Arkansas bowler leads all-events, group finds success at Open Championships
March 08, 2024
LAS VEGAS – New names found their way to the top of the leaderboard in the Regular Division on Wednesday night and Thursday morning at the 2024 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships as a two-team group captured the lead in four events.
First, the members of John Burkett Team 1 of Fort Worth, Texas – Sam Carter, Justin Elswick, Brian Nichols, William Nichols and John Burkett – posted the first team series north of 3,000 to take the lead in Regular Team on Wednesday with 3,125.
When the group returned to the lanes at the South Point Bowling Plaza on Thursday, Burkett and Carter continued strong to take over the top spot in Regular Doubles with 1,358.
As the team finished singles, they also cruised to the lead in Team All-Events with 9,465. Team All-Events consists of each team member’s nine-game score across team, doubles and singles competition for a 45-game total.
Jared Wolf of Springdale, Arkansas, was part of the crossing team for the group and put together his top showing at the USBC Open Championships to set the new number in Regular All-Events with 2,103.
Wolf, a 34-year-old right-hander, fired sets of 748 in team, 697 in singles and 658 in doubles to clear the previous leading total by more than 100 pins.
Milwaukee’s Kyle Muth had taken the lead Wednesday with 2,000. He leads Regular Singles with 717.
Wolf made his 12th tournament appearance at the Open Championships this week, and he bested his top all-events total by 147 pins. His previous top score came in 2022, also at the South Point Bowling Plaza, with 1,956.
To learn more about Wolf’s appearance in Las Vegas, click on the video below.
On the way to the lead in Regular Team, the members of John Burkett Team 1 had games of 1,109, 1,023 and 993 to surpass the 2,923 posted by ILM Team 1 of Hampstead, North Carolina.
Carter, who rolled a 300 game at the 2012 Open Championships, led the way with a 647 series and was followed by Elswick (644), Burkett (621), William Nichols (620) and Brian Nichols (593).
In doubles, Burkett led the charge with games of 244, 248 and 212 for 704, while Carter added 224, 204 and 226 for 654 to move ahead of the 1,325 recorded by Professional Bowlers Association and USBC Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli and Santiago Romero of Lakeland, Florida.
The team rolled to the early lead in Team All-Events by nearly 270 pins over Maple Family Centers 2 of Rockville Centre, New York (9,196).
Carter paced the overall effort with 1,975, while Burkett had 1,968. Elswick came in at 1,934, William Nichols had 1,846 and Brian Nichols posted 1,742.
The group worked together across both oil patterns and were able to rely on each other to try and stay ahead of the moves at the Bowling Plaza.
“Like all the other teams talk about, you just have to work together, stay to the right early and break down the lanes,” said Burkett, the winner of the 2022 PBA50 South Shore Open and a former Major League Baseball pitcher from 1987-2003.
“We watch everybody’s ball reaction as it’s going down the lane, and you have to watch every shot,” said Carter, who made his 34th appearance at the Open Championships. “When the transition comes – especially last night in team when I moved 10 and five the last game and a half – when they start going, they go fast. We had a great shot in doubles, then we got started in singles and for the first five frames, I was dead lost. I made a ball change, a big move left and all of a sudden, we had a good look again.”
Although the teammates know there’s a lot of the 2024 event left to go, there’s a sense of satisfaction knowing they’ve given other competitors some numbers to look at on the leaderboard.
“I don’t think we are being unrealistic thinking that we’re going to get smacked around a bit when some of the better teams show up, but that’s OK,” Carter said. “It’s fun to leave with the lead.”
The 2024 Open Championships got underway Feb. 23 and will run through July 29 at the South Point Bowling Plaza. The tournament is scheduled to feature more than 11,000 teams and 55,000 bowlers making their way to compete in Las Vegas.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.
First, the members of John Burkett Team 1 of Fort Worth, Texas – Sam Carter, Justin Elswick, Brian Nichols, William Nichols and John Burkett – posted the first team series north of 3,000 to take the lead in Regular Team on Wednesday with 3,125.
When the group returned to the lanes at the South Point Bowling Plaza on Thursday, Burkett and Carter continued strong to take over the top spot in Regular Doubles with 1,358.
As the team finished singles, they also cruised to the lead in Team All-Events with 9,465. Team All-Events consists of each team member’s nine-game score across team, doubles and singles competition for a 45-game total.
Jared Wolf of Springdale, Arkansas, was part of the crossing team for the group and put together his top showing at the USBC Open Championships to set the new number in Regular All-Events with 2,103.
Wolf, a 34-year-old right-hander, fired sets of 748 in team, 697 in singles and 658 in doubles to clear the previous leading total by more than 100 pins.
Milwaukee’s Kyle Muth had taken the lead Wednesday with 2,000. He leads Regular Singles with 717.
Wolf made his 12th tournament appearance at the Open Championships this week, and he bested his top all-events total by 147 pins. His previous top score came in 2022, also at the South Point Bowling Plaza, with 1,956.
To learn more about Wolf’s appearance in Las Vegas, click on the video below.
On the way to the lead in Regular Team, the members of John Burkett Team 1 had games of 1,109, 1,023 and 993 to surpass the 2,923 posted by ILM Team 1 of Hampstead, North Carolina.
Carter, who rolled a 300 game at the 2012 Open Championships, led the way with a 647 series and was followed by Elswick (644), Burkett (621), William Nichols (620) and Brian Nichols (593).
In doubles, Burkett led the charge with games of 244, 248 and 212 for 704, while Carter added 224, 204 and 226 for 654 to move ahead of the 1,325 recorded by Professional Bowlers Association and USBC Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli and Santiago Romero of Lakeland, Florida.
The team rolled to the early lead in Team All-Events by nearly 270 pins over Maple Family Centers 2 of Rockville Centre, New York (9,196).
Carter paced the overall effort with 1,975, while Burkett had 1,968. Elswick came in at 1,934, William Nichols had 1,846 and Brian Nichols posted 1,742.
The group worked together across both oil patterns and were able to rely on each other to try and stay ahead of the moves at the Bowling Plaza.
“Like all the other teams talk about, you just have to work together, stay to the right early and break down the lanes,” said Burkett, the winner of the 2022 PBA50 South Shore Open and a former Major League Baseball pitcher from 1987-2003.
“We watch everybody’s ball reaction as it’s going down the lane, and you have to watch every shot,” said Carter, who made his 34th appearance at the Open Championships. “When the transition comes – especially last night in team when I moved 10 and five the last game and a half – when they start going, they go fast. We had a great shot in doubles, then we got started in singles and for the first five frames, I was dead lost. I made a ball change, a big move left and all of a sudden, we had a good look again.”
Although the teammates know there’s a lot of the 2024 event left to go, there’s a sense of satisfaction knowing they’ve given other competitors some numbers to look at on the leaderboard.
“I don’t think we are being unrealistic thinking that we’re going to get smacked around a bit when some of the better teams show up, but that’s OK,” Carter said. “It’s fun to leave with the lead.”
The 2024 Open Championships got underway Feb. 23 and will run through July 29 at the South Point Bowling Plaza. The tournament is scheduled to feature more than 11,000 teams and 55,000 bowlers making their way to compete in Las Vegas.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.