February 10, 2022 Chase Kaufman

As the PBA National Tour kicks off, the PBA and PBA50 Regional Tours kick off as well. Not only that, but back by popular demand, the Regional Players Invitational (RPI) returns with it. Throughout 2022, players competing on the PBA and PBA50 Regional Tours have the opportunity to earn points by competing in events to qualify for the end-of-the-year tournament to earn more cash and a chance at earning another title. During the season, be sure to check in right here on pba.com for updates regarding regional results as well as the RPI leaders in each region. Nine regional events wrapped up over the last few weeks, which includes six in the West, two in the Southwest, and one in the Central, so let’s recap them right now.

Southwest Region

PBA50 Odessa Southwest Winter Open - January 21-23

Starting in the Lone Star State, making the trip from Double Oak to Odessa, Chris Barnes emerged triumphant in the first regional event of the season. Barnes earned his second PBA50 regional title at the PBA50 Odessa Southwest Winter Open and his 31st regional title overall. Shooting 1,756 for eight games of qualifying, Barnes advanced to the cashers round in 3rd place and never looked back. With a 1,233 for his next five games, Barnes jumped to first and eventually completed the job in match play, finishing almost 250 pins ahead of second-place Tony Lanning of Yukon, Oklahoma. Barnes earns 2,500 points for his performance and takes the early lead in the PBA50 Southwest Region.

PBA50 Odessa Southwest Winter Open Final Standings

  1. Chris Barnes, 2,500 points, $2,600
  2. Tony Lanning, 1,500, $1,600
  3. Steve Fields, 1,150, $1,050
  4. Chris Warren, 950, $900
  5. Lee White, 850, $850

PBA Odessa Southwest Winter Open - January 21-23

Simultaneously, the PBA Odessa Southwest Winter Open took place in Texas as well. Jon DeLaney, who also competed in the PBA50 event, saved his big games for competing against the young'uns. DeLaney of McKinney, Texas missed the PBA50 cut by just 20 pins but made up for it by averaging 233 for 8 games in this event. An 1,121 for five games in the cashers round kept him in contention as they headed into match play where he’d eventually bolt back up to first. In match play, DeLaney never had a game below 212 and his 258 in the position round would be more than enough. The Texan clinched his first PBA title of any kind and took home a $2,800 check and 2,500 regional points to go with it.

PBA Odessa Southwest Winter Open Final Standings

  1. Jon DeLaney, 2,500, $2,800
  2. Ildemaro Ruiz Jr., 1,500, $1,800
  3. Anthony Lavery-Spahr, 1,150, $1,350
  4. Joseph Grondin, 950, $1,000
  5. Andy Patterson, 850, $900

View the Southwest Region points standings

View the Southwest Region PBA50 points standings

West Region

PBA Glendale Open – January 21-23

Moving about 700 miles west, both the PBA and PBA50 Glendale Open took place. In the PBA Glendale Open, it came down to a battle of the Kyles. Kyle Duster out of Scottsdale, Ariz. took on Kyle King of Glendale, Ariz. in a three-game series where Duster won the battle shooting a 638 to King’s 569. Duster, now the back-to-back champion of this event, grabbed $2,000 and 2,500 points toward the West Region rankings along with the third regional title of his career.

PBA Glendale Open Final Standings

  1. Kyle Duster, 2,500, $2,000
  2. Kyle King, 1,500, $1,300
  3. Jim Pratt, 950, $900
  4. Andrew Cain, 850, $750
  5. Chad Lusche, 775, $750

PBA50 Glendale Open – January 21-23

Hailing from Las Vegas, Nev., a familiar face stood atop the metaphorical podium at the PBA50 Glendale Open. Grabbing his 23rd PBA50 Regional title, Ron Mohr defeated Jimmy Montgomery in the final. Montgomery, who was looking for his first-ever PBA title, fell to Mohr in a three-game series format, 643-545. This marks back-to-back wins for Mohr at the PBA50 Glendale Open and gives him 2,500 points in the West Region as he begins his quest to become the West Region PBA50 Bowler of the Year for the second year in a row.

PBA50 Glendale Open Final Standings

  1. Ron Mohr, 2,500, $1,800
  2. Jimmy Montgomery, 0, $1,000
  3. Warren Eales, 1,150, $800
  4. Tony Rodriguez, 950, $800
  5. Ron Schloss, 0, $650

PBA50 Tracy Open – January 28-30

The West’s circuit continued the following weekend with the PBA50 Tracy Open in Tracy, California. After a 22-year layover, Rick Meneley of Santa Maria, CA, finally reached the winner's circle once again. From 1994 to 2000, Meneley crossed “win a regional title” off his bucket list by winning five standard PBA regional titles in the mountain and pacific time zones. Now, Meneley can cross “win a PBA50 regional title” off his list as well. Following eight games of qualifying and 12 games of match play, Meneley had assembled nearly a 200-pin lead over second place to win the title and $2,100. Rick is currently tied for the lead in the West Region with Ron Mohr at 2,500 points apiece.

PBA50 Tracy Open Final Standings

  1. Rick Meneley, 2,500, $2,100
  2. Steve Fields, 1,500, $1,300
  3. Warren Eales, 1,150, $1,100
  4. Troy Silfies, 0, $900
  5. Joe Petrovich, 850, $800

PBA60 Super Senior Tracy Open – January 28-30

Staying in the same city, but to the super seniors, it came down to Ty Dawson and Don Sutherland for the title. Following 15 games of bowling with one to go, 55 pins separated Sutherland and Dawson for the PBA60 title. Dawson was the veteran in this scenario, amassing five PBA50 Regional titles since 2006 with his latest coming in Modesto just three years ago, while Sutherland went into the final game title-less. History mattered not though, as Sutherland delivered a nine-bagger to shoot 270 in the final game of the day and take his first career title back home to San Jose. Sutherland received $1,800 for his efforts and, more important, a banner.

PBA60 Super Senior Tracy Open Final Standings

  1. Don Sutherland, $1,800
  2. Ty Dawson, $1,000
  3. Mitchell Vernon, $800
  4. Marty Deh, $750
  5. Mike Webb, $600

PBA West Non-Champions presented by South Point – February 4

Just this past weekend, three more events took place, starting with the PBA West Non-Champions presented by South Point. Joe Gerenscer of Henderson, Nevada will no longer be eligible for this event, but for good reason. After numerous attempts, Gerenscer finally broke through to grab title number one. Joe just barely made it into bracket play by qualifying 15th, but he would take full advantage from there on out. Beginning his run with an upset of the two seed, Gerenscer continued the journey by sweeping his opponent in every round up to the finals. Chase Nadeau, a former Arizona State collegiate bowler, remained as his last challenger in the deciding match. It was a tight match in which both amateurs struggled to find a good look, but a turkey midway through led Gerenscer to the win 195-179.

PBA West Non-Champions presented by South Point Final Standings

  1. Joe Gerencser, $2,450
  2. Chase Nadeau, $1,500
  3. Ramsey Basurto, $1,150
  4. Chris Klerk, $1,150
  5. Hunter Mayes, $850.00

 

PBA Member/Non-Member Doubles presented by South Point – February 4-6

For a change of pace, the West held the always-entertaining member/non-member doubles tournament in Las Vegas. Each bowler rolled eight games apiece and the top 16 teams moved onto brackets. The cut line sat at +220 requiring teams to average a shade over 213 to continue. In the finals, the team of Chad Lusche and JJ Phillips who ran through the bracket as the 12-seed encountered the pro-am six-seeded duo of Nolan Baker and Nicholas Wilson. Lusche and Phillips’ Cinderella story ended at the hands of Baker and Wilson as the lefties got off to a hot start and never looked back. With their families in attendance, the southpaws came through in an emotional victory, winning 451-388.

PBA Member/Non Member Doubles presented by South Point Final Standings

  1. Nolan Baker, 2,500, $2,100
  2. Nicholas Wilson, 0, $2,100
  3. Chad Lusche, 1,500, $1,400
  4. Justin Phillips, 0, $1,400
  5. Chris Klerk, 0, $1,000
  6. Kevin Jenkins, 0, $1,000
  7. Kendle Miles, 0, $1,000
  8. Clay Rees, 0, $1,000
  9. Andrew Cain, 715, $725
  10. Ed Smaglik, 0, $725.00

 

View the West Region points standings

View the West Region PBA50 points standings

Central and Midwest Regions

PBA50 Plaza Lanes Central/Midwest Open – February 4-6

Now we travel over to the east of the Mississippi for the PBA50 Plaza Lanes Central/Midwest Open. This event opened its doors to many big names given that the U.S. Open transpired just under an hour away. After eight games of qualifying, big names littered the leaderboard, as the top 16 bowlers held 194 combined regional titles of any kind. Twelve more round-robin games would then eliminate 11 of the 16 bowlers, but the five stepladder bowlers still combined for an astounding 129 combined regional titles. After the five-seed Eugene McCune defeated the four-seed Dave Wodka in match one 247-224, the chalk held in every match from there on out. McCune would fall to Chris Barnes 235-193 in match two, then Barnes dropped a close one to Tom Hess 259-246, but Parker Bohn III prevailed in the final match 256-215. Bohn nailed regional title number 35 into his résumé and snagged first-place points for the Central and Midwest Regions.

PBA50 Plaza Lanes Central/Midwest Open Final Standings

  1. Parker Bohn III, 2,500, $1,500
  2. Tom Hess, 1,500.00, $1,000
  3. Chris Barnes, 1,150, $900
  4. Eugene McCune, 950, $850
  5. Dave Wodka, 850, $800

In the upcoming weeks, points aplenty will be available in the South and Central regions, particularly for the PBA50 Regional Tours. States such as Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, and North and South Carolina reside on the schedule of events in February and March. The full lineup can be found here.