EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., rolled the only 300 game in the opening round to lead a group dominated by rising 20-something stars after the first eight qualifying games in the Professional Bowlers Association’s Xtra Frame Parkside Lanes Open Saturday.

Tackett (featured photo), a nine-time PBA Tour champion and already a former PBA Player of the Year at age 25, took advantage of his 300 game and 200 bonus pins to finish the eight-game round with a 2,086 pinfall total and an 87-pin lead over 26-year-old Canadian left-hander Graham Fach (left).

The PBA Xtra Frame Parkside Lanes Open, a Go Bowling! PBA Tour event, is the inaugural tournament in the PBA’s new live streaming relationship with FloSports, and features multi-lane condition challenges as well as a unique scoring system that awards bonus pins based upon how players score in relationship to the other players on their respective pair of lanes each game.

With heat index hovering in the 110-degree range outside Parkside Lanes, Tackett rolled games of 259, 218, 224, 232, 300, 215, 225 and 213 for an actual 235.75 average. Fach, the first Canadian ever to win a PBA Tour title (2016 PBA Players Championship), finished with 1,999 pins. Jason Sterner (above right) of Rockledge, Fla., the oldest player among the leaders at the age 34, was third with 1,992 pins. Tied for fourth were 23-year-old Andrew Anderson (left), Holly, Mich.; 25-year-old Marshall Kent (below right), Yakima, Wash., and 25-year-old AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., all with 1,985 pins.

Anderson and Australia’s Jason Belmonte are the only two-time PBA Tour title winners in 2018 (Belmonte isn’t competing in Aurora). Johnson is the only player among the leaders without a PBA Tour title.

With PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling following the action from start to finish, the event includes eight-game qualifying rounds Saturday and Sunday, with the top 27 qualifiers after 16 games advancing to Monday’s eight-game cashers round.

Saturday’s qualifying was contested on the PBA Chameleon lane condition. Sunday’s 10 a.m. qualifying round will be bowled on the Don Carter lane condition and Monday’s cashers round, also at 10 a.m., will involve the PBA Bear oiling pattern. All three involve 39-foot applications of oil with variations in the amount of oil applied as well as how it is distributed across the lanes.

After 24 games plus bonus pins, the top five will bowl in the stepladder finals at 3 p.m. CDT with the top qualifier selecting the oil pattern for the finals.

The “bonus pin” scoring system for qualifying works like this: with four players on each pair of lanes, the player who bowls the highest score each game will earn an additional 30 bonus pins. The second highest player will earn 20 bonus pins, and the third-high player will get an extra 10 pins. The lowest scoring player on the pair won’t get any bonus pins. In case of ties, bonus pins will be divided.

All PBA Xtra Frame events for the rest of the season will be covered live, from first ball to last, by PBA’s new live streaming partner, FloBowling.com. Subscriptions are available at FloBowling (existing Xtra Frame subscribers can transition their current subscriptions by visiting FloBowling.

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PBA Xtra Frame Parkside Open – First Round Standings

Players with position, hometown and 8-game total, including bonus pins; n-denotes non-PBA member.

1, EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 2,086.
2, Graham Fach, Canada, 1,999.
3, Jason Sterner, Rockledge, Fla., 1,992.
4 (tie) Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich.;
Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., and
AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 1,985.
7, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 1,969.
8, Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., 1,958.
9, Matt Kuba, Chicago Ridge, Ill., 1,948.
10, Matt O’Grady, Rahway, N.J., 1,935.
11, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 1,917.
12, Dom Barrett, England, 1,916.
13, Zach Doty, Campbellsville, Ky., 1,911.
14, Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, 1,908.
15, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,893.
16, Mitch Hupe, Canada, 1,892.
17, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 1,888.
18, Matt Sanders, Indianapolis, 1,882.
19, Jason Miller, Plano, Ill., 1,869.
20, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,853.
21, Richard McCormick, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1,846.
22, Kristopher Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 1,833.
23, Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 1,827.
24, Kyle Sherman, O’Fallon, Mo., 1,826.
25, AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa, 1,821.
26, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,813.
27, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 1,807.
28, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 1,806.
29, Matthew McNiel, Minneapolis, Minn., 1,802.
30, n-Mike Dole, Loves Park, Ill., 1,798.
31, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 1,795.
32, Gerald Marrs, Lake in the Hills, Ill., 1,790.
33 (tie) Aaron Beaver, Goshen, Ind., and
Nicholas Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 1,782.
35, Keven Williams, Springfield, Mo., 1,780.
36, Nathan Michalowski, Burlington, Wis., 1,778.
37, Kyle Walther, Columbus, Ohio, 1,777.
38, Charlie Brown Jr, Grandville, Mich., 1,773.
39, n-Alex Leeman, Appleton, Wis., 1,770.
40, Michael Vitalone, Jr., Lake Worth, Fla., 1,767.
41, Michael Davidson, Versailles, Ohio, 1,758.
42, n-Patrick Hanrahan, Greenwich, Conn., 1,757.
43, Dakota Vostry, Chicago, 1,752.
44, JR Raymond, Clinton Twp., Mich., 1,747.
45, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 1,734.
46, Joseph Kruzel Jr, Addison, Ill., 1,731.
47, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 1,724.
48, Cameron Weier, Tacoma, Wash., 1,711.
49, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,707.
50, Richie Teece, England, 1,697.
51, n-William Guszczo, Orland Park, Ill., 1,690.
52, Kyle Cook, Centerville, Ohio, 1,689.
53, Francois Louw, South Africa, 1,686.
54 (tie) Kurt Pilon, Warren, Mich., and
Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 1,684.
56, Kenny Calkins III, Des Moines, Iowa, 1,681.
57 (tie) John Furey, Howell, N.J., and
n-Germaine Tyler, Bolingbrook, Ill., 1,680.
59 (tie) n-Victor Cortez, Waukegan, Ill., and
Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 1,676.
61, Bobby Hall II, Landover, Md., 1,670.
62, n-Joseph Grondin, San Pedro, Calif., 1,667.
63, Steven Taylor, Tremont, Ill., 1,659.
64, n-Brent Boho, Colgate, Wis., 1,650.
65, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 1,645.
66, n-Jim Spigner, Vernon Hills, Ill., 1,641.
67, n-Ron Fujita, El Sobrente, Calif., 1,635.
68, Scott Merritt, Iowa City, Iowa, 1,632.
69, Phillip Watson, Belleville, Ill., 1,630.
70, Michael Schlabach, Goshen, Ind., 1,618.
71, Christopher O’Neil, Decatur, Ill., 1,617.
72, n-Mike Kicmal, LaGrange, Ill., 1,613.
73, n-Tom Carter, Aurora, Ill., 1,610.
74, Cristian Azcona, Puerto Rico, 1,605.
75, Ryan Zagar, Racine, Wis., 1,588.
76, CJ Kirchner, Cartersville, Ill., 1,585.
77, Trent Knoop, Sidney, Ohio, 1,565.
78, n-Zach Rhoades, Lafayette, Ind., 1,558.
79, n-Christopher Dower, Cary, Ill., 1,555.
80, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 1,554.
81, n-Joshua Berry, Glasgow, Ky., 1,552.
82, n-Josh Parkin, Urbana, Ohio, 1,550.
83, Brandon Curtis, Manson, N.C., 1,529.
84, n-Kevin Sickler, Plainfield, Ill., 1,526.
85 (tie) Shane Yesovich, Boardman, Ohio, and
Tyler Wilds, Three Rivers, Mich., 1,523.
87, n-Will Clark, Montgomery, Ill., 1,516.
88, n-Daniel Hall, Wolfforth, Texas, 1,514.
89, Dakoda Christianson, Rice Lake, Wis., 1,497.
90, Peter Switalski, Oak Forest, Ill., 1,492.
91, Ryan Lakota, Shorewood, Ill., 1,490.
92, Matt Taylor, Youngsville, N.C., 1,487.
93, Tristan Butler, Fort Wayne, Ind., 1,461.
94, ss-Larry Helton, Bolingbrook, Ill., 1,444.
95, Michael Baker, Moline, Ill., 1,440.
96, Jason Gittleson, Southern Pines, N.C., 1,402.
97, n-Glenn Itter, Aurora, Ill., 1,400.
98, n-William Thompson, Romeoville, Ill., 1,389.
99, n-Kevin Henkens, Fort Madison, Iowa, 1,363.
100, John Contos, Crystal Lake, Ill., 1,227.
101, ss-Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., 961.
102, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., withdrew.
103, Ryan Ciminelli, Clarence, N.Y., withdrew.
104, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., withdrew.

300 games (1) – EJ Tackett.