Sixteen players went undefeated in their first two matches Friday to remain in the winners bracket at the 2019 USBC Senior Masters.

Among the undefeated players were three of the top four seeds in the bracket, including Eugene McCune, Norm Duke and Blaine Weninger. Bracket play resumes Saturday until the final five are determined for Sunday’s stepladder finals at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas.

McCune, the top seed, put up two big scores en route to back-to-back victories. He took down Alvin Lou, 723-591, in his first match and then beat Barry Zimmerman, 706-679. McCune will take on No. 16 seed Ron Mohr in the next round.

Results: USBC Senior Masters Brackets

Second seeded Duke, who has made the stepladder finals in all three PBA50 events in which he has competed this season, knocked off Alan Frederick, 679-554, in his first match and then beat Jeff Johnson, 691-587. He will face No. 15 seed Mark Mazzulla next.

Weninger, the fourth seed, took care of Joseph Goldstein, 663-618, in his first match before taking down the hottest player on the PBA50 Tour, Walter Ray Williams Jr., in a shootout. Weninger used a 300 game to shoot an 820 series to Williams’ 729 to move on. He will bowl former touring pro Doug Kent in the next round.

In addition to the McCune/Mohr, Duke/Mazzulla and Weninger/Kent matchups, other winners bracket matches in the next round are: Tom Adcock vs. Lennie Boresch, Stony Baker vs. Michael Klosin, Mark Williams vs. Amleto Monacelli, Mike Edwards vs. Rolando Sebelen and Gary Faulkner vs. Tony Johnson.

The 16 players in the winners bracket are three wins away from guaranteeing themselves a spot in the stepladder finals.

One player who found himself on the losing end of a tough match was defending champion and third seed Chris Warren, who lost to Mark Williams in the first round. The pair tied at 643-643 and the match went to a sudden death roll-off.

Both players struck on their first shots and in the second overtime, Warren left a seven pin first. That gave Williams a chance to win with a strike, and he snapped the 10 out for the victory.

Warren went on to lose his next match as well in the elimination bracket, falling to Ryan Shafer 577-570, to be knocked out of the tournament.

In addition to the players in the winners bracket, there are 16 players still alive in the elimination portion of the bracket heading into Friday. Those players have a long road ahead as they will need to win six consecutive matches to earn a spot in the stepladder finals.