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Chris Barnes Bests Anthony Pepe to Win Chris Barnes Challenge Presented by Columbia 300 V
WEST BABYLON, N.Y. (March 27, 2010) Chris Barnes had his hands full once again but managed to defeat 21-year-old Anthony Pepe of Queens, N.Y., in the fifth and final Chris Barnes Challenge presented by Columbia 300 of the 2009-10 season Saturday evening at AMF Babylon Lanes.
Barnes, the 2007-08 PBA Player of the Year, defeated Pepe 681-649 in the three-game total pins match to win the $10,000 pot. The match was conducted on PBA's Shark pattern and was webcast on PBA.com's Xtra Frame.
In the richest Chris Barnes Challenge to date, Pepe posted the maximum bid of $5,000 earlier this week for the opportunity to take on Barnes who matched the $5,000 bid.
"New York is one of the few hotbeds left for action," Barnes said. "I was pretty confident we were going to get the maximum bid and anticipated a great show.
"Anthony is a great player and I think he's among the next generation of young bowlers who has the potential to do great things in the sport."
Pepe had a nine-pin lead after the second game but three opens in the final game proved to be his undoing.
"I would just like to thank everyone who came out to support me," said Pepe, a criminal justice major at Nassau Community College. "I've been in this situation before so I'll just have to learn from it and move forward."
Pepe is a 33-time winner in Junior Bowlers Tour competition on the East Coast, has a personal-best 837 series, and recently won the Brunswick Summer Classic for $10,000 at Brunswick Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick, N.J.
While he has never bowled in a PBA Tour event, he has limited experience in a handful of PBA Regionals.
Barnes ended with a 3-2 record in the five Chris Barnes Challenge events conducted during the second half of the season.
