Stepladder Finalists Decided at 2022 Masters
Norm Duke defies Father Time, earns top-seed for USBC Masters stepladder.
You may notice “Duke” trending on social media this evening. There is one reason and one reason only — and it has nothing to do with the curmudgeonly coach from Durham, though it does involved an old man.
Norm Duke earned the #1 seed at the USBC Masters telecast. He sits one game away from a 41st career PBA title and an eighth major title.
The 58-year-old spoke with BowlTV after clinching the top-seed, and I would encourage you all to check out the emotional interview. It’s well worth your time.
Duke’s road to the #1 seed included wins over Benjamin Martinez, Kevin McCune, AJ Johnson, DJ Archer, Brad Miller and Anthony Simonsen.
Duke has not won on tour since the 2019 season. He won back-to-back title at the PBA Indianapolis and Jonesboro Opens, marking his 39th and 40th career PBA titles. Duke’s last victory coincidentally came against Simonsen, who will be the #2 seed.
After earning the top-seed in qualifying, Simonsen defeated defending champion Thomas Larsen, Tommy Jones, Tom Smallwood, Jakob Butturff and Brent Boho before falling to Duke.
Joining Duke and Simonsen on the Masters show will be Brad Miller, AJ Johnson and Shawn Maldonado. They emerged from the elimination bracket to earn the #3-5 seeds.
Miller fired a clutch 265 to snag the #3 seed with a 676 series, while Johnson shot 597 to earn the #4 seed. Maldonado started hot, but wound up with 591 and the #5 seed.
Brent Boho’s 561 series signaled the end of his incredible run, finishing in sixth place. The 24-year-old qualified fourth alongside Simonsen, EJ Tackett and Belmonte — the literal three best bowlers on the planet — then made the Final Four of the winners bracket.
This won’t be the last time you see Brent Boho’s name in PBA title contention.
The stars aligned for Belmonte and Tackett to each make the show, but they fell in the elimination bracket semifinals.
Tackett defeated Dino Castillo and Cody Shoemaker, before falling to Miller. In the elimination bracket, he took down Nick Kruml, Tommy Jones and Martin Larsen. He finished in seventh place after AJ Johnson ended his run.
Belmonte lost his opening match to Jesper Svensson, then won six straight matches before falling to Shawn Maldonado. He finished in eighth place.
However, Belmonte can now make room on his shelf for a record-tying seventh Player of the Year award. He’s won twice as many titles as any player on tour this season — nobody can touch him.
PBA Playoffs Update
I wrote this morning that the Johnson vs. O’Neill match would be crucial to the PBA Playoff race. Johnson emerged with the win, and now O’Neill could be out of the playoffs.
With Miller and Maldonado making the show, they have pushed O’Neill to 16th in points.
If Duke wins the Masters, he’ll move into the playoffs and O’Neill will be out. If anyone else wins, O’Neill will be the #16 seed.
Predictions Recap
For the sake of transparency, authenticity and comedy, I would like to point out my atrocious batting average on serious predictions this week.
None of my five picks to make the show came through — two of the five, Matt Russo and Tom Daugherty, didn’t even make match-play — and an amateur did not lead qualifying.
Tommy Jones did finish outside the top-six for the first time in a major this season, so I guess I get credit for predicting Jones would not finish in the top 1.5% of the field.
Finally, Adam Zimmerman finished in 177th place, just four pins ahead of my predicted finish of 181st. “Almost” counts in horseshoes, grenade throws and my trivial predictions.
The Show
The Masters show will air at 1 p.m. ET on FOX. Syracuse and Newhouse alumnus Dave Ryan will be on the call alongside Randy Pedersen and Kimberly Pressler.
My final prediction: Someone wins their first major title. I’ll say Johnson runs the ladder and sheds the best-player-without-a-title label.
(This means put all your money on Maldonado.)