AURORA, Ill. – Anthony Simonsen leads the FloBowling PBA Illinois Open by more than 175 pins after qualifying, but there’s a long road ahead to determine the champion in the event.

Simonsen finished the 28 games of qualifying with a total of 6,532, a 233.29 average, at Parkside Lanes. The Illinois Open combined the 14 games of qualifying from each of the Wolf Open and the Bear Open.

The top 24 players advanced into 24 games of round robin match play for the Illinois Open, which begins Friday live on FloBowling. The stepladder finals for the event are scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Results: PBA Illinois Open Qualifying

Simonsen led qualifying for the Wolf Open with a 14-game total of 3,238 before eventually finishing second in the event to Sean Rash.

In the Bear Open, Simonsen sits in second after qualifying with 3,294 for 14 games. That event continues Thursday evening with a six-game cashers round followed by the stepladder finals.

EJ Tackett qualified second for the Illinois Open with 6,356, while Rash was third with 6,320.

Powered by back-to-back 300 games Thursday in the Bear Open, Francois Lavoie is fourth with 6,265, and Wes Malott is fifth with 6,243.

Jason Belmonte, Kyle Troup, Norm Duke, Kyle Sherman and Marshall Kent round out the top 10 Illinois Open qualifiers. The last spot in match play went to Arturo Quintero, who was 24^th with 6,003.