Ciminelli Maintains Lead in Rolltech PBA World Championship After Two Match Play Rounds

by Jerry Schneider12/13/2015

With one more eight-game match play round remaining, four-time PBA Tour winner Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., won 11 of his 16 matches to hold a 42-pin lead heading into this afternoon’s final round of match play in the Rolltech PBA World Championship at the National Bowling Stadium.

After a 7-1 record in the first round, Ciminelli found the going a little tougher in the second round grinding out a 4-4 record and bowling games of 269, 227, 198, 231, 183, 234, 234 and 205 for a 222.62 average, after averaging 241.5 in the first round.

Ciminelli, who leads with a 13,631 pinfall including bonus pins after 58 games, is trying for his third win of the season and second major after winning the Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open in November.

Trailing Ciminelli in second but gaining ground was 2013 PBA Rookie of the Year EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., with 13,589 pins. He has a 10-6 match play record after two rounds.

Collegiate standout Gary Faulkner Jr. of Memphis, Tenn., gained a position finishing the round in third. He has compiled a 10-5-1 record after two rounds and has 13,448 pins.

Faulkner was a member of the Webber International men’s International Collegiate Championship team in 2012 and earned MVP honors in 2013 when the team finished third. He owns one PBA regional title and has a best PBA Tour finish of 22nd which came in the 2015 PBA Bear Open.

Three-time Tour winner Rhino Page of Orlando, Fla., moved into fourth with an 11-5 match play record and 13,419 pinfall.

Stuart Williams of England, who owns one Tour title, held on to fifth place with a 13,417 pinfall despite going 3-5 today and finishing with 7-9 record after two rounds.

The final eight-game match play round will take place this afternoon at 5 p.m. PT. A total of 66 games of qualifying and match play on five different lane conditions will determine the five player stepladder finalists who will return for the live ESPN finals at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) Thursday at the National Bowling Stadium.

Tickets are still available for the World Championship finals at the door or in advance by ordering on pba.com.

All qualifying and match play rounds of the WSOB are being covered live, exclusively by PBA’s online video streaming service, Xtra Frame. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link. Real-time results are also posted on pba.com under its “live scoring” link.

ROLLTECH PBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev., Saturday

MATCH PLAY ROUND TWO (includes match play record and 58-game pinfall totals including bonus pins)

1, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 11-5, 13,631.
2, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 10-6, 13,589.
3, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 10-5-1, 13,448.
4, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 11-5, 13,419.
5, Stuart Williams, England, 7-9, 13,417.
6, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 10-6, 13,348.
7, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 7-9, 13,274.
8, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 6-10, 13,237.
9, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., 9-7, 13,206.
10, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 9-7, 13,188.
11, Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 9-6-1, 13,183.
12, Matthew McNiel, Prior Lake, Minn., 8-8, 13,182.
13, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 9-6-1, 13,170.
14, Dom Barrett, England, 11-5, 13,162.
15, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 8-8, 13,153.
16, Paul Moor, England, 8-8, 13,010.
17, J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 7-8-1, 12,964.
18, Patrick Girard, Canada, 4-12, 12,908.
19, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 9-7, 12,888.
20, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 3-13, 12,885.
21, Ryan Graywacz, Feeding Hills, Mass., 6-9-1, 12,871.
22, Sam Cooley, Australia, 5-10-1, 12,743.
23, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 6-10, 12,671.
24, n-Warren Crawford, McKinleyville, Calif., 6-10, 12,585.