Team USA earned the trios gold medal Wednesday at the 2010 World Tenpin Bowling Association World Men's Championships, the second gold medal in three events for the United States.

Rhino Page, Wes Malott and Patrick Allen (pictured left, l-r) defeated Mexico with Ernesto Franco, Alejandro Cruz and Jorge Rosado (right, l-r) , 650-514, in the gold-medal match at Dream-Bowl Palace in Unterföhring, Germany. In the championship, Allen led Team USA with a 235 game, while Page shot 228 and Malott had 187. Mexico's Franco shot 220, Rosado had 145 and Cruz shot 149.

"This was just a total team effort, and it feels very, very cool," Page said. "I'm just so happy for us to be here right now with the gold medal. Trios is one event I have never won a gold medal in and to do it with Wes and PA means a lot to me."

Page, Allen and Malott didn't face much of a fight from the Mexico team in the championship match. Instead, all of the drama was in the semifinal match-up against their tam mates Bill O'Neill, Chris Barnes and Tommy Jones.

After finishing regulation tied at 590, the teams went to overtime as Malott and O'Neill faced off in a ninth and 10th frame roll-off. O'Neill left a pocket 4-9 split in the 10th and Malott then stepped up to throw a strike to advance his team, 50-27.

"To be selected to bowl in the roll-off was an honor," said Malott, who earned his first medal as a Team USA player. "To come through for Rhino and PA means a lot. During the whole trios event they really were the ones who carried us as a team."

To advance to the gold-medal match, Mexico took out Chinese Taipei's Hung Kun-Yi, Cheng Hsing-Chao and Wu Hao-Ming (right, l-r), 607-576.

Pictured left - bachrow from left, Jones, Malott and O'Neill. Front row from left: Allen, Barnes and Page.

The four teams that advanced to the semifinals took part in six games of qualifying over two days. In Wednesday's final round, Barnes, O'Neill and Jones set the three-game World Championships record with a 2,196 total, a team average of 244. The previous record of 2,121 was set by Finland in 1999.

In All Events, O'Neill increased his lead after 18 games to 4,054, an average of 225.22, with just the team event remaining. Barnes sits in second at 3,941, while Franco is third with 3,932.

The top 16 players in the All Events standings after 24 games advance to Masters match play on Saturday.

Action shifts to the coveted five-player team event, which begins with the first of two qualifying blocks Thursday. The final round will be contested Friday with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals.

 

2010 Men's World Championships - Trios Playoffs

Dream-Bowl Palace in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany (Aug. 16, 2010)

Championship Round:
1. Patrick Allen, Rhino Page, Wes Malott - United States 2. Ernesto Franco, Jorge Rosado, Alejandro Cruz - Mexico 3. Bill O'Neill, Chris Barnes, Tommy Jones - United States, and
Cheng Hsing-Chao, Hung Kun-Yi, Wu Hao-Ming - Chinese Taipei.

Playoff Results:
Semifinal Match 1: #4 United States (Allen 168, Page 202, Malott 220) def.
#1 United States (O'Neill 220, Barnes 173, Jones 197), 590-590
Malott def. O'Neil in a 9th and 10th frane roll-off, 50-27.
Semifinal Match 2: #3 Mexico (Franco 212, Rosado 161, Cruz 234) def.
#2 Chinese Taipei (Cheng 214, Hung 199, Wu 163), 607-576
Championship: United States (Allen 235, Page 228, Malott 187) def.
Mexico (Franco 220, Rosado 145, Cruz 149) , 650-514.