MONTICELLO, Minn. (July 18, 2018) – Ralph Brunt Jr. of Jensen Beach, Fla., kept his mistakes to a minimum and was rewarded with a 1,828 eight-game pinfall total to take the first round lead Wednesday in the PBA50 River City Extreme Open presented by Ebonite.

Bowling on PBA’s 39-foot Don Carter lane condition, Brunt bowled games of 209, 241, 232, 218, 195, 267, 218 and 248 to take a five-pin lead over 2016 PBA50 Rookie of the Year Eddie Graham of Kettering Ohio, who finished the round in second with 1,823.

“When the round started it was a matter of staying out of trouble and keeping the ball in play,” said Brunt, whose best PBA50 Tour finish was fifth in the 2014 Pro Bowl West Fort Wayne Classic. “In the first four games I was happy to get a double or three strikes in a row so I was just grinding it out and making the spares.

“In the sixth game I changed to a ball that didn’t hook quite as much and started throwing the ball a little softer to get a better angle to the pocket and that improved my (pin) carry quite a bit,” Brunt added. “I started playing a little more aggressively because I didn’t want to lose the pocket.”

Finishing the round in third was Greg Thomas of Irmo, S.C., bowling in his first PBA50 Tour tournament, with 1,813, followed by PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., in fourth with 1,788, and Sammy Ventura of Syracuse, N.Y., rounding out the top five with 1,771.

The entire field returns for another eight-game qualifying round Thursday which begins at 10 a.m. CDT. Friday’s cashers and match play rounds will begin at 8:30 a.m. After match play the top five players will be determined for the stepladder finals at 7 p.m.

PBA’s online bowling channel, PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling, is providing live start-to-finish coverage of the River City Extreme Open as well as the remaining events during the 2018 PBA50 Tour season. Subscription and schedule information is available by visiting www.flobowling.com.

PBA50 RIVER CITY EXTREME OPEN

Presented by Ebonite

River City Extreme, Monticello, Minn., Wednesday

FIRST ROUND (after eight games)

1, Ralph Brunt Jr., Jensen Beach, Fla., 1,828.
2, Eddie Graham, Kettering, Ohio, 1,823.
3, Greg Thomas, Irmo, S.C., 1,813.
4, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,788.
5, ss-Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,771.
6, ss-Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 1,769.
7, Scott Greiner, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 1,766.
8, Joel Carlson, Omaha, Neb., 1,743.
9, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 1,742.
10, Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 1,741.
11, Jeff Johnson, Freeport, Ill., 1,728.
12, (tie) Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., and n-David Oulman, Medford, Minn., 1,720.
14, Gary Alstott, Washington, Ill., 1,715.
14, John Marsala, St. Louis, Mo., 1,715.
16, Tony Johnson, Canton, Ohio, 1,709.
17, Mark Sullivan, Indianapolis, 1,705.
18, (tie) Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, and Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 1,704.
20, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 1,703.
21, ss-Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,697.
22, ss-Tom Carter, Columbus, Ohio, 1,696.
23, Todd Kjell, Roscoe, Ill., 1,692.
24, ss-John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 1,681.
25, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,677.
26, Peter Knopp, Germany, 1,676.
27, Greg McDaniel, Kimball, Neb., 1,675.
28, n-Thomas Jones, Blaine, Mnn., 1,656.
29, Tony Rodriguez Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 1,653.
30, Brian Voss, Centennial, Colo., 1,641.
31, ss-Ron Mohr, Las Vegas, 1,631.
32, ss-Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., 1,630.
33, n-John Hommes, Crystal, Minn., 1,620.
34, John Burkett, Southlake, Texas, 1,607.
35, ss-Henry Dawson, Elma, Wash., 1,605.
36, n-Larry Birkedahl, Sartell, Minn., 1,594.
37, n-Ron Cleveland, St. Paul, Minn., 1,587.
38, Glenn Morgan, Carson City, Nev., 1,586.
39, ss-Edward Silva, Manteca, Calif., 1,571.
40, ss-Steven Jansson, Barnes, Wis., 1,569.
41, Brad Snell, Mount Prospect, Ill., 1,552.
42, John Kidwell, Indianapolis, Ind., 1,551.
43, ss-Patrick King, Yankton, S.D., 1,550.
44, ss-Steve Stein, Staten Island, N.Y., 1,544.
45, n-David Green, St. Michael, Minn., 1,543.
46, n-Craig Schiffler, Melrose, Minn., 1,542.
47, Don Breeden, Clive, Iowa, 1,537.
48, n-Curtis Matlock, Cloquet, Minn., 1,535.
49, Timothy Regan, East Northport, N.Y., 1,532.
50, ss-Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 1,520.
51, ss-Bob Heath Sr., Grand Junction, Iowa, 1,512.
52, ss-Lucien Casagrande, Canada, 1,505.
53, ss-Kevin Foley, Reno, Nev., 1,499.
54, ss-James Storts, Westfield, Ind., 1,497.
55, n-ss-Robert Robillard, Savage, Minn., 1,484.
56, n-Dana Wright, St. Paul, Minn., 1,470.
57, ss-Christopher Keane, Cape Coral, Fla., 1,468.
58, Craig O'Reilly, Tinley Park, Ill., 1,466.
59, ss-Gary Kammes, Winfield, Ill., 1,464.
60, ss-Jared Cudnohufsky, Kingsford, Mich., 1,460.
61, ss-Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 1,459.
62, (tie) Jeff Moore, Boone, Iowa, 1,451 and ss-Paul Mielens, Menomonie, Wis., 1,451.
64, n-Fred Schossow, Zimmerman, Minn., 1,430.
65, n-Ermon Dixon, Waite Park, Minn., 1,420.
66, n-Peter Williams, Buffalo, Minn., 1,414.
67, Dean Bruinsma, Clear Lake, S.D., 1,394.
68, n-ss-Lawrence Harvanko, Champlin, Minn., 1,390.
69, n-James Friend, Big Lake, Minn., 1,358.
70, ss-Mike Schmid, St. Paul, Minn., 1,342.
71, n-Fred van De, Elk River, Minn., 1,279.