William Gates Led Qualifying At PBA50 Petraglia Championship
Jackson, Michigan – William “Bill” Gates of Saginaw, Michigan experienced an out-of-body, full-circle moment during qualifying at the PBA50 Petraglia Championship.
The last time he competed at a PBA tournament was the 2003 World Championship in Taylor, Michigan. His sixth-month-old daughter, Skye was in attendance, and he knew after that event he “had to get a real job, if you will, and take care of the family.”
Fast forward to this week, while competing in his first PBA50 tournament, Gates averaged 244.50 Tuesday over eight-games to move into first place. He shot 194, 245, 257, 267, 239, 248, 261 and 245 for 1,956. And he just happened to have his biggest fan cheering him on.
“Fortunately, I have my almost 20-year-old daughter with me,” the 50-year-old said. “Honestly, I couldn’t have done it without her being here.”
Skye helped carry his equipment, she kept him calm and provided lots of encouragement along the way. And after each day of the World Series of Bowling, they enjoyed daddy-daughter bonding time eating Oreo Blizzards at Dairy Queen. As soon as Gates learned he had led the Petraglia Championship it was a moment they will always remember.
“We had a nice big hug and she told me she was proud of me,” he said. “Honestly, that made my year right there. Whatever happens now after that it’s all gravy. I am pretty excited.”
Gates was able to stay calm throughout his round as he was able to play his ‘A’ game while surrounded by professional bowlers he has admired for years.
“To do it in this setting with people around me that I have watched for the last 30 years on television, I can’t explain it,” he said. “I had a lot of those folks come up to me and say nice bowling. It means a lot.”
Two fellow B-squad bowlers were just behind Gates, Terrence McKinney and Kevin Anderson. Dino Castillo, who led A-squad with 1,933, is sitting in fourth place and John Janawicz is in fifth.
Castillo came into Tuesday with a clear mindset ready to erase how he felt on Monday.
“Yesterday I bowled absolutely horrible for the first six games and then I bowled really well the last two,” he said. “Today I used a ball that had been sitting in my bag that I drilled for a reason, and it felt like I had the world today.”
Castillo admits the mindset while competing in the World Series of Bowling has to be on the bigger picture of making the top 64 to qualify for the World Championship, but it’s difficult not to worry about your results each day, which is what he did.
“For the first time in a very long time I was panicking and shaking,” he said. “Game 4, I was looking at flights to go home. I was out of the World Championship number. But now, here I am.”
The top 16 players in the Petraglia Championship advance to bracket match play at Noon on Friday with best-of-five matches in the Round of 16 followed by best-of-three-game matches after that. The finals are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in best-of-three matches. The final player to advance in the PBA50 Petraglia Championship was Dana Wright at 1,850.
Total pinfall from the 24 games of qualifying in the Ballard, Monacelli and Petraglia Championships determined the top 64 players for the PBA50 World Championship.
The top five for that tournament are Chris Barnes, Pete Weber, John Janawicz, Brad Angelo and Tom Hess. Angelo, Barnes, Hess and Weber each finished in the top 16 on all three legend oil patterns.
The final player to make the cut for the World Championship is Robert Mockenhaupt at 4,938.
Coming up on Wednesday, this tournament continues with the PBA50 Ballard Championship bracket match play rounds starting with the Round of 16 at Noon. The Round of 8 will start at 3 p.m. and the semifinals at 5 p.m. The Ballard Championship Finals are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET. You can watch all of the action on BowlTV.
PBA50 Petraglia Championship Match Play Advancers:
- William Gates, 1,956 (+356)
- Terrence McKinney, 1,943 (+343)
- Kevin Anderson, 1,935 (+335)
- Dino Castillo, 1,933 (+333)
- John Janawicz, 1,928 (+328)
- Pete Weber, 1,917 (+317)
- Rick Benard, 1,906 (+306)
- Jon Rakoski, 1,906 (+306)
- Russell Hunt, 1,905 (+305)
- Kevin Duncan, 1,886 (+286)
- Ryan Shafer, 1,877 (+277)
- Tom Hess, 1,875 (+275)
- Brad Angelo, 1873 (+273)
- Chris Barnes, 1,866 (+266)
- Vince Biondo III, 1,857 (+257)
- Dana Wright, 1,850 (+250)
PBA50 Petraglia Championship standings
PBA50 World Championship standings
More information on the PBA50 WSOB is available here.