Kristopher Prather

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Kristopher Prather
20190816 Kris Prather.jpg
Prather in 2019
Born (1992-01-01) 1 January 1992 (age 30)
Years active2015-present
Bowling Information
AffiliationPBA
Rookie year2015
Dominant handRight (tweener delivery)
Wins4 PBA Tour (1 major)
2 PBA Regional Tour
300-games4
SponsorsRoto Grip bowling balls, Vise Grips
Websitehttps://www.pba.com/bowlers/bowler/36649

Kristopher "Kris" Prather (born January 1, 1992)[1] of Plainfield, Illinois is an American professional ten-pin bowler who competes on the PBA Tour. He is known for winning the inaugural PBA Tour Playoffs on June 2, 2019[2][3] and the PBA Tournament of Champions on February 9, 2020.[4] To date, Prather has won four PBA Tour titles, including one major championship.

Kris has been nicknamed "Shark" and "Shark Kent" (a play on Clark Kent). He is a member of the Roto Grip and Vise Grips pro staffs.[2]

Amateur career[]

Prather bowled collegiately at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.[2] As an amateur, he won the 2012 Paragon Open in Grand Rapids, Michigan and finished second at the 2012 New Mexico Open.[1]

As of January 2020, Prather is a member of Team USA.[5] Prather was part of the rotating four-person team (with A. J. Johnson, Jakob Butturff and Andrew Anderson) that won the trios gold medal for Team USA at the 2021 International Bowling Federation (IBF) Super World Championships in Dubai.[6]

Professional career[]

After qualifying for the championship finals four times in 2018 and twice more in early 2019 without winning, Prather broke through with his first PBA title in the PBA Scorpion Championship, held at the 2019 World Series of Bowling in Allen Park, Michigan.[7] Based on points earned during the first 13 events of the 2019 season, he qualified as the #9 seed for the inaugural PBA Tour Playoffs. He was the only player to make the final four who did not earn a first-round bye. He defeated #4 seed Anthony Simonsen in the semifinal round on June 1, then topped #7 seed Bill O'Neill on June 2 to take the championship and $100,000 first place prize.[3] Originally, the PBA Tour Playoffs was considered a non-title event. However, on December 6, 2019, the PBA announced that Prather would retroactively be awarded a PBA title for his win, giving him his second career Tour title.[8][9]

Kris was a member of the Portland Lumberjacks team, winners of the 2019 PBA League competition.[10] He was again a member of the Lumberjacks when they successfully defended their PBA League title in 2020.

On February 9, 2020, Prather won the PBA Tournament of Champions held in Fairlawn, Ohio. As the #4 seed for the stepladder finals, he won all four matches, defeating four major titlists (Sean Rash, Jason Belmonte, Anthony Simonsen and Bill O'Neill) to capture his third PBA Tour title, first major, and second career $100,000 prize check.[4]

On June 6, 2020, Prather won the PBA Strike Derby, a non-title made-for-TV event where competitors attempt to bowl as many strikes as possible in two minutes. Seeded #4 after rolling 10 strikes in the first round, Prather went on to defeat Anthony Simonsen in the championship (fourth) round, 7–6, to claim the win and the $25,000 top prize.[11] On July 22, Prather was crowned the PBA's "King of the Lanes" in a three-day, non-title event. He won the fifth challenge match (of six) in the event over PWBA player Gazmine Mason, and dethroned the reigning King, Sean Rash in the next match. He then defended his crown against the sixth and final challenger, PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber.[12] Despite the 2020 season being shortened by COVID-19, Prather posted a new career high in earnings with $223,285.[13]

On March 14, 2021, Prather won his fourth PBA Tour title (with partner Andrew Anderson) at the Roth-Holman PBA Doubles Championship.[14]

In addition to his four national PBA Tour titles, Prather has earned two PBA Regional Tour titles.[2] He has rolled 27 certified perfect 300 games, including four in PBA Tour competition, and has 11 certified 800 series.[1]

PBA Tour titles[]

Major championships are in bold type.

  1. 2019 PBA Scorpion Championship (Allen Park, Michigan)
  2. 2019 PBA Tour Playoffs (Portland, Maine)
  3. 2020 PBA Tournament of Champions (Fairlawn, Ohio)
  4. 2021 Roth-Holman PBA Doubles Championship w/Andrew Anderson (Tampa, Florida)

Non-title PBA wins[]

  1. 2019 PBA League (Portland Lumberjacks)
  2. 2020 PBA League (Portland Lumberjacks)
  3. 2020 PBA Strike Derby
  4. 2020 PBA King of the Lanes

Career statistics[]

Statistics are through the last full PBA Tour season.

Season Events Cashes Match Play CRA+ PBA Tour Titles PBA Regional Titles Average Earnings ($)
2015 15 5 2 0 0 0 214.55 12,040
2016 19 11 6 1 0 0 216.63 26,490
2017 18 10 7 0 0 2 219.34 27,935
2018 20 13 9 5 0 0 220.33 60,885
2019 26 17 12 5 2 0 216.50 179,348
2020 13 11 8 2 1 0 -- 223,285

+CRA = Championship Round Appearances

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Team Roto Grip – Kris Prather". rotogrip.com. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "Kristopher Prather PBA Profile". pba.com. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Wallace, Eric J. (2 June 2019). "Milton's Kris Prather wins inaugural PBA Playoffs, $100,000 prize". pnj.com. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  4. ^ a b Schneider, Jerry (9 February 2020). "Kris Prather Takes All Four Stepladder Matches to Win 55th PBA Tournament of Champions for First Major Title". pba.com. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  5. ^ Cannizzaro, Matt (8 January 2020). "Champions Determined at 2020 USBC Team USA Trials, U.S. Amateur". bowl.com. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  6. ^ Cannizzaro, Matt (November 15, 2021). "TEAM USA SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS TRIOS TITLE AT IBF SUPER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN DUBAI". Bowl.com. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  7. ^ Schneider, Jerry (20 March 2019). "Kris Prather Wins PBA Scorpion Championship for First Career PBA Tour Title". pba.com. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  8. ^ Vint, Bill (6 December 2019). "PBA Spare Shots: 2019 PBA Player and Rookie of the Year, Award Winners to be Announced on December 11". pba.com. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  9. ^ Vint, Bill (6 December 2019). "Kris Prather Retroactively Awarded PBA Title for 2019 PBA Playoffs Win". BowlersJournal.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  10. ^ Vint, Bill (18 July 2019). "Portland Lumberjacks Dominate L.A. X to Win First PBA League Elias Cup; Wes Malott Named Mark Roth MVP". pba.com. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  11. ^ Warner, K. (8 June 2020). "Kris Prather Wins the Inaugural PBA Strike Derby on Fox". pba.com. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  12. ^ Warner, K. (22 July 2020). "Kris Prather Reigns Supreme as the New PBA King of the Lanes on the Final Night of the Six-Part Series". pba.com. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  13. ^ Wiseman, Lucas (20 November 2020). "Jason Belmonte Tops 2020 PBA Tour Earnings With Nearly $300k". flobowling.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  14. ^ Goodger, Jef (March 14, 2021). "Andrew Anderson and Kris Praher Win PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship". PBA.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
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