Sean Rash earns top seed in PBA Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator
03/06/10
Sean Rash (pictured left) of Wichita, Kan., charged out of sixth place to earn the top seeding position for Eliminator Rounds in the Professional Bowlers Association's Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator at Sequoia Pro Bowl Friday, averaging 229.5 over 28 qualifying games including a 300 game.
Rash topped the field of 30 with a total of 6,426 pins, holding off Tommy Jones (right) of Simpsonville, S.C., for the top qualifying position by 14 pins. Jones had a 6,412 total. Rash and Jones will be top seeds in two of the four Eliminator brackets; also earning top seeds were first round qualifying leader Michael Haugen Jr. (below left) of Carefree, Ariz., and U.S. Open champion Bill O'Neill (below right) of Southampton, Pa.
Two-time defending Eliminator champion Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, dropped to 22nd place and missed the cut for Saturday's Eliminator Rounds.
Rash, a four-time PBA Tour winner who hasn't won a title since 2007, said he went home last weekend after finishing 115th in the U.S. Open and worked with his former Wichita State University coach, Mark Lewis, to try to break out of a recent slump.
"We figured out some things I did when I was successful out here and worked on some bad habits I had developed," Rash said. "After my lessons, I got in some good practice and came into the tournament confident in what I wanted to do, and I threw a bunch of strikes. "At this level, there are 64 guys who can win on any one day, so for me, the mental aspect was just to make a cut. I'm very pleased today with where I'm at, but tomorrow all of the pinfall is wiped out and we start over. In a three-game match, anything can happen. You can't take anything for granted, but I like this format. I used to bowl in survival events like this when I was an amateur. So tomorrow I'll stay aggressive and take it from there."
Wes Malott (left), Pflugerville, Texas, and Osku Palermaa (right), the two-hander from Finland, tied for 15th place to take the last two spots to advance with 6,162.
The surviving field to the 16 players will be seeded into groups of four for Saturday's Eliminator Rounds. In each of three Eliminator rounds, the bowler with the lowest three-game, total pinfall score will be eliminated, and the winner of each group will advance to Sunday's live ESPN finals starting at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. In Sunday's finals, the player with the lowest game bowled each round will be eliminated until the champion is decided.
Saturday's Eliminator Round Pairings
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Players with position, hometown and 28-game total. The top 16 advance.
1, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., 6,426, $100
2, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 6,412
3, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 6,385
4, Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., 6,367
5, Joe Bailey, Doylestown, Ohio, 6,325
6, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 6,311
7, Steve Harman, Indianapolis, 6,266
8, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 6,247
9, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 6,207
10, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 6,198
11, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 6,188
12, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 6,174
13, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 6,171
14, Mike DeVaney, San Diego, 6,165
15, (tie) Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, and Osku Palermaa, Finland, 6,162
Missed Cut:
17, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 6,154, $2,500
18, Ken Simard, Greenville, S.C., 6,090, $2,500
19, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 6,080, $2,600
20, Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C., 6,070, $2,500
21, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 6,055, $2,500
22, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 6,054, $2,500
2009-10 PBA Tour #15
Barnes' bid for third consecutive title in Columbus falls short
Sean Rash (pictured left) of Wichita, Kan., charged out of sixth place to earn the top seeding position for Eliminator Rounds in the Professional Bowlers Association's Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator at Sequoia Pro Bowl Friday, averaging 229.5 over 28 qualifying games including a 300 game.Rash topped the field of 30 with a total of 6,426 pins, holding off Tommy Jones (right) of Simpsonville, S.C., for the top qualifying position by 14 pins. Jones had a 6,412 total. Rash and Jones will be top seeds in two of the four Eliminator brackets; also earning top seeds were first round qualifying leader Michael Haugen Jr. (below left) of Carefree, Ariz., and U.S. Open champion Bill O'Neill (below right) of Southampton, Pa.
Two-time defending Eliminator champion Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, dropped to 22nd place and missed the cut for Saturday's Eliminator Rounds.Rash, a four-time PBA Tour winner who hasn't won a title since 2007, said he went home last weekend after finishing 115th in the U.S. Open and worked with his former Wichita State University coach, Mark Lewis, to try to break out of a recent slump.
"We figured out some things I did when I was successful out here and worked on some bad habits I had developed," Rash said. "After my lessons, I got in some good practice and came into the tournament confident in what I wanted to do, and I threw a bunch of strikes. "At this level, there are 64 guys who can win on any one day, so for me, the mental aspect was just to make a cut. I'm very pleased today with where I'm at, but tomorrow all of the pinfall is wiped out and we start over. In a three-game match, anything can happen. You can't take anything for granted, but I like this format. I used to bowl in survival events like this when I was an amateur. So tomorrow I'll stay aggressive and take it from there."
Wes Malott (left), Pflugerville, Texas, and Osku Palermaa (right), the two-hander from Finland, tied for 15th place to take the last two spots to advance with 6,162.The surviving field to the 16 players will be seeded into groups of four for Saturday's Eliminator Rounds. In each of three Eliminator rounds, the bowler with the lowest three-game, total pinfall score will be eliminated, and the winner of each group will advance to Sunday's live ESPN finals starting at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. In Sunday's finals, the player with the lowest game bowled each round will be eliminated until the champion is decided.
Saturday's Eliminator Round Pairings
- Group A: Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan.; Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y.; Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., and Osku Palermaa, Finland.
- Group B: Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C.; Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y.; Steve Harman, Indianapolis, and Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas.
- Group C: Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz.; Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich.; Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, and Mike DeVaney, San Diego.
- Group D: Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa.; Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas; Joe Bailey, Doylestown, Ohio, and Andres Gomez, Colombia.
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Etonic PBA Don Johnson Eliminator - Fourth Round Results
Players with position, hometown and 28-game total. The top 16 advance.
1, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., 6,426, $100
2, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 6,412
3, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 6,385
4, Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., 6,367
5, Joe Bailey, Doylestown, Ohio, 6,325
6, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 6,311
7, Steve Harman, Indianapolis, 6,266
8, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 6,247
9, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 6,207
10, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 6,198
11, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 6,188
12, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 6,174
13, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 6,171
14, Mike DeVaney, San Diego, 6,165
15, (tie) Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, and Osku Palermaa, Finland, 6,162
Missed Cut:
17, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 6,154, $2,500
18, Ken Simard, Greenville, S.C., 6,090, $2,500
19, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 6,080, $2,600
20, Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C., 6,070, $2,500
21, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 6,055, $2,500
22, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 6,054, $2,500
23, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 6,022, $2,600
24, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 6,020, $2,600
25, Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga., 6,004, $2,500
26, George Lambert IV, Canada, 5,996, $2,500
27, Todd Book, Wapakoneta, Ohio, 5,995, $2,500
28, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 5,966, $2,500
29, Tim Mack, Indianapolis, 5,964, $2,500
30, Eddie VanDaniker Jr., Essex, Md., 5,920, $2,500
300 Games (4): Eugene McCune, Rhino Page, Norm Duke, Sean Rash.
24, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 6,020, $2,600
25, Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga., 6,004, $2,500
26, George Lambert IV, Canada, 5,996, $2,500
27, Todd Book, Wapakoneta, Ohio, 5,995, $2,500
28, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 5,966, $2,500
29, Tim Mack, Indianapolis, 5,964, $2,500
30, Eddie VanDaniker Jr., Essex, Md., 5,920, $2,500
300 Games (4): Eugene McCune, Rhino Page, Norm Duke, Sean Rash.
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