Lennie Boresch Jr. Leading 2024 PBA60 Tristan’s T.A.P.S. Memorial Open
Columbus, Ohio – Lennie Boresch Jr. once again proved that straighter is greater. Coming into Thursday’s final seven games of qualifying at the 2024 PBA60 Tristan’s T.A.P.S. Memorial Open, he was confident in his game plan, which led to a big block. He went +313 on the day, averaging 244.71 to retain the top seed.
“I adjusted for the earlier games today and had a little more success. Later they hooked more, so I moved in and followed it left,” he said. “I used the same ball pretty much the whole tournament. That doesn’t happen too often.”
He shot 248, 216, 255, 264, 243, 266 and 221 for 1,713, to improve to +567 over 14 games. He earned a 154-pin lead over Walter Ray Williams Jr., the same guy who beat him last year in the title match. Yet, all qualifying pins are dropped as the players now look ahead to bracket match on Friday.
“It’s fun to lead, but it is a long way to go. It is a best-of-three match, so hopefully I will keep doing what I am doing,” Boresch said. “If I can average 230 to 240, I’ve got a good chance but there are some good bowlers here. I would definitely like to finish this. That would be unbelievable.”
Boresch is looking forward to his daughter, Lauren, being there to watch and he hopes she will be his extra good luck charm. Williams Jr. showed his impressive versatility on the lanes this week. He bowled his final two games of each block two-handed.
“Today, I saw a little more friction to the right, so the last two games I decided to bowl two-handed again,” he said. “Today, I was in the pocket a little bit more. Very similar rounds put me in a good position for match play. I am pretty comfortable with what I am doing and on the fresh, hopefully I can figure out the right things to do, make good shots and the pins will continue to fall.”
The final super-senior bowler to make the cut was Sammy Ventura at +195. The top 24 players advance to best two-of-three matches. The top eight bowlers get first-round byes on Friday, while qualifiers nine through 24 will take to the lanes in the Round of 24 starting at 10 a.m. ET. The winners from those matches along with the top eight will get started at noon in the Round of 16. After a re-oil, those winners will advance to the Round of 8 beginning at 3 p.m.
All winners move into the Round of 4 starting at 5 p.m. with a one-game match. And finally, the remaining two players will bowl a single game match for the title scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. ET. You can enjoy all of the action live on BowlTV.
This tournament is held in honor of host Wayne Webb’s late stepson, Tristan Ross. Ross was a Senior Airman in the United States Air Force. “It’s important for us to support the military,” Webb said. “We get to have this tournament over the Fourth of July, which is perfect. We are keeping his name and his story alive.”
Webb finished in 28th place. This is a week he looks forward to as he loves spending time with guys he used to bowl with during the 80s and 90s.
“I am trying to run a bowling center, I am watching everything, I am trying to bowl, and I want to beat everybody. That is just who we are as sportspeople,” he said. “They were very difficult this week, which made it even harder. The scores were a little lower. But I try to do anything I can to make them happy. I feed them all after every squad. I try to run the best tournament they could possibly ever bowl in. That is important to me.”
Top 10 PBA60 Tristan’s T.A.P.S. Memorial Open Standings
- Lennie Boresch Jr., 3,367 (+567)
- Walter Ray Williams Jr., 3,213 (+413)
- Darryl Bower, 3,145 (+345)
- Bo Goergen, 3,130 (+330)
- Pete McCordic, 3,122 (+322)
- Norman Smith, 3,121 (+321)
- Jay Davis Jr., 3,102 (+302)
- Rick Woloszyn, 3,102 (+302)
- Pete Weber, 3,091 (+291)
- Jack Jurek, 3,060 (+260)
Full standings - 2024 PBA60 Tristan's T.A.P.S. Memorial Open