Standard Division gets two new leaders at 2019 USBC Open Championships
March 28, 2019
By Matt Cannizzaro and Daniel Farish
USBC Communications
LAS VEGAS - It wasn't until Andrew Leppen, Amherst Junction, Wisconsin, stepped off the approach that he knew he was the new leader in Standard Singles at the 2019 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
Leppen's games of 197, 224 and 258 at the South Point Bowling Plaza gave him a 679 series, three pins higher than previous leader, Monty Hansen, Sterling Heights, Michigan, who rolled a 676 series March 23.
Unknowingly needing a big final game, Leppen started the finale with seven strikes, before a 2 pin ended his run at the first perfect game of the tournament. He stayed clean the rest of the way to capture the lead. His previous-best series on the championship lanes was a 629 set rolled at the 2015 event in El Paso, Texas.
An auto mechanic by trade, Leppen bowls league twice a week at Point Bowl in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, but doesn't get much experience on tougher oil patterns, like the ones competitors usually see at the USBC Open Championships.
"I used to bowl in a league that used challenge patterns, like 10-12 years ago, but I haven't done that in a while," said Leppen, who made his 17th Open Championships appearance. "It feels great to be the leader, but yeah, I had no clue - no clue at all."
Despite struggling during his doubles set Thursday, Leppen didn't give up. He kept adjusting and finally got to a place where his ball could get to the pocket. The result was an improvement of 285 pins from doubles to singles.
Leppen opened his 2019 Open Championships campaign with a 537 series in team and added 394 in doubles. He finished with a 1,610 all-events total. John Slott of Comstock Park, Michigan, leads Standard All-Events with 1,786, posted earlier Thursday.
"I was having a problem dumping it out to the right, and I couldn't stop," Leppen said. "I moved to the gutter, that way if I missed right, it went in the gutter. I kind of straightened myself up and went up the boards, and it was good."
Slott's surge up the standings Thursday morning came on the momentum of a career-best performance during his team event Wednesday, a 728 series. That performance helped Steve Austin Team 1 of Sparta, Michigan, into the lead in Standard Team.
Though he struggled a bit on the second day and second oil pattern of his 19th appearance at the Open Championships, shooting 552 in doubles and 506 in singles, the head start he got in the team event proved to be just enough.
The 51-year-old left-hander bounced back from a disappointing run in Syracuse, New York, in 2018, where he struggled to a 1,444 all-events total.
Slott wasn't the only one making a run toward the Standard All-Events lead Thursday morning, however.
Dennis Drescher, Fort Worth, Texas, finished with 1,782 after shooting 648 and 634 in doubles and singles, respectively, to go along with an even 500 on Wednesday night.
The Standard Division included bowlers with entering tournament averages of 156-175.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships Facebook page.
USBC Communications
LAS VEGAS - It wasn't until Andrew Leppen, Amherst Junction, Wisconsin, stepped off the approach that he knew he was the new leader in Standard Singles at the 2019 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
Leppen's games of 197, 224 and 258 at the South Point Bowling Plaza gave him a 679 series, three pins higher than previous leader, Monty Hansen, Sterling Heights, Michigan, who rolled a 676 series March 23.
Unknowingly needing a big final game, Leppen started the finale with seven strikes, before a 2 pin ended his run at the first perfect game of the tournament. He stayed clean the rest of the way to capture the lead. His previous-best series on the championship lanes was a 629 set rolled at the 2015 event in El Paso, Texas.
An auto mechanic by trade, Leppen bowls league twice a week at Point Bowl in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, but doesn't get much experience on tougher oil patterns, like the ones competitors usually see at the USBC Open Championships.
"I used to bowl in a league that used challenge patterns, like 10-12 years ago, but I haven't done that in a while," said Leppen, who made his 17th Open Championships appearance. "It feels great to be the leader, but yeah, I had no clue - no clue at all."
Despite struggling during his doubles set Thursday, Leppen didn't give up. He kept adjusting and finally got to a place where his ball could get to the pocket. The result was an improvement of 285 pins from doubles to singles.
Leppen opened his 2019 Open Championships campaign with a 537 series in team and added 394 in doubles. He finished with a 1,610 all-events total. John Slott of Comstock Park, Michigan, leads Standard All-Events with 1,786, posted earlier Thursday.
"I was having a problem dumping it out to the right, and I couldn't stop," Leppen said. "I moved to the gutter, that way if I missed right, it went in the gutter. I kind of straightened myself up and went up the boards, and it was good."
Slott's surge up the standings Thursday morning came on the momentum of a career-best performance during his team event Wednesday, a 728 series. That performance helped Steve Austin Team 1 of Sparta, Michigan, into the lead in Standard Team.Though he struggled a bit on the second day and second oil pattern of his 19th appearance at the Open Championships, shooting 552 in doubles and 506 in singles, the head start he got in the team event proved to be just enough.
The 51-year-old left-hander bounced back from a disappointing run in Syracuse, New York, in 2018, where he struggled to a 1,444 all-events total.
Slott wasn't the only one making a run toward the Standard All-Events lead Thursday morning, however.
Dennis Drescher, Fort Worth, Texas, finished with 1,782 after shooting 648 and 634 in doubles and singles, respectively, to go along with an even 500 on Wednesday night.
The Standard Division included bowlers with entering tournament averages of 156-175.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships Facebook page.