AURORA, Ill. (Aug. 30, 2019) – PBA Bear Open winner Anthony Simonsen of Little Elm, Texas, compiled an 8-7-1 match play record and averaged 220 for 16 games Friday which was good enough to retain a narrow lead after the first two rounds of match play in the FloBowling PBA Illinois Open at Parkside Lanes.

In the pinnacle event of the FloBowling PBA Summer Swing presented by the Brands of Ebonite International, the two-hander finished the day with a 10,306 44-game pinfall total (including 30 bonus pins for each match win) to hold a six-pin lead over 13-time Go Bowling! PBA Tour titlist and Bear Open runner-up EJ Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana, in second with a 9-6-1 match play record and 10,300 pinfall.

Simonsen beat Tackett in Thursday’s dramatic Bear Open title match 10-9 in the second one-ball roll-off after tying 267-267.

The 24 players in the Illinois Open match play field have the added challenge of competing on a mixed lane condition pattern – the Bear 41-foot lane condition on the left lane and the Wolf 32-foot condition on the right lane in each match which puts a premium on the players’ ability to adjust, including often using a different ball on each lane.

“Everybody out here on tour has the physical ability but the players who can deal with the mental grind, especially in a tournament like this, are going to have the advantage,” said the 22-year-old Simonsen who won the Bear Open for his seventh career Go Bowling! PBA Tour title. “You’re using different equipment and playing totally different lines so it kind of multiplies the variables you might normally have to deal with.”

In Friday’s second match play round Simonsen started strong with games of 279 and 235 but then fell off with games of 193, 177 and 170 before finishing strong with games of 246, 259 and 268.

“It seems like I go through streaks where I’m either bowling well in the middle of the round and not so well at the beginning and end, or like I did tonight, where I’m bowling well at the beginning and end but not in the middle,” Simonsen said. “Tomorrow I’ll need to string together at least a few good games so I make the show.”

The final match play round gets underway Saturday at 11 a.m. CT and will determine the top five players for the Illinois Open stepladder finals at 3:30 p.m.

Australian two-hander Jason Belmonte climbed to third with a 10,238 pinfall helped by an 11-5 record in match play. The 36-year-old four-time PBA Player of the Year is trying for his fifth win of the season and the 23rd of his career.

Rounding out the top five heading into tomorrow’s final match play round are 11-time tour winner Bill O’Neill who jumped from 12th after the first match play round finishing with a 11-4-1 record and 10,222 pinfall. Hometown favorite Sean Rash of Montgomery, Illinois, who defeated Simonsen in the title match to win the Wolf Open on Tuesday for his 14th tour title, put together a 10-6 record and finished with a 10,200 pinfall.

Fans can catch all the Illinois Open final-day action on FloBowling. For subscription information visit www.flobowling.com.

FLOBOWLING PBA ILLINOIS OPEN

Third event of the FloBowling PBA Summer Swing presented by the Brands of Ebonite International

Parkside Lanes, Aurora, Ill., Friday

MATCH PLAY ROUND TWO RESULTS

(includes match play record and total pinfall for 44 games including match play bonus pins)

1, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 8-7-1, 10,306.
2, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 9-6-1, 10,300.
3, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 11-5, 10,238.
4, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 11-4-1, 10,222.
5, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 10-6, 10,200.
6, Jason Sterner, Rochester, N.Y., 10-6, 10,130.
7, Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 12-4, 10,108.
8, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 10-6, 10,075.
9, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 7-8-1, 10,021.
10, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 9-6-1, 9,964.
11, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 9-7, 9,944.
12, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 9-6-1, 9,933.
13, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 7-7-2, 9,842.
14, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 8-8, 9,777.
15, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 6-10, 9,756.
16, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 7-9, 9,691.
17, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 5-11, 9,679.
18, Tun Ameerul Al-Hakim, Malaysia, 6-8-2, 9,678.
19, Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 7-9, 9,669.
20, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 5-11, 9,645.
21, Kyle Sherman, O'Fallon, Mo., 5-11, 9,644.
22, Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 6-10, 9,564.
23, Dom Barrett, England, 6-10, 9,561.
24, Sam Cooley, Australia, 4-12, 9,545.

300 games – Bill O’Neill

MATCH PLAY ROUND ONE RESULTS

(includes match play record and total pinfall for 36 games including match play bonus pins)

1, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 4-3-1, 8,359
2, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 5-3, 8,291.
3, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 4-3-1, 8,260.
4, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 7-1, 8,219.
5, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 7-1, 8,186.
6, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 4-4, 8,178.
7, (tie) Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 7-1, and Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 4-3-1, 8,148.
9, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 5-3, 8,119.
10, Jason Sterner, Rochester, N.Y., 6-2, 8,100.
11, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 4-3-1, 8,051.
12, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 4-3-1, 8,042.
13, Kyle Sherman, O'Fallon, Mo., 4-4, 7,974.
14, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 3-5, 7,935.
15, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 3-5, 7,886.
16, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 3-4-1, 7,861.
17, Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 3-5, 7,854.
18, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 4-4, 7,834.
19, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 1-7, 7,828.
20, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3-5, 7,807.
21, Dom Barrett, England, 3-5, 7,784.
22, Tun Ameerul Al-Hakim, Malaysia, 1-5-2, 7,758.
23, Sam Cooley, Australia, 1-7, 7,754.
24, Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 2-6, 7,683.