A Chillicothe native aspiring to be able to make a career of professional bowling nearly made his first splash on the regional pro tour Saturday in his hometown.
Jason Romeiser, who moved to Altus, Okla., late this spring to work at a bowling center there, came within 41 pins over the course of eight games of being among the 10 qualifiers for Sunday's 10-game finals in the fifth-annual PBA Pepsi Fast Lane Open in Chillicothe.
Romeiser led all 39 bowlers after the first game, when he rang up nine-consecutive strikes to start out before posting a 269, and remained in the top 10 until the last line when a score in the 160s dropped him to 15th place. Over the course of the eight games he bowled Saturday, he averaged an even 221 and totaled 1,768 pins.
Brian Menini of Brookfield will give Sunday's action a local flavor as he claimed the 10th and final spot with a total 0f 1,809, one pin ahead of 11th-place Steven Keeler.
For Romeiser, who has competed in all five PBA tournaments hosted by The Fast Lane Family Entertainment Center, it was by far his best finish, although frustratingly just short of getting to compete the second day.
As has been the case with every regional tour event this year in the face of difficult economic times, according to tour director Rich Weber of St. Louis, this year's tournament in Chillicothe saw a markedly-reduced number of entrants. After nearly 80 competed last year, only 39 were involved Saturday.
Of those 39, three were former Pepsi Fast Lane Open champions and two of them – 2009 winner Tom Hess and 2007 champ Dave Traber – advanced to Sunday's play. Also among those with a chance at the title Sunday will be PBA Hall of Fame member Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., the brother of the tour manager.
Traber finished Saturday in fourth place, while Hess was sixth and P. Weber eighth.
Leading after the first day was Derek Sapp of Keokuk, Iowa. He racked up 1,941 pins Saturday, 31 more than Ricky Beck of Box Elder, S.D. Walt Schaub II was third, two back of Beck.
Traber sat at 1,888, followed by Michael Stell (1,876), Hess – who had one of two perfect games Saturday (1,854), Chad Kloss (1,839), P. Weber (1,823), Dave Beres (1,818), and Menini.
Sunday's finals will be styled differently from any of the previous year, apparently as a concession to the smaller overall field.
According to R. Weber, each of the nine finalists will bowl one game head-to-head with each of the others. Then a final game against a to-be-determined member of that group will be bowled.
The bowlers' game scores Sunday – along with bonuses (30 pins for each head-to-head match won, 15 for each one tied) presumably will be added to their Saturday totals and the tournament champion will be the bowler with the highest total after Sunday's 10 games will be the 2010 champion. The C-T was unable to confirm at the time of this posting that Sunday's cumulative scores will be added to Saturday's or whether they will stand alone in determining the champion. In prior years, Saturday's scores were added to a Sunday-rounds series to create a field for a three-round set of bracketed head-to-head matches which determined the tournament champion. There will be no bracketed action this year, only the 10 round-robin games of head-to-head competition creating a final total score.
Weber, already indicating plans for the PBA's Midwest Region Tour to be in Chillicothe again in 2011, told the C-T Saturday said he expects to have next year's tournament conclude with a ladder-style format for the final day, a format which with viewers of televised pro bowling tournaments will be familiar.
That format generates a finals group of perhaps four to six bowlers from which the two with the lowest qualifying scores (for example, fourth and fifth place) meet head-to-head in a single game and the winner advances to meet the next-highest qualifier (third) until, after several games, someone challenges the top qualifier in a winner-take-all final game.
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A Chillicothe native aspiring to be able to make a career of professional bowling nearly made his first splash on the regional pro tour Saturday in his hometown.
Jason Romeiser, who moved to Altus, Okla., late this spring to work at a bowling center there, came within 41 pins over the course of eight games of being among the 10 qualifiers for Sunday's 10-game finals in the fifth-annual PBA Pepsi Fast Lane Open in Chillicothe.
Romeiser led all 39 bowlers after the first game, when he rang up nine-consecutive strikes to start out before posting a 269, and remained in the top 10 until the last line when a score in the 160s dropped him to 15th place. Over the course of the eight games he bowled Saturday, he averaged an even 221 and totaled 1,768 pins.
Brian Menini of Brookfield will give Sunday's action a local flavor as he claimed the 10th and final spot with a total 0f 1,809, one pin ahead of 11th-place Steven Keeler.
For Romeiser, who has competed in all five PBA tournaments hosted by The Fast Lane Family Entertainment Center, it was by far his best finish, although frustratingly just short of getting to compete the second day.
As has been the case with every regional tour event this year in the face of difficult economic times, according to tour director Rich Weber of St. Louis, this year's tournament in Chillicothe saw a markedly-reduced number of entrants. After nearly 80 competed last year, only 39 were involved Saturday.
Of those 39, three were former Pepsi Fast Lane Open champions and two of them – 2009 winner Tom Hess and 2007 champ Dave Traber – advanced to Sunday's play. Also among those with a chance at the title Sunday will be PBA Hall of Fame member Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., the brother of the tour manager.
Traber finished Saturday in fourth place, while Hess was sixth and P. Weber eighth.
Leading after the first day was Derek Sapp of Keokuk, Iowa. He racked up 1,941 pins Saturday, 31 more than Ricky Beck of Box Elder, S.D. Walt Schaub II was third, two back of Beck.
Traber sat at 1,888, followed by Michael Stell (1,876), Hess – who had one of two perfect games Saturday (1,854), Chad Kloss (1,839), P. Weber (1,823), Dave Beres (1,818), and Menini.
Sunday's finals will be styled differently from any of the previous year, apparently as a concession to the smaller overall field.
According to R. Weber, each of the nine finalists will bowl one game head-to-head with each of the others. Then a final game against a to-be-determined member of that group will be bowled.
The bowlers' game scores Sunday – along with bonuses (30 pins for each head-to-head match won, 15 for each one tied) presumably will be added to their Saturday totals and the tournament champion will be the bowler with the highest total after Sunday's 10 games will be the 2010 champion. The C-T was unable to confirm at the time of this posting that Sunday's cumulative scores will be added to Saturday's or whether they will stand alone in determining the champion. In prior years, Saturday's scores were added to a Sunday-rounds series to create a field for a three-round set of bracketed head-to-head matches which determined the tournament champion. There will be no bracketed action this year, only the 10 round-robin games of head-to-head competition creating a final total score.
Weber, already indicating plans for the PBA's Midwest Region Tour to be in Chillicothe again in 2011, told the C-T Saturday said he expects to have next year's tournament conclude with a ladder-style format for the final day, a format which with viewers of televised pro bowling tournaments will be familiar.
That format generates a finals group of perhaps four to six bowlers from which the two with the lowest qualifying scores (for example, fourth and fifth place) meet head-to-head in a single game and the winner advances to meet the next-highest qualifier (third) until, after several games, someone challenges the top qualifier in a winner-take-all final game.
