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 3,593
51, Dave Wodka, Columbus, Ohio, 3,585
52, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 3,583
53, Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, 3,566
54 (tie), Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, and Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 3,565
56, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 3,548
57, Mike DeVaney, Winchester, Calif. , 3,545
58, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 3,539
59, Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 3,536
60, Sean Swanson, Springfield, Mo., 3,527
61, Carleton Chambers, Detroit, 3,526
62, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 3,524
63, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 3,522
64, Dennis Horan Jr., Oakley, Calif., 3,515
65, Andrew Graff, Las Vegas, 3,512
66 (tie), John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., and Robert Smith, Ventura, Calif., 3,511
68, Bob Learn Jr, Erie, Pa., 3,503
69, Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 3,499
70, Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 3,498
71, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 3,497
72, T.J. Schmidt, Mishawaka, Ind., 3,490
73, Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 3,486
74, George Branham III, Indianapolis, 3,478
75, Brian Voss, Centennial, Colo., 3,476
76, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 3,474
77 (tie), Chris Hartung, Goshen, Ind., and Tim Mack, Indianapolis, 3,469
79, John Furey, Freehold, N.J., 3,467
80, Stuart Williams, England, 3,466
81, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 3,445
82, Chad Lusche, Arvada, Colo., 3,433
83, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 3,423
84, Blake Demore, Springfield, Mo., 3,420
85, Brett Spangler, Niles, Ohio, 3,419
86, Todd Book, Russells Point, Ohio, 3,418
87, David Haynes, Las Vegas, 3,415
88, B.J. Moore II, Apex, N.C., 3,407
89, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 3,401
90, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 3,391
91, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 3,389
92, Lennie Boresch Jr, Kenosha, Wis., 3,385
93, Stephen Nowicki, Rochester, N.Y., 3,373
94, Matthew O'Grady, Matawan, N.J., 3,371
95, Frank Gallo Jr., Jacksonville, Fla., 3,349
96, Brian Nicodemus, Akron, Ind., 3,344
97, Tom Sorce, Richmond, Va., 3,333
98, Brian LeClair, Albany, N.Y., 3,331
99, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 3,329
100, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 3,315
101, Bill McCorkle, Westerville, Ohio, 3,307
102, Chris Spoo, Boyton Beach, Fla., 3,292
102, J.T. "Action" Jackson, Sherman Oaks, Calif., 3,292
104, Dean Billings, Rootstown, Ohio, 3,289
105, Lee Vanderhoef, Rising Sun, Md., 3,273
106, Brett Cunningham, Clay, N.Y., 3,193
107, Gary Faulkner, Norfolk, Va., 3,179
108, Diandra Asbaty, Chicago, 3,166
109, Larry Verble, Mason, Mich., 3,152
110, Larry Montgomery, Safety Harbor, Fla., 3,150
111, Kevin Vostry, Bolingbrook, Ill., 3,130
112, Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., 3,007
113, Craig Nidiffer, Trenton, Mich., 2,723

300 Games (7) - Second Round: Kyle Troup, Chad Lusche. First Round: Brian Voss, Dom Barrett, Scott Norton, Travis Celmer, Lonnie Waliczek.