Mike Wolfe (pictured left) of New Albany, Ind., averaged 259.78 for nine games to take the first round lead in the Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open at AMF Country Club Lanes Tuesday by seven pins over Sean Rash of Wichita, Kan.

Wolfe, a four-time Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour titlist, missed the nine-game PBA scoring record of 2,367 pins set by Walter Ray Williams Jr. in Tucson, Ariz., in 2004, by 29 pins, posting a 2,338 total on the PBA Cheetah lane condition – the first of seven different lane conditions that will be used in the Marathon Open.

"I just tried to make the ball not hook too much," Wolfe said. "I try to keep my ball reaction down the lane as close to the same as possible, pair after pair. The guys who seem to get into trouble usually hook the ball too much.

"I tend to like the shorter oil patterns (like the Cheetah pattern)," he added. "I tend to throw the ball too hard at times, which means I need to completely change my thought pattern for tomorrow. My history on the Shark pattern (the longest oil pattern) is probably one of my worst because it takes me too long to figure out what's going on. I've been working on that."

The entire field of 133 will bowl nine additional games on the long-oil Shark condition Wednesday, after which the top 44 bowlers will advance to seven-game rounds on the Viper and Chameleon lane conditions on Thursday.

"I'll get a couple different balls out of the bag, pay attention and try to stay in the hunt," Wolfe said.

Rash (pictured right), also a four-time PBA Tour winner, also averaged 259 in posting a 2,331 pinfall total despite nursing a sore wrist that has plagued him for two months.

"I won here a couple of years ago on the Cheetah pattern, so knowing you're coming into this building and bowling on the Cheetah as the first pattern, you have a lot of confidence," Rash said. "When you throw lots of strikes, it's a lot of fun. I didn't have a single open the entire block.

"But there are five days and lots of bowling left. I'm probably safe to make first cut, maybe the second," he added, "but after that? I just hope I'll still be around, bowling on Sunday."

Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, was third with a 2,311 total followed by Stevie Weber of Chalmette, La., at 2,302 and Eddie VanDaniker Jr. of Essex, Md., with 2,279 pins.

The Marathon Open is the final event of the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour's regular season, and one of its most demanding events. Over the course of five days, the tournament leaders will bowl seven rounds, all on different lane conditioning patterns, to decide the top five players for the stepladder finals that will air Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. The tournament leader after 53 games will select the lane condition to be used for the TV finals.

 

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Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open - First Round

Players with position, hometown and 9-game total, Cheetah lane condition.

1, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 2,338
2, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., 2,331
3, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,311
4, Stevie Weber, Chalmette, La., 2,302
5, Eddie VanDaniker Jr., Essex, Md., 2,279
6, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 2,270
7, (tie) Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., and Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 2,250
9, Bobby Hall II, Landover, Md., 2,237
10, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 2,223
10, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 2,223
12, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 2,203
13, Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga., 2,200
14, Jesse Buss, Wichita, Kan., 2,198
15, Dave D'Entremont, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, 2,187
16, Billy Oatman, Chicago, 2,185
17, Jeff Carter, Springfield, Ill., 2,174
18, Todd Book, Wapakoneta, Ohio, 2,173
19, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 2,160
20, Joe Ciccone, Buffalo, N.Y., 2,157
21, Bob Hale, Louisville, Ky., 2,151
22, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 2,144
23, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 2,143
24, Eddie Graham, Centerville, Ohio, 2,142
25, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 2,141
26, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 2,130
27, Derek Sapp, Keokuk, Iowa, 2,125
28, Ronnie Russell, Camby, Ind., 2,122
29, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 2,121
30, (tie) Robert Smith, Columbus, Ohio, and Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 2,119
32, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 2,113
33, (tie) Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., and Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 2,107
35, David O'Sullivan, Orlando, Fla, 2,102
36, Robert Eddy II, Saginaw, Mich., 2,101
37, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 2,097
38, D.J. Archer, Mineral Wells, Texas, 2,096, $100
39, Ronnie Horton, Christiansburg, Va., 2,095
40, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,091
41, Ryan Abel, Bel Aire, Kan., 2,089
42, (tie) Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, and George Lambert IV, Canada, 2,077
44, (tie) Mitch Beasley, Puyallup, Wash., and Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., 2,074
46, Brian Voss, Alpharetta, Ga., 2,070
47, Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 2,066
48, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 2,059
49, PJ Haggerty, Clovis, Calif., 2,051
50, Lee Vanderhoef, Greenville, S.C., 2,038
51, John Nolen, Grand Blanc, Mich., 2,037
52, William Barlow, Edgewood, Md., 2,034
53, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 2,033
54, (tie) Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla.; Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., and Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 2,030
57, Troy Wollenbecker, Miami, 2,028
58, Tim Criss, Bel Air, Md., 2,025
59, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 2,023
60, (tie) Cassidy Schaub, Ashland, Ohio, and Thomas Wall III, Fayetteville, N.C., 2,020
62, Steve Harman, Indianapolis, 2,018
63, Brian Waliczek, Birch Run, Mich., 2,016
64, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 2,011
65, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 2,007
66, Wayne Garber, Modesto, Calif., 2,003
67, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 2,001
68, Michael Stocks, Leesburg, Va., 1,996
69, Mike DeVaney, San Diego, 1,994
70, Vic Marotto, Wallingford, Conn., 1,984
71, Kevin Cartier, Beverly, N.J., 1,983
72, Chris Hans, Richmond, Va., 1,978
73, Gary Faulkner, Norfolk, Va., 1,975
74, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 1,973
75, Chris Forry, Bridgeport, Conn., 1,969
76, (tie) Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., and Stuart Williams, England, 1,965
78, (tie) Ryon Collins, Richmond, Va., and Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,961
80, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 1,940
81, John Di Santis, Wilmington, Del., 1,939
82, Travis Celmer, Wernersville, Pa., 1,919
83, John May, Lincolnton, N.C., 1,915
84, Diandra Asbaty, Chicago, 1,902
85, Kevin Pickett, Mechanicsville, Va, 1,899
86, Joe Bailey, Doylestown, Ohio, 1,890
87, David Knight, Folcroft, Pa., 1,888
88, (tie) Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., and Justin Warhol, Sound Beach, N.Y, 1,886
90, Tim Mack, Indianapolis, 1,883
91, Mike McDonnell, Chesterfield, Va, 1,880
92, (tie) Chris Paroly, Plainview, N.Y., and Matt Freiberg, Somerset, N.J., 1,873
94, Jeremy Merriner, Winchester, Va., 1,871
95, Shane Holbert, East Lansdowne, Pa., 1,859
96, Stephen Haas, Enola, Pa., 1,854
97, Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., 1,852
98, Steven Black, Phoenix, 1,851
99, Tim Pfeifer, Cranberry Twp., Pa., 1,844
100, Philip Petersam, Baltimore, 1,834
101, Stanley Lobodzinski, Edgewood, Md., 1,825
102, Christopher Blackmore, Alexandria, Va., 1,824
103, Jeff Keller, Chesapeake, Va., 1,823
104, Alvin Horne Jr, Coram, N.Y., 1,820
105, Joseph Costanzo, Plainview, N.Y., 1,801
106, Howard Ridgeway, Cleveland, 1,798
107, Larry Klick, Erie, Pa, 1,783
108, Gregory Smith, Baltimore, 1,759
109, Tom Lemanski, Hazlet, N.J., 1,738
110, Kevin Brophy, Oakhurst, N.J., 1,734
111, Wayne Bolin, Lumberton, N.C., 1,729
112, (tie) Gary Mixon, Clinton, Md., and Hubert Register, Philadelphia, 1,704
114, Matt Traina, Farmingdale, N.Y., 1,697
115, Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 1,686
116, Brian DiCicco, Agawam, Mass., 1,674
117, Joshua Shriver, Winchester, Va., 1,667
118, Robert Tracey, Sykesville, Md., 1,662
119, Phillip Johnson, Nasville, N.C., 1,657
120, Dave Jones Jr., Baltimore, 1,639
121, Jeff Bragg, Linesville, Pa., 1,610
122, Donald Messinese, Churchton, Md., 1,578
123, Ralph Ehrlich, N.Massapequa, N.Y., 1,562
124, David Reed, Shoreham, N.Y., 1,557
125, Jack Nealon, Bowie, Md., 1,554
126, Larry Martin, Pasadena, Md, 1,531
127, Earl Langkam Jr, Toppa, Md, 1,508
128, Mike Charney, Baltimore, 1,502
129, J.J. Vece, Wallingford, Conn., 1,492
130, Tommy Dean Garland, Sykesville, Md., 1,460
131, David Zeitz, Philadelphia, 1,459
132, Barry Wilson Jr., Landover, Md., 1,426
133, Colin Jones, Glen Burnie, Md., 1,366

300 Games – Brad Angelo, Michael Machuga, Derek Sapp, Ryan Shafer, D.J. Archer.