6
- February 2016
SERVING THE BOWLING INDUSTRY SINCE 1967
Simonsen Makes History With
Win At 2016 USBC Masters
By Matt Cannizzaro
INDIANAPOLIS -
Nineteen-year-old Anthony Simon-
sen of Princeton, Texas, won the 2016 United States
Bowling Congress Masters on Sunday to become the
youngest player to win a major title on the Professional
Bowlers Association Tour.
Simonsen struck on eight of his first nine shots in the
championship match at Woodland Bowl to secure a
245-207 victory against Dan MacLelland of Kitchener,
Ontario, Canada. MacLelland was looking to become
the first amateur since 2002 to win the USBC Masters.
The victory earned Simonsen $50,000 and the cov-
eted Masters trophy, while MacLelland took home
$25,000 as the runner-up. Simonsen was the first top
seed to win the event since 2013, when Australia's
Jason Belmonte claimed the first of a record three con-
secutive Masters titles.
Simonsen, at 19 years and 39 days old, surpasses
USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Mike Aulby of nearby
Carmel, Indiana, as the youngest major champion.
Aulby was 19 years and 83 days old when he won the
PBA National Championship in 1979 for the first of
eight major titles.
"It's definitely a dream come true," said Simonsen,
who won his first title earlier this year when he teamed
with Connor Pickford to win the Mark Roth/Marshall
Holman Doubles Championship and just miss becom-
ing the youngest player to win a PBA Tour title. "And,
it's awesome to break a record. Mike Aulby was a
great player. Missing the youngest to be a title-holder
by two days was a little disappointing, but to come out
and get the job done today, I guess I'll take that as
evening itself out."
The decision to pursue a career on the lanes was one
Simonsen didn't take lightly, but he quickly was able to
prove himself with two PBA regional victories on the
way to PBA Southwest Region Rookie of the Year
honors for the 2014 season.
Equal success at the national level has been just as
quick, but Simonsen still is focused and humble. "I
made the decision at a young age to come on out, and
it was about getting out here and getting experience,
which really is starting to pay off," Simonsen said.
"This is my first full year out on Tour, and I bowled a
majority of the major events that were possible. To
have success is awesome, but a title doesn't define
you. You have to keep coming out and trying to per-
form week in and week out, and see where it takes
you."
For MacLelland, this week at the Masters was a va-
cation away from his full-time job as a bowling center
general manager and a chance to catch up with all the
people he no longer gets to see since leaving the PBA
Tour.
"It was great to be here and see everyone again, and
I really love bowling in the Masters," MacLelland said.
"This is one event I always try to bowl in, and it was a
fun week. It's a little disappointing, but I'm not upset.
Things just didn't go my way. Anthony bowled great all
week."
On the way to the championship match, MacLelland
was able to hold off 2013 Masters runner-up Wes
Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, for a 216-213 victory.
Against Malott, MacLelland started his first TV ap-
pearance since 2014 with an open frame, but strikes in
the next four frames gave him a nine-pin advantage
halfway through the match. He had a chance to shut
out Malott with a double and eight pins in the 10th
frame, but he left a 2-7 split after striking on his first
shot.
Following his first miscue of the day in the ninth
frame, a 2-8-10 split, Malott needed a double and four
pins in his final frame to slip past MacLelland. He
struck on his first shot, but a 6-10 combination on his
next offering ended his run at the 2016 event. A No. 4
seed never has won the Masters.
In his first two matches of the day, Malott struck on
20 of 24 attempts to defeat Tom Daugherty of River-
view, Florida, 258-189, and Chris Loschetter of Avon,
Ohio, 258-201.
Loschetter finished fourth and earned $10,000, while
Daugherty, who finished third at last week's FireLake
PBA Tournament of Champions, earned $8,000 for his
fifth-place effort Sunday at the Masters.
Belmonte was among the final eight bowlers from this
year's 417-player field, but losses Saturday to Malott
and Sweden's Martin Larsen ended Belmonte's bid for
a fourth Masters crown.
The 2016 Masters featured a total prize fund of
$295,000.
All competitors this week bowled 15 games of qualify-
ing, before a cut was made to the top 63, who joined
Belmonte in the double-elimination match-play bracket.
For more information about the USBC Masters, visit
BOWL.com/Masters.
2016 USBC MASTERS
At Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis
Final standings
1, Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 245 (one
game), $50,000
2, Dan MacLelland, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, 423
(two games), $25,000
3, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 729 (three games),
$15,000
4, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 201 (one game),
$10,000
5, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 189 (one game),
$8,000
Stepladder results
Match One -
Malott def. Daugherty, 258-189
Match Two -
Malott def. Loschetter, 258-201
Semifinal -
MacLelland def. Malott, 216-213
Championship -
Simonsen def. MacLelland, 245-207
CBW President Joan Romeo
Into USBC Hall of Fame
April 28th @ The Orleans Hotel
CBW President Romeo to USBC Hall A much de-
served honor for our CBW President, Joan Romeo.
Because of her vast knowledge of all things, Joan has
been the brain everyone has picked for decades. She
has served well adding that special touch to everything
she was part of: President of the International Media
Association; two terms as President of CBW; on the
International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame com-
mittee and she loaned her expertise in helping to cre-
ate the first International Bowling Hall of Fame Xtrava-
ganza. She was primary in the creation of the Profes-
sional Women’s Bowling exhibit at the Hall of Fame
and to quote Stars & Strikes bowling newspaper editor
Jim Goodwin, she has been a necessary ingredient in
an alphabet of organizations: ABC, WIBC, BPAA, FIQ,
USA BOWLING,WTBA, IBMHF, LPBT, PWBA, PBA,
BWAA, CBW, WWPB, NBS, WBW, BNN,WORLD
BOWLING, IBMA. Joan credits WIBC/CWBA Life
Member Agnes Duffy in involving her in the California
WBA where she was instrumental in their 75th Anni-
versary which proved entre to many things bowling.
She has been instrumental in the unwavering support
of her bowling daughters Robin Romeo and Tori
Carter. Her background is in Marketing and she was a
Vice President of the Marketing Agency The Perlman
Group and now has her own company, The Marketing
Team. Once again, The Infolink is proud to showcase
and congratulate Joan Romeo who will be inducted at
The Orleans Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on
April 28th .
(CBW: California Bowling Writers)
