Josh Blanchard sits in the top spot for the Badger Open Finals, edging his former Wichita State teammate Jake Peters by 10 pins through 10 games of qualifying, 15 games of match play and a position round.

Behind Peters is Aaron Lorincz, a 23-year-old bowler making his first television appearance. Michael Haugen, Jr. took the fourth spot and will be looking to climb the ladder for his second title of the season. Rounding out the top five is PBA Tour champion Kurt Pilon.

Just on the outside of the stepladder finals, but rounding out the top 10, were big names (in order) Chris Barnes, Jason Belmonte, Andres Gomez, Jason Sterner and Tommy Jones.

The Badger Open finals will be contested June 1 and broadcast Tuesday, June 11 at 7 p.m. ET on the CBS Sports Network.

Randy Pedersen made his PBA50 debut with a less-than-auspicious 144 in his first game. The only reason that's notable is because of how he finished: as the champion.

Pedersen qualified third for the stepladder finals and defeated Mike Edwards in the first match. From there, he eliminated Bob Learn, Jr. to earn the right to face always-in-the-lead Amleto Monacelli. In a game that unsurprisingly came down to the 10th frame, Pedersen came out ahead, 232-226.

Summer bowling leagues are underway (or soon to be) across the United States. The USBC Open Championships are in full swing. The PBA50 Tour is near the midpoint of its season. The PBA Tour returns next week with the Summer Swing. Bowling is everywhere. Are you participating?

In many bowling centers, summer is the time for sport leagues, which let you test your skills on PBA oil patterns. If you've never bowled in a sport league, give it a try.

Is summer your off-season? No desire to hit the lanes? If that's the case, do you practice at all or do you put the equipment away until league starts again in the fall?

The first event of the PBA Summer Swing, the Badger Open, begins May 20 and features the 52-foot Badger pattern, the longest animal pattern ever.

The other two new oil patterns, the Bear and the Wolf, will give bowlers three distinct challenges and fans the fun of watching how the best players in the world adjust to the demanding conditions.

The Wolf will be the shortest pattern ever (32 feet) and the Bear is modeled after the U.S. Open pattern with 40 feet of flat oil. Which pattern are you most looking forward to seeing? Which would you most want to try yourself?