Retired U.S. Air Force veteran Mitch Beasley (pictured left) of Clarksville, Tenn., will make a bid for his first Professional Bowlers Association major title Sunday as top qualifier in the 51st FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions after dominating match play Friday at FireLake Bowling Center.

Beasley, a 47-year-old right-hander, won 13 of his final 14 matches Friday, and tied the other one, to advance from third place to first, finishing with a 48-game total of 11,559 pins.

Beasley has never finished higher than fourth in a PBA Tour event, but he has won 20 PBA titles, including at least two titles in six of the PBA's seven domestic regions where he was based during his 20-year military career. Beasley served as a crew chief on C130s and recruiter for the U.S. Air Force.

"I retired on Jan. 1, 2008, and left the next day to bowl on Tour."

On Sunday, he will face the player who emerges from three preliminary matches in a one-game duel for the $50,000 first prize.

Also qualifying for Sunday's ESPN stepladder finals were 2015 PBA Rookie of the Year Jesper Svensson (left) of Sweden, a left-handed two-hander who turns 21 on Feb. 15; two-time defending champion Jason Belmonte (right) of Australia; 2013 PBA Rookie of the Year EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., and one-time PBA Tour winner Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Fla., who is best known for the 100 game he bowled against eventual winner Mika Koivuneimi in the 2011 Tournament of Champions finals.

Daugherty will bowl Tackett, a two-time runner-up in major championships, in the first match. The winner will try to end Belmonte's bid for a record-tying third consecutive TOC title in match two. The match two winner bowls Svensson in the semifinal match for the right to meet Beasley in the title contest.

For Beasley, Friday's final round was the best performance of his career. "I made four changes to my game two weeks ago. I was really focused on the changes and make good shots and let the ball tell me what to do," he said. "I felt the pressure, but I was just trying to make the shots I needed to make.

"I missed my best years as an athlete while I was in the Air Force, so when you have the opportunity, you have to take advantage of it," he added.

"When I started bowling on Tour, I got hurt twice, once with a shattered wrist and then I missed a couple of years with hip and back injuries, so about half of my time, I've been hurt. It feels good to be healthy again."

Sunday will give him a chance to realize the goal he's always dreamed of.

"It's every bowler's dream to win a national title, and to have a chance to have your first title be a major, that's the ultimate," Beasley said. "That's what I've worked for ever since the first time I picked up a bowling ball when I was 19 and in the service in Germany."

Sunday's live ESPN stepladder finals will be contested on a special two-lane installation inside FireLake Arena at 1 p.m. CST (2 p.m. Eastern). First prize in PBA's first major championship of the 2016 season will be $50,000.

 

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51st PBA FireLake Tournament of Champions - Final Match Play Standings (sixth round overall)

Players with position, hometown, W-L-T record and 48-game total, including match play bonus pins; top 5 advance to the stepladder finals

1, Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 20-3-1, 11,559
2, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 14-10, 11,455
3, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 15-9, 11,421
4, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 17-7, 11,300
5, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 15-9, 11,203

Missed Cut:
6, Dom Barrett, England, 14-9-1, 11,188, $5,500
7, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 16-8, 11,168, $5,000
8, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 12-11-1, 11,088, $4,500
9, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 12-12, 10,964, $4,000
10, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 12-12, 10,857, $3,800
11, Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 11-13, 10,801, $3,600
12, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 15-9, 10,793, $3,400
13, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 8-16, 10,774, $3,200
14, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 11-13, 10,747, $3,100
15, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 7-16-1, 10,744, $3,000
16, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 12-12, 10,732, $2,900
17, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 11-13, 10,654, $2,800
18, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 10-14, 10,609, $2,700
19, y-Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 9-7, 10,602, $2,600
20, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 8-16, 10,535, $2,500
21, Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 8-16, 10,501, $2,400
22, x-A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 10-14, 10,349, $1,000
23, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 7-17, 10,316, $2,300
24, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 8-16, 10,295, $2,200
25, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 4-4, 7,133, $1,500
x-Johnson replace Norm Duke, who withdrew due to a neck injury; y-Sterner replaced Pete Weber, who withdrew due to a hip injury.

300 games (1) - Dom Barrett.

 

51st PBA FireLake Tournament of Champions - Match Play Round 2 Standings (fifth round overall)

Players with position, hometown, W-L-T record and 40-game total, , including match play bonus pins

1, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 9-7, 9,431
2, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 11-5, 9,399
3, Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 12-3-1, 9,348
4, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 12-4, 9,296
5, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 10-6, 9,284
6, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 11-5, 9,230
7, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 8-8, 9,081
8, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 11-5, 9,076
9, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 6-9-1, 9,055
10, Dom Barrett, England, 8-7-1, 9,022
11, Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 8-8, 8,998
12, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 8-8, 8,984
13, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 4-12, 8,947
14, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 7-9, 8,925
15, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 8-8, 8,902
16, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 5-10-1, 8,881
17, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 7-9, 8,858
18, Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 6-10, 8,797
19, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 6-10, 8,793
20, y-Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 5-3, 8,776
21, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 7-9., 8,712
22, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 6-10, 8,661
23, x-A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 7-9, 8,524
24, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 4-12, 8,411
x-Johnson replace Norm Duke, who withdrew due to a neck injury; y-Sterner replaced Pete Weber, who withdrew due to a hip injury.

300 games (1) - Anthony Simonsen.