After qualifying for two PBA Fall Swing television finals over the weekend in Allen Park, Mich., Sean Rash was forced to make a mad dash to arrive in Cali, Colombia, late Monday where he joined his Team USA teammates for the opening event of the Pan American Bowling Confederation Adult Championships.

It proved to be a “golden” trip for Rash.

It began on Sunday morning at Thunderbowl Lanes where the PBA, at the request of Team USA, provided a practice session on the PABCON lane condition for the players who were going to miss the official PABCON practice session. Most of the U.S. players then left for Colombia, but Rash still had TV finals to take care of.

After his final TV appearance Sunday, Rash (pictured above) rushed to the Detroit airport and flew to Houston. From Houston he flew to Panama. From Panama he flew to Cali. After arriving in Colombia on Monday, he had an hour-long drive directly to the bowling center in Cali, arriving just in time to bowl his PABCON singles event.

Rash started his six-game singles event with a 289, closed with another 289, and in between compiled a PABCON-record 1,482 pins to win the gold medal by seven pins over teammate and fellow PBA competitor John Szczerbinski (left). Colombia’s Manuel Otalora (right; also a PBA member) won bronze with 1,466 pins.

Szczerbinski, Marshall Kent and Ronnie Russell were among the PBA members who competed in the PBA Fall Swing before heading to Colombia. On Tuesday, Szczerbinski and amateur partner AJ Chapman (right, l-r) combined for 2,786 pins to win the men’s doubles gold medal by 20 pins over teammates Kent and Russell.

Canada’s Francois Lavoie, a leading contender for PBA Rookie of the Year honors after qualifying for two PBA Fall Swing telecasts on CBS Sports Network, and teammate Mitch Hupé won the doubles bronze medal for Canada with 2,755 pins, and on Wednesday, Hupé, Lavoie and Zach Wilkins (left, l-r) won the trios gold medal with 4,255 pins, 335 pins ahead of the Team USA trio of Russell, Chapman and Kent.

The PABCON Championships continue into the weekend with five-player team, all-events and Masters events yet to be contested. Women’s competition in the same events will be held next week.

Fourth Annual PBA Fall/Summer Swing Tidbits

The PBA Fall Swing began in Milwaukee in 2013 as the PBA Summer Swing, and through its four-year history, already has compiled a portfolio of interesting tidbits:

The “Swing” has had three hosts in four years: AMF Bowlero in suburban West Allis, Wis., in 2013 (where a different entry system was used, allowing players to enter individual events); FireLake Bowling Center in Shawnee, Okla., in 2014 and ’15, and Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich., in 2016.

Like its big brother, the World Series of Bowling, the “Swing” has been based on three distinct animal pattern lane conditions serving as independent tournaments while also serving as qualifying stages leading to the main event, similar in concept to bicycle racing’s Tour de France which includes sprint, mountain climbing and flat-land stages leading to the podium at the end. Since its beginning, the “Swing” has challenged bowlers to perform well on the Wolf (short 32-foot), Bear (flat 40-foot) and Badger (long 52-foot) patterns in order to advance to the Milwaukee/Oklahoma/Detroit Open finals.

The Fall/Summer Swing has consistently rewarded players with one of the highest cashing ratios in the sport. Example: the Fall Swing in Detroit paid just over $200,000 in prize money (including $125,000 in added money) for a cashing ratio of 2.7:1. The added prize money and better-than-average cashing ratio was very similar to the previous two Summer Swings in Shawnee, each of which also included roughly $125,000 in added prize money.

Detroit’s Fall Swing introduced Dennis McCamery Jr. as “PBA Emcee,” a role he also serves with the NBA’s Orlando Magic. A lifelong PBA fan, McCamery helped entertain the standing room-only crowds with a variety of free giveaways and other interactive fan experiences.

With five nationally-televised events in each of the four “Swing” events, players have had opportunities to make a grand total of 20 CBS Sports Network appearances. Forty different players have appeared in at least one “Swing” telecast, but the overall leader in CBS Sports Network TV finals is Australia’s Jason Belmonte with 11 shows, two more than Bill O’Neill. Tommy Jones is third with six.

Since its inception, the PBA Fall/Summer Swing has aired exclusively on CBS Sports Network. The 2016 PBA Fall Swing series will air on five consecutive Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET beginning on Sept. 21 with the Wolf Open finals, Sept. 28 with the Bear Open finals, Oct. 4 with the Badger Open finals, Oct. 12 with the Detroit Open finals and Oct. 19 with the King of the Swing, featuring the previous four title-winners plus the leading points winner from the Fall Swing who didn’t win a title. In the event a player wins more than one title event, the next-highest player in points will earn a King of the Swing berth.

A significant bonus for Fall Swing players was 10 invitations to participate in the lucrative 2017 DHC PBA Japan Invitational next January. The 10 invitees – along with the highest woman qualifier – based on total money won in Detroit will be announced after the King of the Swing telecast on Oct. 19.

Next up on Xtra Frame: PBA Midwest Finals

A new addition to the Xtra Frame schedule will be tape-delayed coverage the men’s and women’s stepladder finals of the QubicaAMF PBA Midwest Region’s Diamond Jo Midwest Open and PBA-PWBA Diamond Jo Women’s Midwest Open from Cherry Lanes inside Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque, Iowa.

The Midwest Open stepladder finals will air on Xtra Frame on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 5 p.m. ET and the Women’s Midwest Open finals will air on Thursday, Sept. 29, also at 5 p.m. ET. Both shows also will be available in the Xtra Frame archives, and both shows will air on the Time-Warner Cable system in the Milwaukee area at times to be determined.

Xtra Frame’s coverage of PBA Tour competition resumes with the two-day Xtra Frame PBA Parkside Lanes Open from Aurora, Ill., Oct. 1-2. A week later, PBA players will head to Florida for the PBA Reality Check Tamarack Open presented by Xtra Frame at Sawgrass Lanes in suburban Fort Lauderdale.

The Illinois and Florida events are the sixth and seventh events in an eight-tournament Xtra Frame PBA Tour points competition that will reward the overall winner with a $10,000 bonus. Each event winner receives 25 points with the next 19 players earning points in descending value, starting with 19 points for second place, 18 for third, etc.

The top 10 in Xtra Frame PBA Tour points heading into Aurora are: E.J. Tackett (66), Tommy Jones (56), Ryan Ciminelli and Sean Rash (44 each), Anthony Simonsen (42), Kyle Troup (40), Shawn Maldonado (36), Jason Sterner (34), Dick Allen (33) and Bill O’Neill (31).

The Xtra Frame PBA Tour points competition ends with the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open which will be part of the PBA Fall Classic presented by South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas Oct. 28-Nov. 1.

Deadline extended for PBA, Women’s PBA-PWBA Regional Qualifying

Competition points qualifying dates for both the QubicaAMF PBA Regional Challenge and PBA-PWBA Women’s Regional Challenge events that will be held as part of GEICO World Series of Bowling VIII in Reno on Sunday, Nov. 27, have been extended to Sunday, Oct. 16.

That means PBA members still have nearly a month to try to become their home region’s points champion – man or woman – to earn a berth in the Challenge finals in Reno along with a paid entry to bowl in the GEICO WSOB VIII. During that time frame, four PBA Regions (Midwest, East, West and Central) also will host exclusive women only PBA-PWBA Regional events.

For entry information for all PBA events, visit pba.com and look for specific events under the “Schedules” tab.

QubicaAMF PBA Regional Update: Ryan Shafer wins in PBA50 debut

Ryan Shafer (pictured above with companion Liz Kuhlkin, right), who turned 50 on Aug. 18, defeated Jay Boyle of Garnet Valley, Pa., 259-237, to win the PBA50 Howell Lanes Open presented by Radical Sunday in Howell, N.J., in his debut as a PBA “senior” player. The five-time PBA Tour titlist from Horseheads, N.Y., earned $1,600 along with his 28th overall QubicaAMF PBA Regional title.

For Boyle, the runner-up finish moved him to the top of the PBA50 East Region points and earnings lists.

Shafer defeated Sam Maccarone of Blackwood, N.J., 225-209, and Boyle defeated Ken Yokobosky of Fredon, N.J., 216-190, in the semifinal round.

Ryan Ciminelli (pictured with host Brian VanMeter, left) of Cheektowaga, N.Y., defeated Sam Cooley of Australia by 264 pins to win the PBA Moon City Central Classic at Astro Lanes in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Sunday.

Ciminelli finished with a 10-1-1 match play record and a total of 5,084 pins for 20 games, including match play bonus pins, to win the $3,300 first place prize along with his 10th career QubicaAMF PBA Regional title.

PBA Hall of Famer Tom Baker (left) of King, N.C., won back-to-back PBA60 and PBA50 PBA South Region titles in Mooresville, N.C., and newly-eligible PBA60 competitor Tom Carter of Columbus, Ohio, completed the QubicaAMF PBA South Region’s annual extended Labor Day “tripleheader” with his first “super senior” win at Warpath Lanes in Kingsport, Tenn.

Baker kicked off the series by defeating Jeff Bellinger of Columbia, S.C., 2-1, in the best-of-three-game final of the PBA60 Wilson & Sons Termite and Pest Control Southern Open at Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C., on Sept. 3. Two days later, Baker again rallied from a first-game loss to defeat Tommy Martin of Millington, Miss., 2-1, in the PBA50 Budweiser South Open presented by Mooresville Ford and Columbia 300, also at Victory Lanes.

Along with his 33rd and 34th overall regional titles, Baker earned $2,400 for winning the PBA60 event and another $2,600 in the PBA50 event.

The South Region players then traveled to Tennessee where Carter, who turned 60 on Aug. 24, won the PBA60 Kingsport Southern Open win a 213-172 decision over top qualifier Dennis Lane of Kingsport. Carter earned $1,800 along with his title.

With the Oct. 16 deadline looming for GEICO World Series of Bowling VIII Regional Challenge qualifying, only a handful of tournaments remain for QubicaAMF PBA Regional players to earn points toward berths in the WSOB. Women bowlers should keep in mind that in all standard PBA Regional events, PBA-PWBA points are awarded to women according to how they finish against other women in the field.

The Sept. 16-18 QubicaAMF PBA Regional schedule features the Rex & Griffin Bigelow Memorial/Nance Construction/BW3 Central Open presented by MOTIV at Troy Bowl in Troy, Ohio; the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort Southwest Invitational at FireLake Bowling Center in Shawnee, Okla.; the Sands Regency West/Northwest Fall Classic (plus a Fall Challenge for non-titlists and a PBA50 event for senior players), and the Diamond Jo Midwest Open and PBA-PWBA Diamond Jo Midwest Opens at Cherry Lanes in Dubuque, Iowa. Also on tap is the PBA/PBA50 Cordova Lanes Over/Under Doubles in Cordova, Tenn.

Sept. 23-25 will include the Florence Bowling Center Central Open in Florence, Ky.; the Thunderbowl Midwest Open (and PBA50 Midwest Open) in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and the TSI On-Site Express Northwest Open (and PBA50 TSI On-site Express Open) at Narrows Plaza Bowl in Tacoma, Wash. Also scheduled for the Sept. 23-25 weekend is the PBA/PBA50 Millsboro Lanes Eastern Doubles in Millsboro, Del.

For complete QubicaAMF PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, click here to find the event(s) in your area.

Quick Notes

Concrete Software’s PBA Bowling Challenge Mobile game is asking fans to vote on what new Product Registered balls they would like to see introduced into the game. This week fans can vote on the Radical ball they’d like to see added to the PBA Bowling Challenge. To take the survey, click here.

When the “winning” ball based on fan input is selected, it will be available along with a code to purchase the ball for 50% off (the code will be available on PBA’s and the specific companies’ social media pages). Each company also will have a flashback weekend where all its previous balls will be available for that weekend only.

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