April 10, 2023 Nolan Hughes

The individual portion of the World Series of Bowling XIV commenced on Easter Sunday. Through two rounds of PBA Cheetah Championship qualifying, Joseph Grondin leads the field at Bowlero Wauwatosa.

Grondin, who made his championship round debut at the PBA Shawnee Classic earlier this season, leads the field with a 10-game total pinfall of 2,415 (+415). He averaged over 241 across two five-game rounds on the 35-foot pattern. He threw a combination of urethane and reactive equipment.

“The thing that best matched up for me was really just revving it into the floor early,” Grondin said. “I'm feeling pretty neutral. There's really nothing else to say other than I need to continue to make one shot at a time.”

Santtu Tahvanainen, Shawn Maldonado, Packy Hanrahan and Pontus Andersson round out the top five. AJ Johnson, aided by a 300 in Game 9, sits in sixth place.

Maldonado led the first round of qualifying, averaging over 251. He opened the second round with 300, but his scoring pace slowed down as the pattern transitioned.

“The fresh has been pretty good to me,” Maldonado said. “Between moving pairs in this building and transition, it can get tough. The first block, I was able to figure it out. The second was a little more tricky for me. Maybe one of the new balls will match up a little bit better (because) I’m just not setting the shape right now.”

Players said the high-scoring Cheetah pattern has traditionally put them in prime position for the World Championship — which combines scores from the Cheetah, Scorpion and Shark qualifying rounds — but Maldonado is focused on one frame at a time.

“Man, I’m not even looking ahead,” Maldonado said. “There’s so many games left, to look ahead is going to mentally drain me out. We’ve got 40 more games — shoot, we’ve got 50 more games!”

The third round of Cheetah Championship qualifying begins at noon ET on Monday, April 10. The top five players after Rounds 3-4 (20 games) will advance to the championship round, airing live Monday, April 17 on FS1.

Round 2 Leaders

  1. Joseph Grondin, 2,415 (+415)
  2. Santtu Tahvanainen, 2,408 (+408)
  3. Shawn Maldonado, 2,400 (+400)
  4. Packy Hanrahan, 2,396 (+396)
  5. Pontus Andersson, 2,370 (+370)
  6. AJ Johnson, 2,365 (+365)
  7. BJ Moore, 2,357 (+357)
  8. Kevin McCune, 2,348 (+348)
  9. Darren Tang, 2,345 (+345)
  10. Matt Kuba, 2,337 (+337)

Full standings are available here.

WSOB XIV Schedule

All times listed in Eastern.

Monday, April 10
Noon — Cheetah Championship Qualifying Round 3 (five games)
7 p.m. — Cheetah Championship Qualifying Round 4 (five games)

Tuesday, April 11
Noon — Scorpion Championship Qualifying Round 1 (five games)
7 p.m. — Scorpion Championship Qualifying Round 2 (five games)

Wednesday, April 12
Noon — Scorpion Championship Qualifying Round 3 (five games)
7 p.m. — Scorpion Championship Qualifying Round 4 (five games)

Thursday, April 13
Noon — Shark Championship Qualifying Round 1 (five games)
7 p.m. — Shark Championship Qualifying Round 2 (five games)

Friday, April 14
Noon — Shark Championship Qualifying Round 3 (five games)
7 p.m. — Shark Championship Qualifying Round 4 (five games)

Saturday, April 15
2:30 p.m. on FOX — USA vs. The World Day 1
Tickets are available here.

Sunday, April 16
Noon on FS1 — USA vs. The World Finals
Tickets are available here.

Monday, April 17
7 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Cheetah Championship Finals
Tickets are available here.

Tuesday, April 18
7 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Scorpion Championship Finals
Tickets are available here.

Wednesday, April 19
7 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Shark Championship Finals
Tickets are available here.

Thursday, April 20
10 a.m. — PBA World Championship Match Play Round 1 (six games)
2:30 p.m. — PBA World Championship Match Play Round 2 (six games)

Sunday, April 23
Noon on FOX — PBA World Championship Finals
Tickets are available here.