BATON ROUGE - Amarillo, Texas bowler Mason Edmondson closed with two strong games to grab the lead after the first day of the 2026 PBA SW Dudley DeBosier Open Saturday at All Star Lanes.

Edmondson posted a 268 game in the next-to-last-game of the eight-game qualifying block to take a narrow lead over two-time national PBA winner Shawn Maldonado of Houston. The two, by the luck of the draw, were on the same pair of lanes and in the final game, they matched nearly shot for shot both finishing with 258.

Edmondson, whose best 2026 SW finish is third, finished at +426 (based on 200 par score) for the eight games, averaging 253. Maldonado is in second at +403, averaging 250 for the eight-games.

The tournament, which drew 88 entries, is being rolled on one of the PBA patterns, the 47-foot Dragon.

It would take a score of +108 (213 average) by Matthew Stroman for the 30th and final spot for extra play on Sunday. He was one pin better than senior bowler Trae Cummings at +107. Perry Giambrone II was just two pins more back at +105.

The top 30 return for what is called an advancer’s round Sunday in which scores career over, starting at 9 a.m. After the five-game block is finished, the top eight will bowl a round-robin match play session, beginning at 12:30 p.m. to determine the champion.

Zachary Leshikar was third. He bowled in college at Wichita State and finished T9 in this year’s USBC Masters event. He is 60 pins behind Maldonado at +343, five pins to the plus on fourth place Noah Krupczak at +338. Fifth place Cody Uthoff of the Dallas are is fifth at +335 and those five will have a big head start to the final eight cut as the difference from fifth to sixth is 67 pins. The difference from first to sixth stands at 158 pins.

There were two perfect 300 games on the day as Maldonado, who has 18 regional titles to his credit, hit for the 12 strikes in the second game and Leshikar, who hails from Kansas, had the other perfect game in the fourth game.

It was a day for youth and south Louisiana bowlers to be served. Colin Clark, who had the high average in the state in high school earlier this year before graduating at Holy Cross, came home in 18th place at +185 (223 average), while Braiden Torres, who graduated from Dutchtown in 2025, is 23rd at +135 (216 average).

Joshua Green originally from Baton Rouge, who has shot 300 on the national tour, is sixth (+268) and right behind him is Justin Veitch, who has made the cut three times in the USBC Masters, from Kenner, at +256 (232 average).

Local bowler, Brian Dinh, averaged 215 to make the cut by 12 sticks and Mandeville bowler Stephen Smith will also return after averaging 222 for the eight games.

Also, youth bowler, Ethan Nguyen, of Wylie, Texas, who is competing for SMART money scholarships, made the cut in 20th place at +160, a 220 average. Nguyen was second in the U15 in 2025 in the Teen Masters competition.

Besides the two 300 games, Ethan Radcliff and Eli Jones both had 11 strikes in 290 games, as did Garrett Nelson. Zachary Snow had the other game over 280 at 288 with the opening 10 strikes.

There is no charge to watch the advancer’s round and finals on Sunday.

We’ll have a full report on our regular Spare Notes column Monday on WBRZ.com,

                                                                                                                        Kent Lowe