Twelve bowlers still in contention at Senior Masters

LAS VEGAS - A dozen players are still in the hunt to win the title as the first day of match play came to a close Thursday at the 2014 United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters.

There are four undefeated players remaining in the winners bracket, while eight players are still alive in the elimination bracket. Competition resumes at 8 a.m. Pacific on Friday at the South Point Bowling Center.

The Senior Masters concludes Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. Pacific with the stepladder finals, which will be broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV.

Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., Mike Edwards of Tulsa, Okla., Amleto Monacelli of Venezuela and Jack Jurek of Lackawanna, N.Y., made it through four matches without a loss on the opening day of match play.

Williams, who entered the double-elimination match-play bracket as the top seed, defeated Rob Cline of Spokane, Wash., 681-581, in his final match of the day.

"If I win one more match, I'm on the show for sure," Williams said. "Obviously, I want to be the top seed but the odds are pretty good that I'll make the stepladder at this point. I'm definitely bowling well, but so are a lot of other guys."

In Friday's winners bracket matches, Williams will battle Edwards, while Monacelli takes on Jurek. The winners of those matches will bowl for the top seed in the finals.

There are still eight players in contention in the elimination bracket, including USBC Hall of Famers Wayne Webb, defending champion Pete Weber and Brian Voss. Also still alive are Toby Contreras, Jim Starks, Rob Cline, Ricky Woods and Robert Brown.

The players are battling for a piece of the $144,400 prize fund, which includes a first-place prize of $18,000.

All rounds of the Senior Masters are being broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV. For more information on the event, visit BOWL.com/SeniorMasters.