Petraglia Stays On Top At PBA60 National Champ
Petraglia Stays On Top At PBA60 National Champ
After advancing as the top qualifier from the second round, PBA Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia compiled a 4-1 record in the first match play round Sunday.
After advancing as the top qualifier from the second round, PBA Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia compiled a 4-1 record in the first match play round Sunday to retain his lead in the PBA60 David Small’s Jax 60 National Championship in memory of Mel Wolf at Jax 60 Lanes.
The 72-year-old left-hander, who owns 14 PBA Tour and eight PBA50 Tour titles, finished the day with a 4,662 19-game pinfall total, including match play bonus pins, to lead the match play field of 24 players ages 60 and older.
He bowled games of 202, 234, 246, 249 and 245 in Sunday’s match play round. His only loss came in a second match defeat at the hands of Dave Axon of Bellevue, Nebraska, 235-234. Match play continues Monday live on FloBowling.
“At this stage of the tournament the one thing I have to worry about is running out of gas and if you start to get tired that’s when you start to lose focus,” said Petraglia, who is trying for his first win in a PBA60 event. “I just keep reminding myself that I’m 72 and not 32. Everything is great at this point with my ball choices and my adjustments. I just need to concentrate on keeping my game together.”
There is still a lot of work for Petraglia and the other 23 players in the match play field to do with a five-game match play round at 11 a.m. ET and a six-game round at 2:30 p.m. Monday that will determine the top five players for the stepladder finals at 6 p.m. Each match play win awards 30 bonus pins.
Petraglia’s first senior title came at Jax 60 Lanes (then Airport Lanes) when he won the 1998 PBA Senior National Championship and then won there a second time when he captured the 2008 Senior Jackson Open. He is trying for his first win in PBA60 competition (established in 2014) but has two runner-up finishes to his credit.
Petraglia leads Jerry Sikora of Huron, South Dakota in second finishing the day with a 3-2 record and 4,601 pinfall. Hall of Famer Ron Mohr of Las Vegas, who has already locked up his fourth consecutive PBA60 Player of the Year honor, finished the day in third with a 3-2 record and 4,577 pinfall.
Rounding out the top five were two-time PBA50 Tour winner Hall of Famer Brian Voss, Centennial, Colorado (4-1), 4,558, and Toby Contreras, Lees Summit, Missouri (3-2), 4,526.