First week at 2022 USBC Open Championships in Las Vegas ends with five lead changes
March 18, 2022
LAS VEGAS - The first days of the 2022 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships had a fair share of excitement, big scores, emotional performances and memorable milestones - everything participants and bowling fans should want from one of the world's largest participatory sporting events.
Only a few hundred of the 9,500 or so teams expected to compete this year have visited the South Point Bowling Plaza, so there likely will be plenty more noteworthy accomplishments before the event concludes July 18.
As the opening week wound down Friday, five new leaders emerged at the 60-lane facility - Classified Doubles, Classified Team, Regular Doubles, Team All-Events and a tie for the lead in Regular All-Events.
Not to be mistaken with the country music duo Dan + Shay, the Missouri tandem of Tim and Shea (Timothy Behrendt and Shea Bittenbender of St. Charles) was rocking and rolling during doubles Friday morning.
The two made their way to the top of the charts, er, leaderboard with a 1,391 total, just two pins better than the previous leaders, Steve and Justin Studer of Rupert, Idaho (1,389).
Behrendt, a 39-year-old right-hander, struck on his fill ball to secure the lead and cap a 738 series that included games of 235, 257 and 246. Bittenbender, who tossed the strikes that locked up the lead in Regular Team for Strike It Rich Pro Shop 1 on Thursday, added a 653 series to the doubles effort on games of 214, 235 and 204.
The doubles performance was a continuation of the momentum the six-team group found during team competition, and it also helped Strike It Rich Pro Shop 1 put up the first solid Team All-Events score for incoming teams to chase.
Team All-Events combines the all-events totals of all five team members and awards the winning team Eagle trophies and the coveted Earl Anthony Trophy, based on their 45-game (nine games for each bowler) pinfall totals.
Strike It Rich Pro Shop 1 finished with a 9,557 total.
Eddie Byrd, a newcomer to the group, led the way with a 2,021 all-events total and was followed by Bittenbender (2,007), Behrendt (1,895), Johnny Petraglia Jr. (1,820) and Todd Sigeti (1,814).
Competing at the nearby Bowlers Journal Championships earlier in the week gave the group a look at the doubles and singles oil pattern they saw Friday, and it definitely helped, though there were some bumps as they moved from doubles to singles.
The Bowlers Journal Championships is being contested at the South Point Bowling Center and is being held in conjunction with the Open Championships for the 75th time.
"We all crossed together at the Bowlers Journal, so we had a little bit of a game plan about how we wanted to play the lanes today," said Bittenbender, a 36-year-old right-hander. "The difference was that was only three games, and this was six, so they played a little tricky during the transition. We battled through as best we could, and here we are."
On the same pair of lanes as Behrendt and Bittenbender, Aaron O'Brien of Dupo, Illinois, and Michael Sapolis of St. Louis also found success during doubles. They moved into third place with a 1,355 total.
O'Brien led the surge with a 762 set, and Sapolis contributed a 593 series.
The run didn't end there for O'Brien, who stepped up in his final frame of singles with a chance to take the lead in Regular All-Events. He needed to close with three consecutive strikes, but after a double, he left a 9 pin on his final offering.
The 35-year-old right-hander didn't get the lead outright, but he'll leave his eighth Open Championships campaign sharing the top spot with Justin Studer at 2,057. O'Brien had 660 in singles and 635 in team.
"My goal was to come out here and put up a good number, and I finally did," O'Brien said. "I've had a couple of decent years, but this one was pretty good. I didn't know what any of the numbers were. I just wanted to put up a score I could smile about at the end."
O'Brien's career-best performance (by 115 pins) helped Strike It Rich Pro Shop 2 into second place in Team All-Events with 9,431. He was joined by Christian Taylor (2,005), Sapolis (1,917), Jennifer Helferstay (1,826) and Eric Czmowski (1,626).
The lead change in Classified Doubles on Friday actually kicked off the exciting day.
While the Strike It Rich Pro Shop teams were on one side of the Bowling Plaza garnering much of the attention, James Weder of Winchester, Illinois, and Kurtis Weber of Carrollton, Illinois, were on the other side quietly making their way up the standings.
Weder, an 82-year-old right-hander making his 22nd Open Championships appearance, had the hot hand, rolling games of 231, 193 and 171 for a 595 series. Weber, a 29-year-old right-hander, had 135, 224 and 159 for a 518 total, the first 500 of set of his four tournament appearances.
Larry and Nicole Flannigan of Kaneohe, Hawaii, previously held the lead in Classified Doubles with 1,093.
The top spot in Classified Team was claimed by Alamo City PINs of Helotes, Texas, with a consistent performance.
Games of 910, 917 and 970 helped the team to a 2,788 total, a score that would've been enough to win the title in eight of the last 10 Open Championships.
Miguel Villarreal set the pace with a 646 series, and he was followed by Robert Rosas (587), Luis Ramirez (568), Ruben Rodriguez (526) and Frances Villarreal (461). Witt's Classified Family Affair of Phoenix previously held the lead with 2,681.
The Classified Division includes individual bowlers with entering averages of 155 and below, doubles pairs with combined averages of 310 and below and teams with combined averages of 775 and lower.
The Regular Division at the Open Championships is for individual bowlers with entering tournament averages of 176 and above, doubles teams with combined averages of 351 and above and five-player teams with combined averages of 876 and higher.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.
Only a few hundred of the 9,500 or so teams expected to compete this year have visited the South Point Bowling Plaza, so there likely will be plenty more noteworthy accomplishments before the event concludes July 18.
As the opening week wound down Friday, five new leaders emerged at the 60-lane facility - Classified Doubles, Classified Team, Regular Doubles, Team All-Events and a tie for the lead in Regular All-Events.
Not to be mistaken with the country music duo Dan + Shay, the Missouri tandem of Tim and Shea (Timothy Behrendt and Shea Bittenbender of St. Charles) was rocking and rolling during doubles Friday morning.
The two made their way to the top of the charts, er, leaderboard with a 1,391 total, just two pins better than the previous leaders, Steve and Justin Studer of Rupert, Idaho (1,389).
Behrendt, a 39-year-old right-hander, struck on his fill ball to secure the lead and cap a 738 series that included games of 235, 257 and 246. Bittenbender, who tossed the strikes that locked up the lead in Regular Team for Strike It Rich Pro Shop 1 on Thursday, added a 653 series to the doubles effort on games of 214, 235 and 204.
The doubles performance was a continuation of the momentum the six-team group found during team competition, and it also helped Strike It Rich Pro Shop 1 put up the first solid Team All-Events score for incoming teams to chase.
Team All-Events combines the all-events totals of all five team members and awards the winning team Eagle trophies and the coveted Earl Anthony Trophy, based on their 45-game (nine games for each bowler) pinfall totals.
Strike It Rich Pro Shop 1 finished with a 9,557 total.
Eddie Byrd, a newcomer to the group, led the way with a 2,021 all-events total and was followed by Bittenbender (2,007), Behrendt (1,895), Johnny Petraglia Jr. (1,820) and Todd Sigeti (1,814).
Competing at the nearby Bowlers Journal Championships earlier in the week gave the group a look at the doubles and singles oil pattern they saw Friday, and it definitely helped, though there were some bumps as they moved from doubles to singles.
The Bowlers Journal Championships is being contested at the South Point Bowling Center and is being held in conjunction with the Open Championships for the 75th time.
"We all crossed together at the Bowlers Journal, so we had a little bit of a game plan about how we wanted to play the lanes today," said Bittenbender, a 36-year-old right-hander. "The difference was that was only three games, and this was six, so they played a little tricky during the transition. We battled through as best we could, and here we are."
On the same pair of lanes as Behrendt and Bittenbender, Aaron O'Brien of Dupo, Illinois, and Michael Sapolis of St. Louis also found success during doubles. They moved into third place with a 1,355 total.
O'Brien led the surge with a 762 set, and Sapolis contributed a 593 series.The run didn't end there for O'Brien, who stepped up in his final frame of singles with a chance to take the lead in Regular All-Events. He needed to close with three consecutive strikes, but after a double, he left a 9 pin on his final offering.
The 35-year-old right-hander didn't get the lead outright, but he'll leave his eighth Open Championships campaign sharing the top spot with Justin Studer at 2,057. O'Brien had 660 in singles and 635 in team.
"My goal was to come out here and put up a good number, and I finally did," O'Brien said. "I've had a couple of decent years, but this one was pretty good. I didn't know what any of the numbers were. I just wanted to put up a score I could smile about at the end."
O'Brien's career-best performance (by 115 pins) helped Strike It Rich Pro Shop 2 into second place in Team All-Events with 9,431. He was joined by Christian Taylor (2,005), Sapolis (1,917), Jennifer Helferstay (1,826) and Eric Czmowski (1,626).
The lead change in Classified Doubles on Friday actually kicked off the exciting day.
While the Strike It Rich Pro Shop teams were on one side of the Bowling Plaza garnering much of the attention, James Weder of Winchester, Illinois, and Kurtis Weber of Carrollton, Illinois, were on the other side quietly making their way up the standings.
Weder, an 82-year-old right-hander making his 22nd Open Championships appearance, had the hot hand, rolling games of 231, 193 and 171 for a 595 series. Weber, a 29-year-old right-hander, had 135, 224 and 159 for a 518 total, the first 500 of set of his four tournament appearances.
Larry and Nicole Flannigan of Kaneohe, Hawaii, previously held the lead in Classified Doubles with 1,093.
The top spot in Classified Team was claimed by Alamo City PINs of Helotes, Texas, with a consistent performance.
Games of 910, 917 and 970 helped the team to a 2,788 total, a score that would've been enough to win the title in eight of the last 10 Open Championships.
Miguel Villarreal set the pace with a 646 series, and he was followed by Robert Rosas (587), Luis Ramirez (568), Ruben Rodriguez (526) and Frances Villarreal (461). Witt's Classified Family Affair of Phoenix previously held the lead with 2,681.The Classified Division includes individual bowlers with entering averages of 155 and below, doubles pairs with combined averages of 310 and below and teams with combined averages of 775 and lower.
The Regular Division at the Open Championships is for individual bowlers with entering tournament averages of 176 and above, doubles teams with combined averages of 351 and above and five-player teams with combined averages of 876 and higher.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.