“There is definitely a lot of excitement,” Hartings said. “But there is also some added pressure.”
PBA Player of the Year EJ Tackett, who is leading the Storm Cup points race, PBA Hall of Famers Walter Ray Williams Jr., Parker Bohn III and Amleto Monacelli as well as former players of the year Sean Rash and Tommy Jones are all slated to compete. Defending champion Kyle Troup and Springfield native Chris Via, who won the event in 2013, are also in the competitive field. PBA commissioner Tom Clark and representatives from Storm will also be on hand for this major event.
“It’s a national title so it’s a bigger deal,” Hartings said. “It took us a month to pull the trigger on this — there were a lot of pros and cons — but we just love the PBA and, after nine years of hosting the regional, we feel confident that we have a good plan in place.”
Tournament organizers also had a solid relationship with local sponsors, which number 86 for this year’s event.
“Everyone really stepped up to make this happen,” Hartings said.
Competition starts Saturday with eight games of qualifying and the top third of the field advancing to the cashers round Sunday. The tournament is only part of the excitement with both youth and adult pro-am events slated for Friday night and the Linus Open, a scholarship golf outing, on Thursday. More than $30,000 in scholarship money has been awarded to West Ohio High School Bowling Conference graduating seniors in the past decade as a result of the outing.
For more information about the tournament, pro-am events or golf outing, visit http://plamorlanes.net/ or call 419-678-3113.
Former champions
2016: Kyle Troup
2015: Parker Bohn III
2014: EJ Tackett
2013: Chris Via
2012: Dick Allen
2011: Brian Waliczek
2010: Derek Sapp
2009: Chris Loschetter
2008: Brian Waliczek
PBA Xtra Frame Classic
Where: Pla-Mor Lanes, Coldwater
When: Aug. 25-27
Friday: Practice session, 2-4 p.m.; Pro-ams, 5:30 p.m. (youth) and 8:30 p.m. (adult)
Saturday: 8 a.m., A Squad; 1:30 p.m., B Squad; 7 p.m., C Squad (eight games; top third of the field advances to cashers round)
Sunday: 10 a.m., Cashers' Round (four games, top 16 after 12 games advance); 12:30, Round of 16 (three games, top 8 after 15 games advance); 2 p.m., Round of 8 (two games; top 4 after 17 games advance to stepladder finals); 3:30 p.m., Top four advance to stepladder finals
Admission: Free
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