By BILL SNIER
CUYAHOGA FALLS — After bowling together in their younger years as a father and son team, Andrew and Anthony Neuer have pretty much used different partners since the former won his first Professional Bowlers Association regional title at age 16.
“He usually bowls with (daughter) Alexis (Runk) and I usually bowl with Troy Lint in these events,” said Andrew, a 23-year-old left-hander and winner of seven regional titles who still is looking for his first PBA Tour crown.
But this weekend, for the PBA-PBA50 Doubles-Clutch Lanes Central Open at Clutch Lanes and Sports Center, Lint was unable to make it up from Florida, where the PBA50 Tour had already begun last week. Andrew had Hayden Stippich on standby to bowl with is dad if Lint was unable to make it up.
He didn’t — so the Neuers, with one national title (Andrew) and 18 combined regional wins covering three regions decided to team up for the first time in a PBA event.
It was a good decision.
Finishing as the No. 2 seed following Saturday’s eight-game qualifying round, the Neuers rolled all the way to the championship match, where they stopped No. 5 seed Brad Angelo and Kris Prather 3-1 in the best-of-five Baker System final.
“We don’t bowl together because I usually transition the lanes poorly for him,” said Andrew, a 60-year-old lefty who holds the United States Bowling Congress record for career 300s after recording his 300th in February at the center he owns and operates, Imperial Lanes in Milton, Pa. He also owns nearly 300 800 series.
“And I usually don’t follow him well,” Anthony added.
But using a combination of the Hammer Black and Purple 78D this weekend, the pair were able to hug the extreme outside line on the lanes; Anthony hitting in the high teens speed wise, and Andrew between 13 and 15 mph.
“I started using less surface and playing straighter,” Anthony said, “and he was using surface to help his ball hook. The only time I saw a problem was in Game 1 of qualifying when they were hooking. So I had to make a drastic move to the left on the second pair.
“You have to be toward the gutter for a 43-foot pattern like this and it kind of hung out there. You have to use different speeds and rotation to control the pocket.”
“I just varied my speeds this week … throwing it a little slower on the tighter pairs,” added Andrew.
The two finished just 15 pins apart during qualifying, with Anthony finishing at 1,900, with a 254 in Game 8, and Andrew at 1,885, with 247 in Game 8, to move up the ladder.
PAIRING UP LATE
Much like the last-minute decision by the Neuers to pair up, Angelo didn’t know he would be making the trip from Lewiston, N.Y., until Thursday night.
That’s when he received a text from six-time PBA Tour champion Kris Prather, who was on his way to Ohio for the PBA Tournament of Champions this week in Fairlawn after completing the Roth-Holman Doubles in Maine.
“I was teaching my BowlU Thursday class when I looked at my phone and had a text from Kris. I thought maybe he wanted to swing by and practice or was looking for a place to stay,” said Angelo, a 56-year-old right-hander and the winner of two PBA50 titles to go along with two regular tour titles.
“He said he wanted to bowl the over-under doubles regional and wanted me to pair up with him. Listen, I bowl league in my sneakers and bowl three games a week and hadn’t bowled a tournament since December. I hadn’t even begun getting ready for the (PBA50) World Series. I was not sharp.
“But he told me that he wasn’t going to bowl if I wasn’t going to bowl. That flattered me and kind of flipped my switch. I didn’t want to pass up the chance to bowl with someone as talented as Kris.”
“I don’t think I know anyone else over the age of 50,” said Prather, a 34-year-old Plainfield, Ill., right-hander, laughing. “The first time we bowled together was in the Bud Light Challenge in Rochester (N.Y.) and I will say the scores were significantly better this time. It’s always good to bowl with Brad … I’ve learned a lot from him the last couple of years.”
The pair finished qualifying 50 pins apart, with Prather at 1,895 and Angelo at 1,845. They combined to shoot 490 in Game 8 to fall just 12 pins short of a first-round bye for match play.
Sunday, they started the best-of-seven opening round against No. 12 seed and two-time champions Michael Haggitt and Graham Fach, a pair of left-handers.
After the two teams split the first six games, with Haggitt and Fach winning Games 5 and 6 with 279 and 258, Angelo and Prather took Game 7 236-226 to advance.
They then faced No. 4 seed Jerry Rich and Casey Cohagan, two Northeast Ohio regional pros. Prather and Angelo shot 236 or higher in each of their wins en route to a 4-1 victory to earn a semifinal berth against No. 9 seed Jason Lundquist and Eric Burris.
Prather and Angelo swept past Lundquist and Burns 258-224, 227-177 and 235-211 to reach the title match.
NEUERS’ JOURNEY
The Neuers, with the first-round bye as the No. 2 seed, had to face defending champion Dino Castillo and his new partner, Andrew Anderson — the No. 10 seed after qualifying. Castillo had won the title a year ago with Eric Jones, but Jones was unavailable after qualifying for Sunday’s PBA Roth-Holman Doubles in Maine.
After dropping the first two games, the Neuers shot 277, 269, 232 and 210 to win the next four and advance with Castillo and Anderson failing to hit 200 the last two games.
In the semifinals, they had to face Larry Verble and U.S. Open winner Patrick Dombrowski, who also joined with Mike Henry to win this event in 2014.
Again, the Neuers dropped Game 1 259-206. But they then shot 254, 238 and 241 to sweep the next three to advance to the finals.
TITLE MATCH
In the title match, the Neuers — again using the extreme outside line on the left side — did not have a game under 242. That was the one game they dropped to Prather and Angelo 276-242.
They won the other three 267-215, 246-227 and shooting 290 in Game 3, with Andrew leaving a 7-pin spare in the first frame as Prather and Angelo finished with 196.
“The title pair seemed a little tighter down lane. I got a couple of fortunate breaks to kind of keep us in there,” said Angelo, who switched to a Roto Grip Gem. “I’m just tired … I just don’t have that many games on my body.
“I made the switch and it looked OK, but they bowled great. The lanes were really touchy.”
“I thought we had a good game plan on how to break them down for us. I was confident in our ability because there were only two of us on the right side and all we had to worry about was each other’s transition,” Prather said.
“But it was almost like we threw too many practice shots and made them a little cliffed. Every time we missed left, it almost didn’t want to get back to the head pin. And then I threw one right and slow and it overcooked. But that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Prather will be in the field for this week’s TOC at AMF Riviera. He will go in with a new sense of confidence.
“I’m throwing it great and seeing the lane really well,” said Prather, who made his last singles PBA Tour show in Rochester, finishing second to Austin Grammar. “I think more importantly I’m seeing what everyone else is doing and I’m adjusting to what I need to do really quickly … ball changes, rotations, ball speeds … and being consistent shot to shot.”
Anthony Neuer, a nonwinner on the regular Tour, will be in the field for the pre-tournament qualifier Tuesday.
“After Rochester, I went home and made a pitch change on my equipment,” Anthony said. “I bowled a local tournament and this and it feels pretty good. So my confidence is definitely back up.
“This is more something for him than for me. Maybe it will set in when I get older that I did this with dad.”
“He’s going to get a national title soon, no doubt,” Andrew said.
Andrew Neuer will return home to his bowling center before heading to the PBA50 World Series at the end of the month in Michigan. He will go with a new memory to enjoy.
“This was special for me,” Andrew said. “I’m getting older and don’t have many years left to be able to do this with my kids.”
And the memory will live on with new banners being hung for the latest Central Region champions.
NOTEBOOK: The event drew 38 total teams and paid 12 spots overall, with first place being worth $4,000 to the team. … Top-seeded Tom Daugherty and Shawn Maldonado fell in their Round of 8 match against Lundquist and Burris 4-3, losing Game 7 236-201. It was one of only two matches to go the distance Sunday. … The Neuers final game of 290 was the high Baker game during match play. … Angelo also was a past champion of this event, winning with Thomas Larsen in 2020. Daugherty won with Tom Hess in 2023, but the pair had to split when Daugherty moved into the senior ranks. Hess bowled with Vinnie Bellar, but they didn’t make the cut. … Anderson and Prather bowled together in the Roth-Holman Doubles in Maine. … Charles (Butch) Ferrell and Ryan Liederbach finished just three pins out of the cut, which was at 3,656. Liederbach used Sunday to finish second in the Furbay Electric Supply Open at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes in Canton. … The PTQ for the PBA Tournament of Champions is at 9 a.m. Tuesday with 57 players battling for eight spots in the TOC field, with the actual event beginning Wednesday.
For complete scores, go to: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=696a68db8c0a2f150b2c9399