By JILL WINTERS
PBA Communications
WOODBRIDGE, Va. —Brad Angelo did something in competition Saturday that he has never really done before.
During the first six games of qualifying at the 2026 Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship, Angelo felt he needed to loft the ball.
The Lockport, N.Y., right-hander had immediate results and stuck to his game plan shooting 257, 239, 246, 266, 243 and 236 for 1,487.
“I have never really attempted loft in competition because I have never been that good at it. During the practice session, I bowled for about 15 or 20 minutes then I sat and watched for about half an hour or 45 minutes,” Angelo said. “I bowled for the last 45 minutes lofting it and I felt I could do it. I came right out of the gate and I started striking.”
He admits a couple of his shots hung up on his thumb yet still struck. He also missed a few to the right but thanks to the loft it provided a little bit more axis rotation, he said.
He was quick to point out his version of lofting is nowhere close to how far out on the lane Mika Koivuniemi lofts his ball. Overall, he gave himself a score of seven out of 10 in terms of his execution.
“I feel very fortunate to be leading. I don’t think it was my best executed block,” Angelo said. “It is always nice to have a really good scoring block early in these types of tournaments. You feel like it takes a lot of pressure off. I did my job, now I just have to bowl great the next couple of days and get to match play. That is when the tournaments starts.”
There are 12 more games of qualifying with six-game blocks Sunday and Monday for the 144-player field. All pins will carry forward when the field is cut to the top 24 players for round-robin match-play, which begins Tuesday.
Left-hander John Marsala led the B squad with 1,451, sitting in second place. Marsala won the PBA50 Bud Moore Classic in 2021. He is followed by right-handed two-hander Ricky Schissler (1,437); Chris Barnes (1,435) and Koivuniemi (1,422).
After six games, the cut line is Michael Zarnick at 1,332 in 24th place. Jon Rakoski, who finished second during Wednesday’s regional in Lorain, is 10th (1,389) while Akron Classic winner and PBA50 points leader Tom Hess is 17th (1,354). Akron’s Don Hogue is 29th (1,314), just 18 pins out of the cut.
The B squad will be on the lanes starting at 9 a.m. Sunday followed by the C squad at 12:30 p.m. and finally the A squad at 4 p.m. You can watch day two of qualifying on BowlTV.
See complete scores here: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=69a8d987446b278b1cb1d742
FURUKAWA TOPS REGIONAL
GROVE CITY — Sunbury right-hander Aidan Furukawa claimed his second PBA regional title Saturday, stopping pro shop owner and former PBA touring pro Michael Tang 225-188 to claim the win in the PBA Lucky Strike Grove City Central Open at AMF Stardust Lanes.
The Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design junior, a former Junior Gold champion and NAIA scholar-athlete, stopped PBA Tour champion Graham Fach 253-233 in the semifinals en route to the win. The No. 11 seed after the eight-game qualifying round, Furukawa also stopped Ethan Bell (2-0) and Richard McCormick (2-1) in best-of-three matches to reach the semis. He topped McCormick 181-165 in Game 3.
Willowick right-hander Dean Vargo was the qualifying leader, averaging 219 over eight games. After a first-round bye, he fell to No. 8 seed Connor Rogus 2-1 in the quarterfinals. There were 55 players in the field competing on the PBA Regional 46 oil pattern.
Noel Vega earned the final cash spot in 18th place (1,611) as the top 16 advanced to match play with the top eight receiving a first-round bye. U.S. Open winner Patrick Dombrowski earned the final cute spot (1,646), averaging 205. McCormick posted the high game with 299 in Game 2.
See complete results here: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=69bc001a334866f10339caba