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PBA recognizes Tampa's Dohan as top regional player

By ERIC MUSKATEVC
Published April 21, 2006

The PBA South Region named Pete Dohan of Tampa the Player of the Year after he won two titles and finished first in earnings and second in points, barely missing an exemption for the 2006-07 season.

Darren Franks (Canton, Ga.) took home Rookie of the Year honors, winning one title and cashing in 16 of 21 events. The Senior Player of the Year was given to Guppy Troup (Taylorsville, N.C.) for the second straight season. Troup led the region with two titles.

Michael Kastner (Powder Springs, Ga.) took home the Pat Patterson Award for the fourth year in a row.

USBC: Anyone not able to attend the annual meeting portion of the first U.S. Bowling Congress Convention can watch the activities live via a video streaming feature on bowl.com.

Viewers will be able to watch everything as it happens at the Orange County Convention Center. Streaming will be available from 9-9:30 a.m., 10:15-11:30 a.m. and 1-5 p.m. today and from 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday.

Times are approximate. About 2,500 people are scheduled to attend the meeting.

For the first time, youth bowlers are invited to attend a new national scholarship tournament without qualifying at the state or local levels, the U.S. Bowling Congress announced Tuesday.

The 2007 USBC Youth Open Championships will debut in Buffalo, N.Y., and will be open to all USBC Youth members. The event will be conducted alongside the USBC Junior Gold Championships and USBC Youth Championships.

Bowlers will be able to take part in singles, doubles and four-player team competition at the annual, which will be held at AMF Thruway Lanes from July 13-21, 2007 (unless extended).

Competitors taking part in the Junior Gold or Pepsi events will also be eligible to compete in the Open Championships. Registration begins in November.

The Board of Directors approved changes to rules concerning the management of assigned scholarship awards in its board meeting Tuesday.

To protect bowlers' eligibility to participate in high school and/or collegiate level varsity sports, changes to youth rules concerning scholarship leagues and tournaments and changes to SMART scholarship use policies will take effect Aug. 1.

Rule changes will mandate use of USBC's Scholarship Management and Accounting Reports for Tenpins program for all scholarship awards assigned to USBC Youth members from certified league and tournament competition.

Unassigned scholarship funds still may be managed locally.

The scholarship rule and SMART policy changes are in response to a determination by the NCAA and research of state high school athletic association bylaws, which allow athletes to accept scholarship awards based on performance as long as the awards are managed through the sport's national governing body.

Young bowlers who earn scholarship awards for their performances before and during their college years could be denied the chance to bowl for their NCAA college or university if their scholarship awards are not managed by the USBC.

For the second straight season, Chris Barnes won the biggest grand prize in PBA history, winning $200,000 by defeating Mike Scroggins six strikes to five in the finals of the season-ending Motel 6 Roll to Riches last weekend in Lewisville, Texas.

The first bowler striking six times in the final round took home the top prize. The Motel 6 Roll to Riches will air as two back-to-back, one-hour shows Sunday at 1 p.m.

Chris Wulff went 289, 226, 299 for an 814 in the City of St. Pete Athletic's league at Sunrise Lanes to lead all bowling in a week of impressive scores.

Liberty's Bill Zuben also marked an 800 with a 290/805. Mariann Russo (265/708) at Liberty and Veronica Kessler (257/700) at Sunrise wowed the women's scores. Steve Felsman, Mike Roberts and Greg Ickes all bowled perfect games last week, with Ickes ending with a high 795. Check below for more marks.

Club 577 will be at Sarasota Lanes on Sunday with squad times of 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

The jackpot is at $385. Also bowling this weekend, Club 580 will be at Semoran Lanes in Orlando with a $238 strike-pot. For more information on the National Amateur Bowlers Inc., call (863) 667-4779 or visit centralflorida.bowlnabi.com.

The Callahan Bail Bonds Almost Midnight Team Tournament is tomorrow night, Saturday, at 9:30 p.m. at Liberty Lanes. Phone reservations are a must: (727) 397-3947.

Eric Muskatevc can be e-mailed at Emuskatevc@aol.com

[Last modified April 21, 2006, 08:05:05]