Striking Spotlight

Back-to-Back PBA League MVP Defeats Dallas Strikers’ Norm Duke
 
New York, NY — 2020 will go down as the year most of us will want to forget, but it’s certainly been very memorable for Wes Malott and the Portland Lumberjacks!
 
Malott emerged as the first-ever PBA League All Star Clash Champion taking down Hall of Famer and longtime doubles partner, Dallas Strikers’ Norm Duke in the final round of the unpredictable and always exciting sudden-death style special event at Bowlero Centreville.
 
“In this type of format, it can really go anyway, said Malott. “To know that I have these guys (referring to his Lumberjack teammates) supporting me on the sidelines in this particular environment. I wouldn’t want it any other way. This win is for all of us!”
 
The Lumberjacks, who won back-to-back PBA League Elias Cup championships just two months ago in the same building have built a franchise winning team with strong chemistry and trust in the two-time PBA League MVP Malott.
 
“This is the franchise player,” said Lumberjacks teammate Kyle Troup about Malott in the first round of competition. “We know he has ten back every shot and he’s chopping down the competition one shot at a time.”
 
The Lumberjacks support for Malott never faltered throughout the competition.
 
“Wes is sharp, he has good ball reaction and a lot of confidence,” added Troup about Malott’s game in the tenth round with three players remaining.
 
Troup was right as Malott outlasted eleven PBA and PWBA Tour professionals to capture the $50,000 first-place prize for his team.
 
It was not all smooth sailing for Malott, who had a lucky break in round five getting a late strike. All players struck in the round, forcing a roll-off between the remaining eight competitors. Malott easily struck in his next shot to continue his champion run.
 
Stealing the show for the first ten rounds of the competition was Danielle McEwan of the Miami Waves, one of two PWBA Tour players who brought her A-game to compete against the best in the world.
 
McEwan, who competed in the PBA Summer Clash in June, used the experience to her advantage, plus the anchor position in the event’s format to knock out Philadelphia Hitmen’s Dom Barrett in round one, Silver Lake Atom Splitters’ Chris Barnes in round three, Phoenix Fury’s Liz Johnson in round four, L.A. X’s Jason Belmonte in round six, NYC KingPins’ Pete Weber in round seven, and Las Vegas High Rollers’ Francois Lavoie in round eight. Remaining players were eliminated in roll-off ties.
 
The 12 All Star players were selected to represent their teams by having the highest number of PBA or PWBA titles on each team, with an impressive combined total of 248 Tour titles. 
 
202 PBA League All Star Clash Results

Wes Malott, Portland Lumberjacks

Norm Duke, Dallas Strikers

Danielle McEwan, Miami Waves

EJ Tackett, Motown Muscle

Francois Lavoie, Las Vegas High Rollers

Pete Weber, NYC KingPins

Jason Belmonte, L.A. X

Walter Ray Williams Jr., Brooklyn Styles

Liz Johnson, Phoenix Fury

Chris Barnes, Silver Lake Atom Splitters

Sean Rash, Brew City Ballers

Dom Barrett, Philadelphia Hitmen

 
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the Go Bowling! PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2019, the PBA was acquired by Bowlero Corporation, the world’s largest owner and operator of bowling entertainment centers with more than 300 locations throughout North America. For more information, please visit PBA.com.