LUBBOCK, Texas (Jan. 24, 2019) – EJ Tackett of Bluffton, Ind., bowled a 1,566 seven-game pinfall total on PBA’s 42-foot Scorpion lane condition in the second round of the PBA Lubbock Sports Open Thursday at South Plains Lanes to lead 24 players who advanced to Friday’s cashers round.

The 26-year-old 2016 PBA Player of the Year and 12-time Go Bowling! PBA Tour winner finished the day with a 3,137 overall 14-game pinfall (224 average) after two rounds, surging from seventh with 1,571 after Wednesday’s first round on the 32-foot Wolf lane condition.

Tackett, who won the 2015 Lubbock Sports Open, bowled games of 257, 190, 234, 199, 219, 272 and 195 in the second round to hold a narrow three-pin lead over three-time tour winner Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, N.C., in second with a 3,134 after two rounds.

“For me, the key to bowling in tournaments with different lane conditions is staying ahead of the moves and adjustments you need to make and make sure you dial in your focus on each lane,” said Tackett. “It’s tough enough when you’re bowling a tournament on the same condition, but on multiple conditions, it can create a domino effect of problems if you fall behind. You don’t want to have to play catch up.”

Despite finishing the second round with a 169, PBA Oklahoma Open winner Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Ariz., vaulted from 42nd to 19th, with a 2,982 pinfall. With the cashers round and two match play rounds to go, if the 2016 Lubbock Sports Open winner can become the top qualifier for Sunday’s live stepladder finals on FS1, he would become the first player to qualify for the top position in four consecutive PBA Tour singles events.

Rounding out the top five after the second round were AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa, 3,107; Kyle Sherman, O’Fallon, Mo., 3,100 and Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 3,099.

Defending champion PBA Hall of Famer Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, maintained his position in 18th with a 2,995 pinfall to advance to the cashers round. First round leader Kris Prather of Plainfield, Ill., dropped to ninth with 3,083.

The players advancing to the cashers round will have the added challenge of having to bowl on the Scorpion condition on the left lane and Wolf condition on the right lane.

The top 16 players after Friday’s cashers round will bowl an eight-game match play round on Friday afternoon and another Saturday morning after which the top five will advance to the stepladder finals live on FS1 Sunday at 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT). The stepladder finals will also feature the Scorpion pattern on the left lane and Wolf pattern on the right lane.

Fans can catch all the live streaming action on FloBowling.com.  Visit www.flobowling.com for subscription and schedule information.

PBA LUBBOCK SPORTS OPEN

South Plains Lanes, Lubbock Texas, Thursdayt

SECOND ROUND RESULTS (after 14 games. Top 24 advance to Friday’s cashers round)

1, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 3,137.
2, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 3,134.
3, AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa, 3,107.
4, Kyle Sherman, O'Fallon, Mo., 3,100.
5, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 3,099.
6, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 3,090.
7, Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 3,086.
8, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 3,085.
9, Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 3,083.
10, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 3,082.
11, Nicholas Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 3,076.
12, Stuart Williams, England, 3,069.
13, Rhino Page, Orlando, 3,059.
14, Michael Tang, Johnstown, Ohio, 3,030.
15, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 3,022.
16, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 3,021.
17, Mitch Hupe, Canada, 2,996.
18, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,995.
19, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 2,982.
20, (tie) Mike Coffey, Melbourne, Fla., and Dwight Adams, Greensboro, N.C., 2,962.
22, Jason Sterner, Fayetteville, Ga., 2,952.
23, Matt O'Grady, Rahway, N.J., 2,951.
24, Ryan Ciminelli, Clarence, N.Y., 2,945.

Failed to advance
25, (tie) Richie Teece, England, and Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 2,942.
27, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 2,941.
28, Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas, 2,939.
29, A.J. Rice, Salem, Ala., 2,933.
30, Sam Cooley, Australia, 2,928.
31, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 2,925.
32, (tie) Graham Fach, Urbana, Ohio, and Joe Findling, Mesquite, Texas, 2,922.
34, Nate Garcia, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 2,919.
35, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 2,916.
36, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 2,899.
37, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 2,895.
38, (tie) Arturo Quintero, Mexico, Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., and Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 2,886.
41, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 2,877.
42, (tie) Christopher Sloan, Ireland, and Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, 2,871, $100.
44, Jake Rollins, Glen Rock, N.J., 2,869.
45, Stephen Pavlinko Jr., Sewell, N.J., 2,861.
46, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2,858.
47, Andrew Suscreba, Clifton, N.J., 2,857.
48, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 2,852.
49, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 2,837.
50, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 2,831.
51, Darren Tang, Las Vegas, Nev., 2,828.
52, Anthony Pepe, East Elmhurst, N.Y., 2,826.
53, Cody Meiers, Lubbock, Texas, 2,822.
54, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 2,809.
55, Zacharay Wilkins, Canada, 2,806.
56, Trey Ford III, Bartlesville, Okla., 2,803.
57, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 2,786.
58, Greg Young, Viera, Fla., 2,783.
59, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 2,778.
60, Michael Steele, Abilene, Texas, 2,768.
61, (tie) Mykel Holliman, Collierville, Tenn., and Matt Kuba, Chicago Ridge, IL, 2,764.
63, Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 2,763.
64, Patrick Hanrahan, Wichita, Kan., 2,760.
65, Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, 2,755.
66, Michael Davidson, Versailles, Ohio, 2,752.
67, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 2,751.
68, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 2,739.
69, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 2,737.
70, DJ Archer, Spring, Texas, 2,731.
71, Jim Pratt, Avondale, Ariz., 2,718.
72, Billy Rogers, Mesquite, Texas, 2,716.
73, Greg Ostrander, Brick, N.J., 2,712.
74, Sean Wilcox, Altamonte Springs, Fla., 2,703.
75, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 2,695.
76, Scotty Pope Jr., Odessa, Texas, 2,670.
77, Matt Sanders, Indianapolis, 2,668.
78, Michael Duran, Banning, Calif., 2,658.
79, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 2,655.
80, Eduardo Astiazaran, Mexico, 2,642.
81, Scott McCleery, Lubbock, Texas, 2,598.
82, Mason Edmondson, Amarillo, Texas, 2,596.
83, Will Vidulich, Montville, N.J., 2,578.
84, Kenneth Harlan, Lubbock, Texas, 2,566.
85, Ronald Johnson III, Durango, Colo., 2,452.
86, Tyler Albracht, Amarillo, Texas, 2,447.
87, Justin Wyman, Fairport, N.Y., 2,405.
88, Dave Chubb, Farmington, N.M., 2,357.
89, Christopher Hull, Odessa, Texas, 2,329.
90, Athol Packer Jr., Little Elm, Texas, 2,264.
91, Steve Britton, Grand Prairie, Texas, 2,197.
92, Gordon Bellamy Jr, Orlando, Fla., 2,048.
93, Levi Fintel, Lubbock, Texas, 2,184.

300 games – Greg Ostrander