From wire reports
After starting his year off by winning the Team USA Trials, Cuyahoga Falls two-handed left-hander Bryce Oliver has added his first Professional Bowlers Association ELITE regional title to his résumé.
Oliver, a former University of Pikeville (Ky.)nplayer, three-time NBCA and NAIA All-American and two-time NAIA Player of the Year, told snieronbowling.com in April that he was turning pro this season.
“I think my game is officially ready. Winning (Team USA) team trials set the precedent that I’m kicking this into high gear,” the 25-year-old Woodridge High School graduate said in April. “I needed another tell tale sign of why I can compete out here other than just people and sponsors telling me.”
The transition is complete as Oliver, after serving as the qualifying leader in the 51-player field at Jax60 in Jackson, Mich., on Saturday by averaging 234.5 over seven games.
He compiled an 8-0 match-play record Sunday after maintaining his lead during the four-game Advancers Round, to claim the win with 4,666 total pinfall — 314 pins ahead of second-place Trae J Henrichsmeyer.
“It has been a dream of mine even to be able to compete on the PBA Tour and now to call myself a PBA champion, it’s an unbelievable feeling. The little kid in me is absolutely screaming right now trying to keep himself together,” said Oliver, who won $7,000 for his first pro win with his parents in attendance.
“I got my feet wet last week in Bluffton (11th place) and I had a great showing. I came into this weekend trying to be better, and I couldn’t have dreamed of this happening.”
Bailey Mavrick finished third followed by nonmember Joseph Merz and Isaiah Shannon in the standard division. U.S. Open champion Patrick Dombrowski of Parma finished sixth overall with a 3-5 record.
The senior division competition was a bit closer. Springfield left-hander Michael Haggitt Jr. was pushed in the final game by Carleton Chambers.
However, the one-handed lefty threw four consecutive strikes late in the position round to maintain his lead and get his 10th regional title with 4,274, 843 pins ahead of Chambers despite losing to the latter 237-183 in the position round.
“That end pair 57 and 58, the left lane is not like anything else in this building, so it was surviving. That is what you had to do on that pair,” Haggitt Jr. said.
Haggitt Jr. won the Regional Players Invitational (RPI) on the senior side last year, so his goal was to earn his chance to defend this title.
He was able to do just that because of his 6-2 match play record, while earning $3,000. He was followed by Chambers, Central ELITE Regional 1 champion Mika Koivuniemi in third, North Olmsted’s Michael Clark Jr. in fourth and Larry Verble in fifth place.
Verble was the qualifying leader in the 20-player senior field with 1,554 total pinfall (222 average), 15 pins ahead of Haggitt. Stephen Krywy earned the final Advancers Round spot with 1,409, 12 pins ahead of Lewis Center right-hander Dan Higgins.
See complete results from the Central Region event here: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=6a7dfc8c6c11424c5b10d3a6
OTHER REGIONS
In all, four left-handers earned PBA ELITE Regional wins on Sunday in the East and Central, while two right-handers claimed victories in must win finals matches in the Southwest.
East
For the second straight week of the PBA ELITE Regional Tour a tournament host and competitor finished second. Jeff Ripic gave it his all and earned his invite to the RPI with a second-place finish in the senior division. However, he and his wife, Beckie, handed Parker Bohn III the check and trophy in the senior division. Incredibly enough, this was Bohn’s 90th professional title and 42nd regional title.
“About two years ago, I started to look at numbers I had. I’m on a mission to get to 100. Now I can say the countdown is on, 10 to go,” Bohn III said, of his achievement. “To be honest, as much as I’m honored to be the champion, I am more excited for my son (Justin). Him finishing fifth and qualifying for the RPI, that is an incredible deal.”
Bohn III posted a 6-2 match play record and won $5,000, but being able to see Justin have success was the perfect cherry on top of his dessert. In the standard division, it was left-hander Hayden Stippich who earned his first regional title and $9,500. He had a 5-3 match play record and won by 220 pins over James Bennett in second. Dylan Bowers finished third, Michael Weber was fourth and Justin Bohn was fifth.
“Well, it’s about time. It feels awesome right now,” Stippich said. “My goal was kind of pace with them (his opponent). Whatever he did, do the same thing. Once I got up by 140, I thought I was good after that.”
Stippich, who is 26 years old, is close friends with fellow southpaw Anthony Neuer. Stippich credited practice time at Imperial Lanes, the Neuer family’s bowling center, prior to this event with helping him prepare.
“I had a good look lofting the fronts and I figured if they were close to that, I would have a pretty good chance to win,” Stippich said. “We had to make an emergency ball change in the middle of the set. I had to go to the Black Hammer. It did the right thing at the end.”
See East Regional results here: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=6a7dfd1a835c45ec1f9e0188
Southwest
Both position round matches in game 19 would determine the winners at the Southwest Regional 2 inside Emerald Bowl in Texas.
Stu Williams was leading by almost 30 pins over A.J Chapman. Yet Chapman was riding the hot hand moving from fourth to second place. He would get his chance on the same pair he just shot 279 on.
Chapman, who earned his first PBA title this year partnered with Zach Wilkins at the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship, started with six straight strikes and finished with 258 for the win. He had a 6-2 match play record and earned $9,000.
“I was fortunate enough to get into a ball that was really good and had good ball reaction. I was able to put two really big games together to jump from fourth to first,” Chapman said.
Earlier in the week, Chapman shared on Facebook he was leaving Texas and returning to Iowa.
“It feels good to grab a win and be confident before I head into a new environment,” Chapman said.
Williams was second and Spencer Robarge was third was third. Dallas Leong continued his impressive run at the PBA ELITE Regionals with a fourth-place finish, while Adam Atkins was fifth.
On the senior side of the action, Tom Daugherty was leading by almost 40 pins taking on Bryan Pogor.
Posting clean games had been big for Daugherty all tournament and he was clean for seven frames before leaving the difficult 3-4-6-7-10 split. He covered it yet chopped the 2-4 in the ninth frame to give his opponent the chance to win. Pogor wasn’t able to capitalize with his own open frame and Daugherty went on to earn the title.
“It is always hard (to win). I had match in hand then he makes a Houdini ball change, catches a double and all of a sudden, I threw a couple of bad shots and let him right back in it,” Daugherty said. “I thought he was going to take advantage of it, but he didn’t. I pretty much just had to keep it on the lane for the win, so that is always nice.”
Behind Daugherty and Pogor was Dino Castillo in third, Chris Warren was fourth and Rick Benard finished in fifth. Daugherty, who won $5,000, plans to bowl as many more PBA ELITE Regionals as he can, including the Midwest Regional 1, which begins Saturday in Lincoln, NE.
Final Southwest Regional standings are here: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=6a7dfbee6c11424c5b10d395
The top 5 non-PBA Tour priority finishers in every PBA ELITE Regional Tour event earn an automatic berth into the PBA RPI in December. At that prestigious tournament, three priority status positions on the 2027 PBA Tour will be rewarded.