Carson City bowler finishes 15th to qualify for PBA finals

If Don Simonian didn't think he could participate on a full-time basis on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour before, his interest may have been peaked somewhat after his performance Saturday.

The Carson City bowler finished 15th after the first day at the Pinon Plaza to qualify for todays finals in the PBA regional event. Simonian finished with an average of 216.60 over 10 games to be among the top 16 bowlers who qualified for today's finals.

The 16 bowlers will compete in 16 games today, with the overall winner being decided on who has the highest average through all 26 games over the two days. But as an added bonus, bowlers will receive an additional 30 points for every game they win in the match play format. The champion will come away with $2,500 of the $12,330 total purse.

San Jose's Tony Reyes led after the first day with a 247.90 average and rolled one of two 300 games Saturday. San Jose's Ross Packard, who stood in second with a 240.70 average, was the other bowler who rolled a 300 game.

Many of the bowlers in this weekend's tournament have competed in some PBA Tour events, including Simonian.

"You're seeing some great players," said Simonian about the Pinon Plaza event. "A lot of champions."

Simonian said it takes a commitment of $30,000 a year to compete full-time on the PBA Tour. Many in this weekend's tournament could go full-time on the tour, but choose not to.

The 44-year-old Simonian has been bowling for just 12 years. "Honestly, I didn't feel like I've had the kind of success to do it," said Simonian about going full-time on the PBA Tour.

"I can do it. Mentally, I have to be ready. When they come to the West Coast, I bowl as many as I can."

Simonian averaged 233 over his first five games, but struggled when he averaged just above 200 over his last five games.

"The conditions started drying up out on the outside," Simonian said. "It was just a little harder to get the ball to the pocket out there for me. I just wasn't making a lot of good shots."

As far as today, Simonian said, "The goal is just to take them one at a time and have a lot of fun."

Tournament Director Mike Fredericks said the regional tournament should become an annual event. He also said the event could be moved to September.

There were only 53 bowlers who came to this weekend's event. "That's the only drawback, " Fredericks said. "We just didn't get the number of entries.

"Believe it or not, guys were scared off because of the weather. These guys will go back and tell everybody what a good time they had."

This weekend's event is also conflicting with the PBA Tour's Tournament of Champions. In addition, it's late in the year. "Near the end of the year, we start losing bowlers," Fredericks said.

With the Reno National Bowling Stadium in the area, it's unlikely that the Pinon Plaza could host a PBA Tour event some day, Fredericks said.