Couch takes top seed entering finals

LAS VEGAS -- Jason Couch went 5-2-1 in match play Friday night and jumped from fourth place to first entering the championship round of the PBA Showboat Invitational.

Couch, the 1992 PBA Rookie of the Year, will be the No. 1 seed in Saturday's finals and will need to win just one match to earn his fifth career title.

Couch, who had high games of 279, 246 and 246 Friday night, finished with a pinfall total of 13,458, an average of 231, and a 16-6-2 match-play record.

Ryan Shafer, who held the lead entering the final round of match play, finished with a match-play record of 13-10-1 and a pinfall total of 13,434.

Amleto Monacelli, the 1988 Showboat Invitational champion, rolled a 279 in his final game of match play to take third. Monacelli, a PBA Hall of Famer and 18-time champion, was 16-8 with 13,424 pins.

Mike Edwards, who led after the third and fourth rounds, hung on as the fourth seed. Edwards struggled in the third round but ended with an 11-13 match-play record and 13,401 pins.

Saturday's first match will have the second, third, and fourth seeds in a one game shootout, with the winner facing the top seed for the $46,000 top prize.

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