Rolando Sebelen of the Dominican Republic, a multi-medalist in international competition, averaged 232 to dominate the first round of qualifying in the PBA50 Cup presented by DV8 Friday at Spectrum Lanes in Wyoming, Michigan.

The PBA50 Tour rookie bowled a 1,857 eight-game pinfall total with games of 248, 248, 264, 214, 191, 227, 231 and 234 to a hold 77-pin lead over Brian Kretzer of Dayton, Ohio, in second with a 1,780.

“I’m feeling great and my physical game is very good,” Sebelen (featured photo) said. “I didn’t want to change my ball so I just kept moving left on the lane so my ball would have a good angle to the pocket and carry the 10 pins. In the 190 game, I bowled good but left a lot of 10 pins. I moved a little more left and didn’t leave so many 10 pins.”

The 50-year-old Sebelen has been a member of the Dominican Republic national bowling team for 32 years. Among his most notable finishes in international competition were a doubles bronze medal in the 2007 Pan Am Games and a team gold medal in the 1989 World Bowling Championships.

Sebelen’s best finishes this season have come in two other PBA50 Tour majors, an eighth-place finish in the PBA50 National Championship and 10th in the Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open.

“I’ve bowled many tournaments internationally so I have a lot of experience bowling on many different lane conditions,” Sebelen (left) added. “With every PBA50 tournament I bowl I get more comfortable and I feel that I can win.”

Still trying for his first PBA50 Tour win, Kretzer (right) has three top-three finishes this season which include a runner-up finish in the Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open and third-place finishes in the River City Extreme Open and Security Federal Savings Bank Championship.

Kretzer had games of 237, 220, 193, 230, 247, 190, 227 and 236 in the first round.

“I’m trying hard to win one of these things,” said Kretzer, who owns one PBA Tour title. “I had a good shot and got a solid start right from the get-go so I was able to keep that momentum going for the rest of the round. I made a few mistakes but I learned from them and made the adjustments I needed to make.”

Rounding out the top five after the first round were PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss (left), Centennial, Colo., 1,779; seven-time PBA Tour winner Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 1,744, and three-time PBA50 Tour winner Harry Sullins (right), Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 1,734.

The entire field returns Saturday for another eight-game qualifying round beginning at 10 a.m. ET after which the top 30 players will advance to two modified round-robin match play rounds beginning Sunday morning at 9 a.m. After match play, the top five players will be determined for the stepladder finals at 7 p.m.

The PBA50 Cup is streamed live on PBA’s online bowling channel PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling. For subscription and schedule information click here.

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2018 PBA50 Tour Schedule & Champions

PBA50 Cup – First Round Results

Players with position, hometown and 8-game total. n-non-member; ss-PBA60 players ages 60 and over.

1, Rolando Sebelen, Dominican Republic, 1,857
2, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 1,780
3, ss-Brian Voss, Centennial, Colo., 1,779
4, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 1,744
5, ss-Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 1,734
6, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,730
7, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,722
8, Keith Lesko, Prosper, Texas, 1,705
9, n-Micahel Kereluk, Warren, Mich., 1,678
10, Peter Knopp, Germany, 1,675
11, ss-Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 1,672
12, Greg Thomas, Irmo, S.C., 1,665
13, Larry Verble, Mason, Mich., 1,664
14, Scott Greiner, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 1,660
15, Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 1,658
16, Tony Johnson, Canton, Ohio, 1,648
17, ss-Tom Baker, King, N.C., 1,646
18, Jeff Johnson, Freeport, Ill., 1,644
19, ss-Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,638
20, (tie) Bo Goergen, Sanford, Mich., and
ss-Ron Mohr, Las Vegas, 1,636
22, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 1,624
23, Mark Sullivan, Indianapolis, 1,622
24, ss-Charlie Tapp, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1,617
25, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 1,616
26, ss-John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 1,614
27, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 1,610
28, Tony Rodriguez Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 1,607
29, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,606
30, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 1,601
31, John Burkett, Southlake, Texas, 1,600
32, Brian LeClair, Albany, N.Y., 1,589
33, Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., 1,586
34, (tie) Paul LeMond, Jasper, Ind., and
Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 1,576
36, ss-Michael Lucente, Warren, Mich., 1,573
37, Larry Salvati, Canada, 1,572
38, Eddie Graham, Kettering, Ohio, 1,566
39, ss-Dave Bernhardt, Romeo, Mich., 1,565
40, ss-David Axon, Bellevue, Neb., 1,564
41, ss-John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,563
42, Steve Kenyon, Grosse Ile., Mich., 1,558
43, Gary Alstott, Washington, Ill., 1,556
44, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 1,550
45, Steven DiMartino, Upper Saddle River,N.J., 1,549
46, Terry Metzner, Kentwood, Mich., 1,543
47, Todd Kjell, Roscoe, Ill., 1,541
48, John Marsala, St. Louis, Mo., 1,537
49, John Kidwell, Indianapolis, Ind., 1,534
50, ss-Christopher Keane, Cape Coral, Fla., 1,533
51, ss-Gary Kammes, Winfield, Ill., 1,518
52, ss-Marc Lineberry, Camanche, Iowa, 1,514
53, (tie) ss-Kevin Foley, Reno, Nev., ss-Lee Brosius, Ashburn, Va., and
n, ss-George Phillips, Centreville, Mich., 1,511
56, Rick Zakrajsek, Lorain, Ohio, 1,510
57, ss-Edward Silva, Manteca, Calif., 1,509
58, Glenn Smith, New York, 1,504
59, (tie) Dave Han, Birmingham, Ala., 1,498
59, ss-Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,498
61, Gary Schluchter, Femont, Ohio, 1,496
62, ss-n-Peter Minaudo, Chesterfield, Mich., 1,494
63, ss-Gary Reh, Fort Mohave, Ariz., 1,480
64, ss-Brendan Bierch, Grafton, Mass., 1,479
65, ss-Tom Carter, Columbus, Ohio, 1,469
66, n-Curtis Matlock, Cloquet, Minn., 1,466
67, David Scardaville, Houston, Texas, 1,462
68, Danny Clark, New Palestine, Ind., 1,459
69, ss-Bruce Hall, Westborough, Mass., 1,456
70, John Conroy, Mahopac, N.Y., 1,446
71, ss-Paul Mielens, Menomonie, Wis., 1,433
72, ss-James Storts, Westfield, Ind., 1,419
73, ss-Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,412
74, Al Danz Jr., Escanaba, Mich., 1,405
75, ss-Warren Nelson, Hemet, Calif., 1,400
76, Timothy Rice, Kaukauna, Wis., 1,381
77, ss-Mark Nance Sr., Grove City, Ohio, 1,380
78, ss-Phillip Moros, Lombard, Ill., 1,379
79, ss-Ross McDonald, Las Vegas, Nev., 1,374
80, (tie) ss-Dale Reh, Appleton, Wis., and
Dennis Briggs, New Galilee, Pa., 1,366
82, Ernie Segura Jr., Taylor, Mich., 1,349
83, ss-Galen Keas, Alda, Neb., 1,321
84, Glenn Morgan, Carson City, Nev., 1,319
85, ss-Robert Davis, Annapolis, Md., 1,220