But using the experience she gained as an exempt bowler and saddled with a new positive attitude, Kulick is one step away from making history again.

Kulick defeated Chad Kloss, four-games-to-two, Friday night in the Round of 16 at Sequoia Pro Bowl to advance to Saturday's Round of 8 in the Don Johnson Buckeye State Classic, where a berth in Sunday's championship round will be on the line.

In the summer of 2006, Kulick made history by finishing sixth out of 140 bowlers at the Denny's PBA Tour Trials to earn one of the 10 exemptions up for grabs that day. But the learning curve was a slow one for Kulick on the 2006-07 Tour, as it is for most rookies. The Union, N.J., native made match play just five times in 20 events and never advanced past the Round of 32.

Following a solid but disappointing performance on the four-event PBA Women's Series this fall - where she just missed making the finals in all four events - Kulick took some time away from the game and came back with a renewed attitude.

The time away paid off as Kulick advanced out of Tuesday's Tour Qualifying Round, the second time she's advanced through the qualifier this season. She then advanced to match play by finishing 29th in Thursday's Round of 64, where she defeated No. 4 Eugene McCune, 4-1, in the Round of 32 before taking down Kloss in six games.

On Saturday, Kulick will look to become the second woman ever to make the finals of a Denny's PBA Tour event, following Liz Johnson, who finished second in the 2005 Banquet Classic during the 2004-05 season. That season marked the first time women were allowed to bowl against the men after the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) folded in 2003.

Kulick will face No. 12 Wes Malott (Argyle, Texas), who overcame a 3-1 deficit to defeat Brad Angelo, 4-3. Oddly enough, it was Malott who fell to Johnson in the semifinals of the 2005 Banquet Open, giving Johnson a spot in the title match where she fell to Tommy Jones.

Also advancing to the Round of 8 were Steve Harman (Indianapolis) and Ken Simard (Greenville, S.C.), who will face off Saturday morning with each bowler looking to make their first career championship round appearance.

The other side of the bracket features Ronnie Russell (Indianapolis) taking on eight-time titlist Mika Koivuniemi (Hartland, Mich.) and Chris Barnes (Double Oak, Texas) facing Todd Book (Cantonment, Fla.), with Barnes looking to make his Tour-high ninth championship round of the season.

Allen, one of the more colorful personalities on the Denny's PBA Tour, lead the Round of 64 in the 2008 Don Johnson Buckeye State Classic Thursday at Sequoia Pro Bowl with a 3,295 14-game pinfall.

The 29-year-old free spirit said he hadn't made match play since the Motel 6 Dick Weber Open, which was the last time he had a moustache. Sporting a barely-visible line of hair on his upper-lip, Allen earned the top seed for Friday's Round of 32, where he will face No. 32 Jason Wojnar, who earned the final spot in match play by two pins.

The two-time titlist Allen also made a major grip change recently, due to the returning strength in his right hand following a stress fracture which kept him out of the 2006-07 season.

"I basically made an entire grip overhaul," Allen (Columbia, S.C.) said. "I was having a lot of pain in my hand and the only reason I made the change was to relieve the pressure and by far this is the best my hand has felt in two years.

"I didn't have any strength in my hand when I came back and I was getting locked in the ball," Allen continued. "About a month ago I realized I was squeezing the (crap) out of it, so now I guess all my hand strength has come back and it feels 100 percent healthy. Now I'm locked in and still squeeze it and it doesn't bother me. And the moustache helps me strike more."

On Thursday, Allen averaged 221.14 in the first seven-game block and sat just 28th in the standings. He averaged 249.57 in the second seven-game block, with four games of 257 or better, including a 278 in the 11th game of the day.

Allen will look to make his second championship round appearance of the season and his first since the 2007 CLR Windy City Classic in November where he finished fifth. Since then he's dropped down to 31st in the PBA World Point Rankings and needs a strong finish to stay in the top 39 and maintain his exemption for 2008-09. His last victory came in the 2005-06 season.

Tour young gun Sean Rash (Wichita, Kan.) finished second with 3,255 and will face No. 31 Ronnie Russell (Indianapolis). Rash will look for his first championship round appearance since winning the season-opening United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Masters.

Joe Ciccone (Buffalo, N.Y.) finished third with 3,248 and will face No. 30 Bill O'Neill (Levittown, Pa.).

Kelly Kulick (Union, N.J.), who became the first woman to earn a Denny's PBA Tour exemption last season and earned a spot in this week's event through the Denny's PBA Tour Qualifying Round, finished 29th. She will face No. 4 Eugene McCune (Munster, Ind.).

Last week's Denny's World Championship winner Norm Duke (Clermont, Fla.) finished 16th and will face No. 17 Steve Harman (Indianapolis).

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