STL resident, Maryville bowling coach Matt Russo secures spot in TV finals of Pete Weber Classic

ST. PETERS, Mo. -- With the final round of match play still pending ahead of Sunday’s televised stepladder finals, St. Louis resident Matt Russo already knows he’s made the TV show for the Pete Weber Classic at Bowlero St. Peters.

The question to be determined in his best-of-7 match against Justin Knowles on Friday night: which bowler will claim the top overall seed for Sunday’s finals and which will be forced to work his way up the stepladder bracket from the wild card fifth seed.

Knowles and Russo earned a bye into Friday afternoon’s Round of 16 match play after qualifying fourth and fifth, respectively during the 18-game qualifying round earlier in the week. 

Friday afternoon saw top seeds Jason Belmonte, Zach Wilkins and Patrick Dombrowski ousted during the Round of 16, meaning whoever falls short in the match between Knowles and Russo--the two highest remaining qualifiers--will still qualify for the TV show as the wild card fifth seed.

Russo, who is assistant coach of the women’s bowling team at Maryville University, overtook Brandon Runk, 4-2, in Friday afternoon’s match play. After splitting the first four games with Runk, the left-handed two-hander Russo shot 257 and 234 to close out the match in six games.

Elsewhere on the lanes at Bowlero St. Peters on Friday, 25-year-old Hayden Stippich may have spoiled the wishes of many spectators in the crowd when he upset the top overall seed and one of the most accomplished bowlers in the world. 

Another two-handed lefty, Stippich could only watch as Jason Belmonte put together the front 10 strikes en route to a 289 game in Game 3 of their match. The strong score--which arguably might have been a 300 had Belmo not changed balls following his 10th strike as he looked to establish versatility for the remaining games in the match--was more than enough to position Belmonte with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 match.

But Belmonte’s 289 wouldn’t go down as the game of the match, as Stippich grinded out a 205-202 win in Game 4 before dropping 12 straight strikes on Belmonte, the 32-time PBA titlist, in Game 5. Stippich’s 300 provided a series lead that he would not relinquish, as he closed out Belmonte, 216-200 in Game 6 to advance to Friday night’s Round of 8.

Stippich will face left-hander Anthony Neuer, with a spot in the TV finals on the line.

The other matches Friday, which begin at 6 p.m., will feature Tom Smallwood vs. Graham Fach, and Thomas Larsen vs. EJ Tackett.