Wichita Open
$110,000 WICHITA OPEN
Northrock Lanes, Wichita, KS, Jun 10-14, 1997
Voss Claims Wichita Open Title
Brian Voss was in 66th place with six games of qualifying remaining In the Wichita Open at Northrock Lanes. The PBA Hall of Famer then put together a sensational final round of qualifying, three solid blocks of match play and went onto claim his second PBA title of the year. Voss, Atlanta, defeated tournament leader Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 226-201, for his 18th career win and $18,000. Voss would not have even made match play had it not been for a third round which saw him go from 66th to 22nd. From there he climbed to sixth after round four, fifth after round five, and actually held the lead with one game of match play remaining before Bohn grabbed it back with a 269-204 win in the position round game. "I had my bags packed not expecting to make it out of match play," said Voss. "1 doubled in the 10th frame of the last game of the block just to make the cut. You know, you play in hundreds and hundreds of tournaments and it's just an incredible feeling when you win." The ABC-TV telecast started with Walter Ray Williams Jr., Stockton, Calif., going for his third consecutive win in the Showboat "King of the Hill" match against Ricky Ward, N. Fort Myers, Fla., only to be bettered by Ward, 257-246. Bohn was trying to become the first player to win three times In 1997 while Voss' incentive was to give his son (Cameron) a happy birthday present. Both Bohn and Voss started with open frames in the title match after failing to convert splits. Bohn then spared and struck, but fell victim to another open in frame four. He recovered by striking on his next four shots. Voss threw a "threebagger" atter his open frame in the first, then converted a pair of single-pin spares before striking in the seventh and sparing again in the eighth. Bohn led by four pins after eight frames, but a failed split conversion in frame nine cost him the title. Voss struck three more times leaving Bohn with the second place check. CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
PLAYOFF RESULTS-Husted defeated Wilson, 234-214; Voss defeated Husted, 229-216; and in the championship game, Voss defeated Bohn, 226-201. SHOWBOAT "KING OF THE HILL--Ricky Ward defeated Walter Ray Williams Jr., 257-246. Ward earned $10,000. 42-GAME TOTALS OTHER CASHERS *-Mitchell Beasley withdrew after 36 games and was replaced by Tommy Delutz Jr. who was penalized 35 pins, the difference between their qualifying totals. Butch Soper then became the alternate. 18-game qualifying leader-Andy Neuer, 4218. 24th place-Ron Williams, 3871. 34th place-Steve Jaros, 3824. #-Tim Criss, Dave Husted and Bob Spaulding rolled 300 games ($100 each). PRO-AM CASHERS-David Ozio, Wayne Webb, Curtis Odom, Eugene McCune ($50 each), Randy Pedersen, Bryon Smith and Walter Ray Williams Jr. ($34 each). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
