Senior Rookie of the Year Award

DATE NAME
2012 Amleto Monacelli
2011 Ricky Beck
2010 Walter Ray Williams Jr.
2009 Brian Voss
2008 Wayne Webb
2007 Sam Zurich
2006 Bob Kelly
2005 Tom Baker
2004 David Ozio
2003 Don Sylvia
2002 Vince Mazzanti Jr.
2001 Mark Roth
2000 Guppy Troup
1999 Mike Pullin
1998 Johnny Petraglia
1997 George Pappas
1996 Dale Eagle
1995 Pete Couture
1994 Larry Laub

 

Amleto Monacelli Elected PBA Senior Rookie of the Year

Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli, a two-time Player of the Year on the PBA Tour, was selected as the 2012 PBA Senior Rookie of the Year, becoming the first international player to earn the award.

The 51-year-old native of Venezuela also became the first international player to win the Etonic Senior U.S. Open last June when he defeated fellow Hall of Famer and 2012 Senior Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr., 255-247, in the championship match at the Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vegas.

He also finished third in the United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters and compiled four other top 20 finishes which included a 10th, 11th, 15th and 19th in his six Senior Tour appearances.

“I quickly found that you still have to be bowling at a top level to do well on the Senior Tour,” said Monacelli. “The competition was very tough and I feel fortunate to do as well I did in my first year.”

During his career on the PBA Tour, Monacelli won 19 titles and was the first foreign-born player to win PBA Player of the Year earning the honor back-to-back in 1989 and 1990.  He is the only foreign-born member of the PBA Hall of Fame and was inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame in 2012.

“One of my first impressions of bowling on the Senior Tour was how fast time has gone by,” he added. “Bowling with some of the guys I bowled against on Tour brought back a lot of memories.”