PERRY TWP. — Bryce Oliver’s reputation precedes him.
As a former Teen Masters champion and runner-up with a third place in the Junior Gold Championships, all in a three-year period, the 20-year-old Cuyahoga Falls two-handed lefty brings strong credentials to any tournament field.
“I’ve seen Bryce in plenty of tournaments,” Akron’s Eric Long said. “As soon as I saw him and a lot of other guys I hadn’t seen before, I knew it was going to be a tough field. He is always near the top.”
Oliver dominated the fifth tournament of the Hall of Fame Summer Series from the start, rolling 251 in Game 1 and leading qualifying by 34 pins without a game under 205. He went on to roll past fifth-seeded Long 246-185 in the title match Thursday at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes.
It was Oliver’s first appearance in the event, which drew 13 newcomers among its largest field to date of 44 players on the 2021 U.S. Open No. 1 oil pattern. He led qualifying with 897 pinfall — by far the largest total to date in the series.
And the University of Pikeville (Ky.) junior and former Peninsula Woodridge High School star did it using an OTB Motiv plastic bowling ball.
“Coming in, I knew they were going to be hard and they were going to be short. I knew urethane was either going to be in play or not at all,” said Oliver, who also had a top-30 singles finish at the MEGA tournament in Columbus along with being a member of the second-place team at the event.
“I’ve been practicing with plastic and I know how to throw it on just about anything so I brought two with me. If they were in play, fine. If they weren’t, we would figure something out.”
Oliver started the night using urethane in practice for exactly four shots.
“I threw four shots with urethane and none of them hit the pocket. So I abandoned that and just tried to keep it close,” said Oliver, whose target area was first to second arrow to the gutter.
“It was just plain execution and trusting it. I shot 250 the first game and didn’t expect that at all. It was just making sure not to give anything away because I was throwing a plastic ball.”
Oliver had just one open and one split through five games, including the title match.
“There were some balls that I didn’t think would hit the head pin and they hooked like a truck. I think the biggest move I made all night was a board and a half after the first four shots.”
OTHER MATCHES
Long, who also finished second in the opening series event to Walsh University 20-year-old Chase Barstow, shot 178 in his final qualifying game to earn a spot in the stepladder finals by just seven pins.
His opening match against two-time series winner J.D. Jones, a 28-year-old Massillon right-hander, wasn’t pretty. Both players had only two strikes each, but Long’s happened to be a double. Both also missed 5-pin spares as Long, a 52-year-old right-hander, prevailed 158-145.
“I tried not to throw the ball hard hard all day, but that first game, I was a little too amped up,” Long said. “Jeff (Mowls) told me to slow down, and I came back and started slowing down and getting the ball to the right where we wanted it.”
In Game 2, Long faced Louisville right-hander Adam Kutz, who was making his third stepladder appearance in the series. This time, Long found the key, running off five strikes in a row en route to a 237-197 win.
In the semifinals, Long had a rematch against Barstow, who earned the No. 2 seed thanks to a series-high 267 in Game 4. Barstow finished with just four strikes while Long had strings of two and three in a row to grind out a 201-181 win.
“I started getting fast again and it was up and down,” said Long, who used a lot of loft on the pattern. “It was about getting the ball to the right without hitting up on it and making spares. Me and Jeff had a long talk about my timing, and we got a lot of that straightened out.
“This pattern played the easiest for me because you had some miss room to the right that you didn’t have on the other patterns.”
In the title match, Long left a 5-6 split in the third frame for his only open. Oliver, after struggling with three crossover shots in the first three frames, had strikes on six of his next seven shots.
“I wasn’t expecting the ball to hook that early with no cover,” Oliver said. “I saw it hit and change direction immediately so I had to make a board and a half adjustment. Everything down the lane was the same, but I had to get the ball out a foot sooner to clear the front of the lane.”
Long, the lone senior player among the finalists, was happy to compete with the “kids.”
“No matter what, I’m still here to win. I wouldn’t have been favored in any one of those games,” Long said. “But I’ve got confidence in myself. I wouldn’t be out here if I didn’t think I could make money.”
Oliver, outside of this event and the MEGA tourney, has done little bowling outside of his two sport-shot leagues.
“There really hasn’t been much to bowl in my area. I did bowl (USBC Open Championship) nationals for the first time and cashed in three of the four events,” Oliver added. “I kind of hung my hat up on youth bowling. I had a very successful career there and I’m glad to see a lot of my friends still competing and doing well.”
Now, Oliver begins to look toward his junior season at Pikeville, one of the country’s top bowling programs.
“We were a little disappointed in our season,” the communications major said. “We have four sophomores and just one senior and I think everyone is back except for one foreign exchange student from Germany.
“We’re expecting some bright things to come out of this program next season.”
And Oliver is off to a good start as he looks toward his junior season.
“Individually, I went up six pins in average,” Oliver said, “but we have to put it together as a team.”
NOTEBOOK: The cut to the top five was 784 for Long, with 735 gaining the final cash spot in eighth place in the 44-player field. … Oliver earned a spot in the series finale event Aug. 11 with his win, joining Jones (two wins), Barstow and Massillon’s Frank Testa. … The top 10 players, who have bowled at least three events based on points, winners of past events plus winners of the nightly 50-50 drawing qualify for the finale. … The final regular series event is on the 2022 U.S. Open No. 1 pattern at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 4. For details or to enter, contact tournament director T.J. Owens at 330-265-4900, at tjowens@gmail.com or via Facebook. Entry fee is $40.
FINAL STANDINGS
Match 1: Eric Long d. J.D. Jones 158-145. Jones wins $90.
Match 2: Long d. Adam Kutz 237-197. Kutz wins $100.
Match 3: Long d. Chase Barstow 201-181. Barstow wins $120.
Championship: Bryce Oliver d. Long 246-185. Oliver wins $336; Long wins $200.
Other cashers
(With four-game qualifying totals)
6, Bobby Wenger 777, $80 earnings; 7, Brian Ball 741, $70; 8, Matt Frock 735, $60.