PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III reigns as PBA King of the Lanes presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon after the first of two days of competition. Bohn dethroned Chris Barnes to earn the crown, then successfully defended against Anthony Neuer and advanced into tomorrow’s action as the King.

“It’s awesome,” said Bohn. “Anthony and I had control of the pocket and the fans here in Portland didn’t come here to watch us shoot open frames. The fans here know all about bowling and we are the show, but the fans make the show.”

Bohn needed two strikes and nine pins in the 10^th frame to clinch the victory over Neuer, which is exactly what Bohn did.

“Whenever you have an opportunity to shut someone out, you’d better take advantage of it,” said Bohn. “When I got the double I knew I needed just another great shot and hit the pocket and I’m going to get enough to win.”

In the first of three consecutive telecasts, Chris Barnes defeated AJ Johnson in the contenders match, then went on to dethrone reigning King Kris Prather, 245-225. The reign of King Barnes was short, falling to Bohn in the second telecast. Bohn defeated 10-time PBA Tour champion Jesper Svensson in the contenders match to get to Barnes. Bohn triumphed in the battle of Hall of Famers by the score of 253-233.

“Jesper and Anthony have so much power,” said Bohn. “And when that power is under control, they’re unstoppable. And then another titan like Chris Barnes, you’d better be on your A game, and fortunately for me today, I was right there.”

Bohn will return tomorrow to defend the crown, facing either Tim Mack or Jason Sterner, who will be competing in the contenders match at 2 p.m. ET live on FS1 (U.S.) and FloBowling (international).

“Only I control my own destiny,” said Bohn. “So I’m going to be back here tomorrow with a couple more great games and hopefully walk away with everything.”