Parker Bohn III Takes Early Lead at PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Open
Clearwater, Florida – Just a couple of days after Armed Forces Day and a week away from Memorial Day, the sacrifices of American servicemen and women is on the minds of many. Veterans are at the forefront of this week’s PBA50 tournament, the Johnny Petraglia BVL Open. Petraglia is a veteran of Vietnam, and his good friend Parker Bohn III is leading after day one of qualifying inside Maple Lanes Countryside.
Bohn III came out firing with 278, 267, 237, 268, 221, 227 and 213, averaging 244.43. Ninety out of the 136 bowlers in the field are averaging 200 or higher on the 46-foot Petraglia oil pattern, with 18 players sitting at +200. Bohn III is followed by Russell Hunt, Amleto Monacelli, Chris Warren and Tom Hess to round out the top five.
“I had the right ball in my hand to nudge the 7 out,” Bohn III said. “A lot of guys are getting to the pocket but when you have that right ball in your hand that you can get away with nudging the corner pin or tripping the 4 or 6 pin, the next thing you know you can turn strike, spare, strike into a 5-or 6-bagger and you have got a pretty good score at the end of the game.”
Back in October, the PBA and Bowlers to Veterans Link (BVL) announced BVL as the official charity of the PBA Tour this season. Since this 501(c) (3) charity was formed in 1942, BVL has raised more than $56 million to fund recreation therapy programs and services for veterans. Last year was Petraglia’s 50th year as a BVL Ambassador and he is still going strong. Petraglia is also competing in the tournament this week.
“As a player of any caliber, if you are eligible to bowl a tournament that has the significance of Johnny Petraglia’s name and BVL on it, you want to be there and you want to support it,” Bohn III said. “The importance of what those men and women do to support us and allow us to live the life that we live is just unbelievable. No ringing 7, no 7-10, no bad shot or unfortunate break even compares to what those men and women go through to allow us to live the life of freedom that we do.”
The B squad will be the first on the lanes 8 a.m. Eastern Tuesday for the final seven games of qualifying followed by the A squad at 1 p.m. ET. The top 46 players at the end of the day will move into the Advancers Round on Wednesday. You can watch the action on BowlTV.
Top 10 PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Open standings:
- Parker Bohn III, 1,711 (+311)
- Russell Hunt, 1,697 (+297)
- Amleto Monacelli, 1,696 (+296)
- Chris Warren, 1,689 (+289)
- Tom Hess, 1,683 (+283)
- Mark Sullivan, 1,668 (+268)
- Ricky Schissler, 1,656 (+256)
- Danny Wiseman, 1,652 (+252)
- Dino Castillo, 1,642 (+242)
- Bob Learn Jr. and Anthony Crews, 1,637 (+237)