GARLAND, Texas – Heading into the final eight games of match play at the 2015 Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open, Ryan Ciminelli holds a 331-pin lead.

But the only left-hander remaining in the field is feeling anything but comfortable. He averaged almost 250 for the first four games of the block, but finished with games of 190, 238 and 212.

“I’m still trying to get every pin I can; I don’t feel safe,” said Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, New York. “The low end was still treating me nice. My last three, I got to the high end and was only 40 over for the three and that’s way less than the pace got to be on the right. I will be (on the high end) almost the whole night block and I don’t know what to expect but I know they are worse for me.

“These guys are good. No lead is safe.”

The final eight games of round-robin match play on Saturday evening will determine the top five for Sunday’s stepladder finals, which will be televised live on CBS Sports Network starting a 1 p.m. (Eastern). The winner will take home the top prize of $50,000.

United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Missouri, sits in second followed by Anthony Simonsen of Princeton, Texas, 2013 U.S. Open winner Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, and two-time U.S. Open champion Norm Duke of Clermont, Florida.

Simonsen went 7-1 in the morning block to move into third. The 18-year-old qualified 19th but has gone 12-4 in match play.

“I drilled a new ball yesterday and apparently I have new-ball syndrome because every time I’ve drilled a ball it’s been the ball I’ve thrown for all eight games of the block,” Simonsen said. “It’s been a fun week so far. The last few months have been pretty good, winning the Eagle (at the USBC Open Championships) and making the doubles show for the Mark Roth-Marshall Holman with Connor Pickford.”

Weber led the block with a 1,941 pinfall total. As one of four seniors in the top 12, he said the U.S. Open is a tournament players such as himself, Duke and Walter Ray Williams Jr. strive for because it is such a difficult tournament.

“We love this tournament, we think it’s the hardest tournament to win and if it’s the hardest to win, that’s the tournament you want to win,” Weber said. “We’re just staying focused on what we need to do and taking advantage of the pairs we can strike on.”

All competitors at the 2015 U.S. Open completed 24 qualifying games over three days, before the field was cut to the top 92. The 32-game pinfall totals determined the 24 players for match play.

All qualifying and match-play rounds are being broadcast live on the Professional Bowlers Association's online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.

Bowlmor AMF, the largest operator of bowling centers in the world, committed to hosting and providing television sponsorship of more than $250,000 for the U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Open, which was held in September.

For more information on Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open, visit BOWL.com/USOpen.

Holman on the field: USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Marshall Holman will be handling the color commentary for Sunday's TV show on the CBS Sports Network at 1 p.m. (Eastern). The 61-year-old has been impressed by the veterans during the tournament.

"It's remarkable to look at what Pete Weber and Norm Duke and the 50 and older players are doing," Holman said. "I find it so hard to believe that after all these years they still have not just the physical ability but also the passion to stay up with the younger players." 

2015 BOWLMOR AMF U.S. OPEN
At AMF Garland Lanes, Garland, Texas
Saturday’s match-play results
(48 games, 30 bonus pins for a win, 15 bonus pins for a tie; a-amateur)
1, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 13-3-0, 11,400. 2, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 10-6-0, 11,069. 3, Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 12-4-0, 10,977. 4, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 9-7-0, 10,931. 5, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 10-6-0, 10,914.
     6, Dominic Barrett, United Kingdom, 10-6-0, 10,896. 7, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 10-6-0, 10,813. 8, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 11-4-1, 10,744. 9, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 10-5-1, 10,743. 10, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 9-7-0, 10,729.
     11, Mika Koivuniemi, Howell, Mich., 9-7-0, 10,630. 12, Walter Ray Williams Jr, Oxford, Fla., 8-8-0, 10,618. 13, Jason Sterner, Cocoa, Fla., 7-9-0, 10,603. 14, John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 4-12-0, 10,576. 15, Francois Lavoie (a), Wichita, Kan., 6-10-0, 10,563.
     16, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 8-8-0, 10,550. 17, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 5-11-0, 10,510. 18, Cameron Weier, Tacoma, Wash., 7-9-0, 10,460. 19, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 5-11-0, 10,447. 20, DJ Archer, Kingwood, Texas, 5-10-1, 10,435.
     21, Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas, 5-10-1, 10,388. 22, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 6-10-0, 10,381. 23, Aaron Lorincz, Saginaw, Mich., 6-10-0, 10,375. 24, Stuart Williams, Phoenix, 5-11-0, 10,189.
 

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