Chris Warren will look to make his second championship round appearance of the season.  
Warren Peace
EL PASO, Texas - 2/7/2008

 
Chris Warren joked that all three bowlers he crossed with Thursday were young enough to be his sons, but that didnft stop the Dennyfs PBA Tour veteran from copying what his younger competitors were doing.

The 44-year-old Warren fired a 246 in the final game Thursday night to finish with a 3,206 14-game pinfall and earn the top seed for match play in the 2008 Bayer Classic at Oasis Lanes.

The five-time Dennyfs PBA Tour titlist bowled throughout the day with 22-year-old P.J. Haggerty, 26-year-old Bill OfNeill and 25-year-old Sean Rash, who all played the same part of the lane.

gThe day was good but what was better was the cross I had, that helped a lot. They all hook the ball and we were all fairly close to where we were playing,h Warren (Grants Pass, Ore.) said. gI was a little to the right of them since they curve it a little more than I do, but when their ball hooked I knew the lanes were hooking more so I could adjust that way and when they went straight, I adjusted that way too. Knowing that information doesnft necessarily make it easier but it allows you to see what the lanes are doing and it makes a big difference. Thatfs probably the highest Ifve averaged in the last two years.h

Warren, who has not won a title since 1992, is enjoying a solid season as he sits 28th in the PBA World Point Rankings. He used three games of 268 or better on the low-scoring Shark oil pattern to take the overall lead. He will face No. 32 Tommy Delutz Jr. (Flushing, N.Y.) in single elimination match play Friday morning. Delutz held on to the final spot despite a 191 in the final game.

D.J. Archer (Mineral Wells, Texas) finished second with 3,200 and will face No. 31 Jason Wojnar (Chicago), while 2005-06 PBA Player of the Year Tommy Jones (Simpsonville, S.C.) finished third with 3,173 and will face No. 30 Mike Edwards (Tulsa, Okla.).

Chris Barnes (Double Oak, Texas), who finished second in last seasonfs Sun City Classic at Oasis Lanes, finished fourth with 3,127 and will face No. 29 Brad Angelo. Barnes will be looking to make his fourth consecutive championship round and his Tour-leading eighth of the season but is still searching for his first title in 2007-08.

Defending champion Mika Koivuniemi (Hartland, Mich.) finished 17th and will face No. 16 Dave DfEntremont.
Fridayfs Round of 32 gets underway at 9 a.m. MST followed by the Round of 16 at 2 p.m. and the Round of 8 at 7 p.m.

The top four will advance to Sundayfs live ESPN-televised championship round which gets underway at 10:30 a.m. MST. The winner will take home $25,000 and an exemption for the 2008-09 season.
 
Pos £  Name  Hometown   Games  Block Pinfall  Total
Pinfall  +/-
200  Average  
1  Chris Warren  Grants Pass, Ore   14  1582  3206  +406  229.00  
2  D.J. Archer  Mineral Wells, Texas   14  1523  3200  +400  228.57  
3  Tommy Jones  Simpsonville, S.C.   14  1682  3173  +373  226.64  
4  Chris Barnes  Double Oak, Texas   14  1490  3127  +327  223.36  
5  Sean Rash  Wichita, Kan   14  1421  3122  +322  223.00  
6  Bill O'Neill  Levittown, Pa.   14  1602  3116  +316  222.57  
7  Robert Smith  Captain Cook, Hawaii   14  1557  3108  +308  222.00  
8  Eugene McCune  Munster, Ind.   14  1561  3065  +265  218.93  
9  Walter Ray Williams Jr.  Ocala, Fla.   14  1537  3049  +249  217.79  
10  Chris Loschetter  Avon, Ohio   14  1516  3045  +245  217.50  
11  Brian Kretzer  Dayton, Ohio   14  1452  3041  +241  217.21  
12  Riga Kalfas  Florence, Ky.   14  1536  3040  +240  217.14  
13  PJ Haggerty  Clovis, Calif   14  1504  3029  +229  216.36  
14  Pete Weber  St. Ann, Mo.   14  1516  3028  +228  216.29  
15  Michael Machuga  Erie, Pa.   14  1444  3027  +227  216.21  
16  Dave D'Entremont  Middleburg Heights, Ohio   14  1554  3026  +226  216.14  
17  Mika Koivuniemi  Hartland, Mich.   14  1461  3010  +210  215.00  
18  Rhino Page  Topeka, Kan   14  1402  2997  +197  214.07  
19  Ryan Shafer  Horseheads, N.Y.   14  1467  2996  +196  214.00  
20  Edward VanDaniker Jr  Essex, Md   14  1540  2991  +191  213.64  
21  Michael Fagan  Patchogue, N.Y.   14  1545  2980  +180  212.86  
22  Brian Himmler  Cincinnati   14  1509  2975  +175  212.50  
23  Mike DeVaney  Temecula, Calif.   14  1497  2964  +164  211.71  
24  Doug Kent  Newark, N.Y.   14  1432  2951  +151  210.79  
25  Joe Ciccone  Buffalo, N.Y.   14  1511  2947  +147  210.50  
26  Ken Simard  Greenville, S.C.   14  1407  2946  +146  210.43  
27  Tom Baker  King, N.C.   14  1529  2925  +125  208.93  
28  Mitch Beasley  Arlington, Texas   14  1369  2922  +122  208.71  
29  Brad Angelo  Lockport, N.Y.   14  1426  2918  +118  208.43  
30  Mike Edwards  Tulsa, Okla.   14  1490  2902  +102  207.29  
31  Jason Wojnar  Chicago   14  1410  2897  +97  206.93  
32  Tommy Delutz Jr.  Flushing, N.Y.   14  1362  2893  +93  206.64