JACKSON, Mich. (Aug. 3, 2019) – PBA Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia averaged 247 for seven games Saturday to lead the first round of the PBA60 David Small’s JAX 60 National Championship in memory of Mel Wolf at JAX 60 Lanes.

The 72-year-old left-hander, who owns 14 Go Bowling! PBA Tour and eight PBA50 Tour titles, bowled a 1,734 seven-game pinfall total with games of 214, 258, 278, 237, 246, 279 and 222 to lead the field of 105 players ages 60 and older.

“With the longer (lane conditioning) pattern I’m able to throw the ball slower and that’s to my advantage,” Petraglia said. “It’s when I have to throw hard is when I get into trouble.

“I started practice with two balls that were pretty similar, but I went with the one that was a little stronger because it allowed me to move inside if I needed to and gave me some more room for error,” Petraglia added.

Petraglia’s first senior title came at JAX 60 Lanes (then Airport Lanes) when he won the 1998 PBA Senior National Championship and then won there a second time when he captured the 2008 Senior Jackson Open title.

“This has been a good center for me and I have a lot of good memories of bowling here as you can imagine,” Petraglia said. “So, I’m hoping for good things to happen as the tournament continues.”

Petraglia’s last “senior” tour event win came in the 2012 PBA50 Senior Dayton Classic. He has yet to win a PBA60 event but has two runner-up finishes to his credit.

Petraglia leads fellow left-hander, three-time PBA50 Tour titlist and 2018 USBC Super Senior Classic winner Mike Dias of Lafayette, Colorado and Gary Reh of Fort Mohave, Arizona, tied for second with 1,653. Rounding out the top five are Mike Mineman, St. Louis, Missouri, 1,643 and Kevin Foley, Reno, Nevada, 1,633.

The entire field returns for another seven-game qualifying round Sunday at 11 a.m. ET after which the top 24 players will advance to the first match play round at 4 p.m.  Match play continues with rounds Monday at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to determine the top five for the stepladder finals at 6 p.m.

The tournament is named in honor of longtime PBA50 competitor Mel Wolf who passed away in 2011. The one-time PBA50 Tour titlist was the driving force in bringing the senior tour to Jackson in 1992.

PBA60 DAVID SMALL’S JAX 60 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

In Memory of Mel Wolf

David Small’s JAX 60 Lanes, Jackson, Mich., Saturday

FIRST ROUND RESULTS (after seven games)

1, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,734.
2, (tie) Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., and Gary Reh, Fort Mohave, Ariz., 1,653.
4, Mike Mineman, St Louis, 1,643.
5, Kevin Foley, Reno, Nev., 1,633.
6, (tie) Jerry Sikora, Huron, S.D. and n-William Essman, Angola, Ind., 1,625.
8, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 1,615.
9, n-Barry Gilitiuk, Mesa, Ariz., 1,611.
10, Ron Profitt, Brookville, Ohio, 1,607.
11, (tie) Ron Mohr, Las Vegas, and Toby Contreras, Lee's Summit, Mo., 1,593.
13, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,585.
14, Christopher Keane, Cape Coral, Fla., 1,581.
15, (tie) Bill Neumann, Rensselaer, N.Y., and Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 1,578.
17, n-Kirt Gundry, Lansing, Mich., 1,577.
18, Rick Minier, Houston, 1,563.
19, (tie) Dale Csuhta, Wadsworth, Ohio, and Phillip Moros, Lombard, Ill., 1,562.
21, Emilio Mora Sr., Defiance, Ohio, 1,555.
22, n-Roland Wright, Christianburg, Vir., 1,551.
23, Glen Nakagawa, Highland Village, Texas, 1,548.
24, (tie) n-Jerome Woodfork, Rockford, Ill., and Bruce Hall, Westborough, Mass., 1,547.
26, Brian Voss, Centennial, Colo., 1,543.
27, Michael Tweed Sr., Camp Hill, Pa., 1,542.
28, Henry Dawson, Elma, Wash., 1,537.
29, Terry Metzner, Kentwood, Mich., 1,534.
30, (tie) Tom Baker, King, N.C., James Knoblauch, Waukesha, Wis., and William Peters, Dayton, Ohio, 1,533.
33, (tie) Marc Lineberry, Camanche, Iowa, and Charlie Tapp, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1,526.
35, n-George Phillips, Centreville, Mich., 1,524.
36, (tie) James Storts, Westfield, Ind., and Gene Bruihl, Petaluma, Calif., 1,521.
38, Michael Lucente, Warren, Mich., 1,519.
39, Mark Everette, Aliquippa, Pa., 1,518.
40, David Axon, Bellevue, Neb., 1,516.
41, (tie) Jim Heintz, St. Charles, Mo., and Tom Carter, Columbus, Ohio, 1,509.
43, n-Robert Worrall II, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1,508.
44, Darryl Bower, Middletown, Pa., 1,503.
45, (tie) Edward Silva, Manteca, Calif., and Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,497.
47, Kurt Gengelbach, Lewisville, Texas, 1,492.
48, n-Fred McClain, Allen Park, Mich., 1,481.
49, Chuck Richardson, The Villages, Fla., 1,480.
50, John DiSantis, Wilmington, Del., 1,478.
51, n-Ted Hannahs, Zanesville, Ohio, 1,476.
52, Lance Lorfeld, University Place, Wash., 1,474.
53, (tie) Jim Pitts, Elmira, N.Y., and n-Jay Young, 1,471.
55, Jeff Bellinger, Columbia, S.C., 1,470.
56, n-Darwin Wimer, Mesquite, Nev., 1,468.
57, Douglas Weese, Lansing, Mich., 1,465.
58, Jim Dilyard, Burbank, Ohio, 1,448.
59, n-Rick Goergen, Midland, Mich., 1,445.
60, n-Peter Minaudo, Chesterfield, Mich., 1,440.
61, (tie) Bob Chamberlain, The Villages, Fla., and Lee Brosius, Ashburn, Va., 1,439.
63, Bill Sell, Menasha, Wis., 1,438.
64, Michael Truitt, New Port Richey, Fla., 1,436.
65, (tie) n-Mitchell Jabczenski, Novi, Mich., and Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,429.
67, Robert Kicmal, LaGrange, Ill., 1,428.
68, Bob Kelly, Dayton, Ohio, 1,427.
69, John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 1,426.
70, Gary Kammes, Winfield, Ill., 1,423.
71, Joe Salvemini, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1,421.
72, Dave Dunphy, Canada, 1,419.
73, William Keenan Jr., Orlando, Fla., 1,416.
74, Dave Flemming, Fairborn, Ohio, 1,414.
75, Paul Mielens, Menomonie, Wis., 1,413.
76, n-Edward Mintz, Canton, Mich., 1,412.
77, (tie) n-Gary Kresse, Chandler, Ariz. and Ray Johnson, Battle Creek, Mich., 1,407.
79, Conn Casey, Canada, 1,393.
80, Lee Rautenberg, Boynton Beach, Fla., 1,382.
81, (tie) Richard Hunt, Valparaiso, Ind., Larry Zacharias, Plainfield, Ill., and Larry Graybeal, Elizabethton, Tenn., 1,381.
84, n-Victor Portalatin, Jackson, Mich., 1,378.
85, (tie) Brian Miller, Springfield, Ohio, and n-Mike Haggerty, Montrose, Mich., 1,374.
87, n-Ron Barker, Delavan, Wis., 1,373.
88, (tie) Don Lane, San Francisco, and Mike Hastings, Millsboro, Del., 1,366.
90, (tie) Galen Keas, Alda, Neb., and Brendan Bierch, Grafton, Mass., 1,360.
92, Greg Scheetz, Scottsdale, Ariz., 1,359.
93, Mike Moore, Marietta, Ohio, 1,351.
94, Brian Phillips, Quinnesec, Mich., 1,350.
95, Dale Holgate, Peninsula, Ohio, 1,347.
96, Bill Hewlett, Las Vegas, 1,333.
97, n-Ronald Libs, Tinley Park, Ill., 1,332.
98, Lucien Casagrande, Canada, 1,326.
99, James Souder, Greeneville, Tenn., 1,309.
100, Bill Henson, Westerville, Ohio, 1,305.
101, Pete Bryan, Laurel, Del., 1,291.
102, Ken Waters, Kingsport, Tenn., 1,278.
103, Jean-Marc Gagnon, Punta Corda, Fla., 1,267.
104, Mitchell Vernon, Olympia, Wash., 1,254.
105, Allen Meskan, Addison, Ill., 1,205.

n-non-PBA member