By DONOVAN GRUBAUGH
USBC Communications
LAS VEGAS – Sweden’s Markus Jansson continues to have a good week at the 2024 USBC Masters in Las Vegas as he ended qualifying with a final block total of 1,131 and a three-day, 15-game total of 3,508 (a 233.87 average). He will go into match play as the No. 1 seed in the double-elimination bracket.
The field at the Masters is now down to only 64 players after starting with 465 players, all of whom came to Suncoast Bowling Center hoping to capture the prestigious major title.
EJ Tackett of Ossian, Ind. (3,496), Australia’s Sam Cooley (3,473), Justin Veitch of Kenner, La. (3,462), and Carlos Granados of Orlando, Fla. (3,449) round out the top five heading into match play.
Phoenix’s Tyler Cortez Schenck (3,443), Giorgio Clinaz of Brigham City, Utah (3,421), Nate Purches of Marlborough, Mass. (3,416), and Petey Vergos of Apopka, Fla. (3,401), occupy spots six through nine while Jake Peters of Henderson, Nev., and Chase Nadeau of Grand Junction, Colo., tied for the tenth spot at 3,400.
Massilllon right-hander Frank Testa shot 1,114 his final qualifying round to stand 46th in his first Masters appearance with 3,258, an average of 217.20. Also making the cut is Parma’s Patrick Dombrowski, who stands 16th overall with 3,372, an average of 224.80.
Four-time Masters winner Jason Belmonte of Australia will be the No. 18 seed as he seeks his fifth Masters title and 16th major championship overall while 2024 U.S. Open winner Kyle Troup will look to win his second major of the season as the No. 19 seed.
EJ Tackett is not the only Tackett to move on to match play as hisbrother, Zac, will be joining EJ as the No. 33 seed after rolling an overall total of 3,294. Both will be seeking their first Masters title, where a win by EJ would complete the career grand slam.
Other notable names in match play include father-son duo Chris and Ryan Barnes as the No. 52 and No. 29 seeds, respectively. Justin Bohn, son of 2001 Masters champion Parker Bohn III, will make his Masters match-play debut, going in as the No. 64 and final seed. He will face off against Jansson in the first round of match play.
All competitors in the 465-player field bowled 15 games of qualifying over three days, which included two blocks on the fresh 44-foot lane condition and one squad on the burn.
The top 63 players, based on total pinfall, advanced to match play, while Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas was guaranteed a spot in the bracket as the defending champion.
As defending champion, Simonsen was guaranteed no worse than the 64th seed for match play. He improved his seeding through qualifying, however, finishing Wednesday’s final round in 26th place with a 3,331 total.
Testa will face the PBA’s hottest player, 10th-seeded Kyle Troup, in his opening match, while Dombrowski takes on Frank Snodgrass.
Double-elimination match play begins Thursday at 1 p.m. (Eastern) with the left side of the bracket before a re-oil for the right side of the bracket at 3:30 p.m. All winners will return at 5:30 p.m. to bowl their next round of matches on the burn before a re-oil for two straight rounds of matches in the Contenders Bracket at 8 p.m. to conclude Thursday.
The stepladder finals of the 2024 event will be March 31 at 1:30 p.m., with the champion taking home a spot in the tournament’s storied history, a major title on the PBA Tour and the $100,000 top prize. All competition leading up to the televised finals will be streamed live only on BowlTV.
The 2024 USBC Masters will see a return to the traditional five-player stepladder for the live television finals on FOX, with the final two competitors remaining in the winners bracket bowling one another for the top seed. The final four players in the elimination bracket will bowl for the remaining three spots on the TV show. The No. 1 seed will only have to be beaten once in the title match.