LAS VEGAS – Matt McNiel, a 34-year-old part-time PBA Tour competitor from Minneapolis, Minnesota, posted a 10-game total of 2,424 pins Sunday to lead qualifying in the Go Bowling PBA Cheetah Championship as the Storm PBA World Series of Bowling XI got underway at South Point Bowling Plaza.

McNiel, the only bowler to win the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships all-events title three times, didn’t have a game below 208 and finished Sunday’s two five-game qualifying rounds with a 290 game to overtake EJ Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana by 23 pins for the Cheetah Championship lead.

The Cheetah Championship is the first of three so-called animal pattern stages of WSOB XI that also involve qualifying for the PBA World Championship, the 2020 Go Bowling PBA Tour’s fourth major championship. The top 16 Cheetah qualifiers will advance to best-of-five-game, single-elimination match play on Saturday, March 14, to narrow the field to four finalists who will compete for the Cheetah title live on FS1 on Sunday, March 15, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern (10:30 a.m. Pacific).

Next up on the WSOB XI schedule is qualifying for the PBA Chameleon Championship Monday. Two five-game qualifying rounds will begin at 3 p.m. Eastern/noon Pacific and 8:30 Eastern/5:30 p.m. Pacific. The top 16 qualifiers will advance to the Chameleon final rounds on March 16.

Thirty-game combined qualifying pinfall totals for the Cheetah, Chameleon and Tuesday’s Scorpion Championship rounds will determine the 40 players who will advance to Wednesday’s PBA World Championship cashers round. Each World Series event is being contested on a different lane oiling pattern: the 33-foot Cheetah, 39-foot Chameleon and 42-foot Scorpion patterns plus the 43-foot Earl Anthony pattern for the World Championship. Competition points earned in each event also will be important in qualifying for the upcoming PBA Playoffs and the annual PBA League draft.

FloBowling, the PBA’s official subscription-based online streaming service, is providing exclusive coverage of all WSOB qualifying and match play rounds. For subscription information, visit flobowling.com. Fans also can follow the World Series in real time on pba.com’s Live Scoring feature.

GO BOWLING PBA CHEETAH CHAMPIONSHIP

(A Storm PBA World Series of Bowling XI/2020 Go Bowling PBA Tour Tier 3 event)

South Point Bowling Plaza, Las Vegas, Friday

Final Go Bowling PBA Cheetah Championship Qualifying Standings (after 10 games; top 16 advance to best-of-five-game single-elimination match play on Saturday, March 14)

1, Matt McNiel, Minneapolis, 2,424.
2, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 2,401.
3, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 2,359.
4, Darren Tang, Las Vegas, 2,315.
5, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 2,311.
6, Patrick Hanrahan, Wichita, Kan., 2,304.
7, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 2,284.
8, Mykel Holliman, Collierville, Tenn., 2,280.
9, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 2,277.
10, Kyle Sherman, O'Fallon, Mo., 2,268.
11, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 2,267.
12, Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 2,259.
13, Patrick Girard, Canada, 2,258.
14 (tie), Jesper Svensson, Sweden, and Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,257.
16, x-Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 2,242.
Failed to advance:

17, Ryan Ciminelli, Lancaster, S.C., 2,242.
18, Michael Tang, Johnstown, Ohio, 2,237.
19, Jake Rollins, Glen Rock, N.J., 2,236.
20, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 2,231.
21, Michael Martell, Brooklyn, N.Y., 2,230.
22, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 2,226.
23, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 2,224.
24, Jason Sterner, Rochester, N.Y., 2,217.
25, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 2,216.
26, Greg Young, Viera, Fla., 2,213.
27, Nate Garcia, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 2,204.
28, Nick Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 2,203.
29, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 2,202.
30, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 2,200.
31, Kenneth Ryan, Farmingdale, N.J., 2,199.
32, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,195.
33, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 2,193.
34 (tie), Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., and Sean Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 2,192.
36, BJ Moore, Greensburg, Pa., 2,188.
37, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 2,183.
38, Sam Cooley, Australia, 2,176.
39, JR Raymond, Clinton Twp., Mich., 2,172.
40, Carsten Hansen, Denmark, 2,171.
41, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 2,169.
42, Dom Barrett, England, 2,167.
43, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 2,165.
44, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 2,164.
45, John Furey, Howell, N.J., 2,163.
46, Matt Sanders, Evansville, Ind., 2,160.
47, Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., 2,153.
48, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2,149.
49 (tie), Jean Perez, Puerto Rico, and AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa, 2,147.
51, Brandon Curtis, Manson, N.C., 2,145.
52, Rhino Page, Spokane, Wash., 2,139.
53, Christopher Sloan, Ireland, 2,138.
54 (tie), Tom Hess, Granger, Iowa, and Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 2,135.
56, Adam Andersson, Sweden, 2,134.
57, Mitch Hupe, Wichita, Kan., 2,125.
58, Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas, 2,113.
59, Michael Davidson, Versailles, Ohio, 2,112.
60, Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, 2,111.
61, Cristian Azcona, Clermont, Fla., 2,104.
62, Richard Teece, England, 2,103.
63, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 2,102.
64 (tie), Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., and Stephen Hahn, Sterling, Va., 2,099.
66, Jim Pratt, Avondale, Ariz., 2,092.
67, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 2,089.
68, Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, 2,088.
69, Shota Kawazoe, Japan, 2,087.
70, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,079.
71, Deo Benard, Henderson, Nev., 2,071.
72, Tim Pfeifer, Oakdale, Pa., 2,067.
73, Zac Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 2,064.
74, Russ Oviatt, Sioux Falls, S.D., 2,063.
75, Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 2,060.
76, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 2,054.
77, Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 2,053.
78, Stuart Williams, England, 2,047.
79, Andrew Suscreba, Clifton, N.J., 2,037.
80 (tie), Arnar Jonsson, Iceland, and David Haynes, Las Vegas, 2,031.
82, Pascal Winternheimer, Germany, 2,030.
83 (tie), Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, and Zach Wilkins, Canada, 2,025.
85, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 2,024.
86 (tie), Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., and Toby Sambueno, Henderson, Nev., 2,023.
88, Mike Coffey, Melbourne, Fla., 2,021.
89, David Krol, Nixa, Mo., 2,019.
90, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 2,013.
91, Dakota Vostry, Romeoville, Ill., 2,011.
92, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 2,010.
93, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 2,002.
94, Pontus Andersson, Sweden, 1,996.
95 (tie), Andrew Cain, Phoenix, and Rasmus Edvall, Sweden, 1,995.
97, DJ Archer, Spring, Texas, 1,993.
98, Gaetan Mouveroux, France, 1,992.
99 (tie), Thomas Larsen, Denmark, and Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 1,990.
101, Trey Ford III, Bartlesville, Okla., 1,989.
102, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,987.
103 (tie), Robin Persson, Sweden, and Maria Rodriguez, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,984.
105, Chad Lusche, Arvada, Colo., 1,982.
106, Kim Bolleby, Sweden, 1,977.
107, Graham Fach, Urbana, Ohio, 1,971.
108, Kyle Duster, Scottsdale, Ariz., 1,951.
109, Cody Shoemaker, Hanover, Pa., 1,948.
110, Tobias Boerding, Germany, 1,937.
111, Wesley Low Jr., Palmdale, Calif., 1,935.
112, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,934.
113 (tie), Tristan Butler, Fort Wayne, Ind., and Greg Ostrander, Brick, N.J., 1,908.
115, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 1,905.
116, Keven Williams, Springfield, Mo.,, 1,881.
116, Ryan Graywacz, Canastota, N.Y., 1,881.
118, Eduardo Astiazaran, Mexico, 1,849.
119, Matt Kuba, Tinley Park, Ill., 1,814.
120, Blake Demore, Springfield, Mo., 1,812.

x-Rash def. Ciminelli, 243-178, in a one-game roll-off to break a tie for 16th place.

300 Games: Michael Martell (2).