July 26, 2023 Chase Kaufman

Over the past few weeks, the PBA Regional Tour crowned champions of all ilks, from ascending talents, Senior Tour stalwarts, to collegiate stars.

John Janawicz, while 50 years old, could fit in each of the first two categories. His brilliant debut campaign continued in Illinois, detailed in this week's PBA Regional Recap:

PBA50 Beverly Lanes Midwest/Central Open

Beverly Lanes, that’s where I want to be! Scores were sky-high in qualifying, mainly from John Janawicz and Tom Hess. The pair each averaged 253 to top the leaderboard heading into the advancers round.

But as the tournament went on, Janawicz pulled away from the field. In the final advancers round, Chris Barnes needed to top Janawicz by 118 pins, but after a 234 from Janawicz in Game 1, the second game was just a consolation. Janawicz never shot a game below 200 for the entirety of the tournament en route to winning his second regional title of the season. 

PBA50 Beverly Lanes Midwest/Central Open Final Standings

  1. John Janawicz, 2,500 points, $2,200
  2. Chris Barnes 1,500, $1,400
  3. Tom Hess 1,150, $1,000
  4. Dan Knowlton, 950, $1,000

PBA50 Beverly Lanes Midwest/Central Open Full Results

PBA St Charles Lanes Midwest Open

 

From a suburb of Chicago to a suburb of St. Louis, the sub-age-50 region bowled a match play event at St. Charles Lanes in Missouri. The cut landed at +42, giving many young guns a chance at a title if they placed inside the top 12. Jorge Rodriguez did just that, qualifying first, then staying on top after the first 11 games of match play. Rodriguez defeated his opponent Timothy Curran in the position round and held off the rest of the field to grab the win and $3,000.

PBA St Charles Lanes Midwest Open Final Standings

  1. Jorge Rodriguez, $3,000
  2. Brady Stearns, 1,500 points, $2,000
  3. Benjamin Martinez, 1,150, $1,500
  4. Timothy Curran, 950, $1,250

PBA St Charles Lanes Midwest Open Full Results

PBA Bowlero Spring Hill Open

St. Charles enrolled many PBA Tour PTQ participants, and so did the Bowlero Spring Hill Open. Carlos Granados smashed the field in qualifying, going +171 for his eight games. He held the lead after each of the first two advancers rounds, but Nate Garcia took over the lead after the third.

Round 4 put the two within just one pin of each other, but a winner-take-all final game would determine the champ. Both bowlers went spare, four-bagger in the first half, but back-to-back single pins from Granados allowed Garcia to pick up a big lead. After an eight-bagger, Garcia converted a 10-pin in the final frame to seal the deal and pick up his second career title and first in five years.

PBA Bowlero Spring Hill Open Final Standings

  1. Nate Garcia, 2,500 points, $3,000
  2. Carlos Granados, 1,500, $1,475
  3. Toby Sambueno, 1,150, $1,100
  4. Colin Champion, 950, $1,100

PBA Bowlero Spring Hill Open Full Results

PBA Thousand Oaks Southwest Open

 

Dallas started with the lead in San Antonio at the Thousand Oaks Southwest Open — Dallas Leong, that is. He eventually wound up with the two-seed, Deo Benard took the top seed, while Eric Jones and Garrett Andrus squared off in the first match as the three and four seeds. Andrus won the first match 236-215 and followed that up with another 236 to top Leong’s 226 in the second match. Andrus was one win away from winning his first regional title, but Benard spoiled the day by grabbing his fourth title with a 224-203 victory.

PBA Thousand Oaks Southwest Open Final Standings

  1. Deo Benard, 2,500 points, $2,800
  2. Garrett Andrus, 1,500, $1,900
  3. Dallas Leong, 1,150, $1,500
  4. Eric Jones, 950, $1,175

PBA Thousand Oaks Southwest Open Full Results

PBA Pleasant Day Schools/Suburban Lanes Central Open

The Salvino pattern was amiable to the bowlers in West Virginia, as it took a 214 average to make the single-elimination bracket. Graham Fach qualified first and won his first two matches to advance to the finals. He faced off against Zac Tackett, who had just knocked off the Aussie Sam Cooley in the semifinals. Excitement filled the final match: after the pair tied at 257, Tackett took home the title via roll-off. That makes title No. 4 for Tackett, who also took home $2,700.

PBA Pleasant Day Schools/Suburban Lanes Central Open Final Standings

  1. Zac Tackett, 2,500 points, $2,700
  2. Graham Fach, 1,500, $1,400
  3. Sam Cooley, 1,150, $1,150
  4. Nolan White, 950, $1,150

PBA Pleasant Day Schools/Suburban Lanes Central Open Full Results

PBA50 Ruth Froberg Memorial/Brunswick Central/Midwest Open

 

Brad Angelo woke up ready to hurt some pins in St. Joseph at the tune-up for the PBA50 World Series of Bowling. A +390 set was good for the one-seed by almost 100 pins. Robert Manning meanwhile snuck into the 16th seed by striking out in the 10th frame as nine guys sat within 25 pins of him after eight games. Fast-forward to the semis and the top four seeds were eliminated to leave Larry Verble, Walter Ray Williams Jr, Rick Galpal, and Steven Badovinac. There, Verble defeated Williams Jr., and Badovinac took down Galpal. Searching for his first title, Badovinac got it done 245-231 to earn a banner and $3,000.

PBA50 Ruth Froberg Memorial/Brunswick Central/Midwest Open Final Standings

  1. Steven Badovinac, 2,500 points, $3,000
  2. Larry Verble, 1,500, $1,600
  3. Walter Ray Williams, Jr., 1,150, $1,150
  4. Rick Galpal, 950, $1,150

PBA50 Ruth Froberg Memorial/Brunswick Central/Midwest Open Full Results

PBA Member/Non-Member Doubles Hazel Dell

Just a short drive over the Oregon border in Washington, Vancouver hosted a doubles tournament bringing in 37 teams. The Holman pattern played quite difficult for the pairs, as a 202 average was good enough to make the cut. In a match play setting the next day, Warren Crawford and Lanndyn Carnate absolutely annihilated the field, to the point where they could have sat out the position round game. Finishing in first by over 160 pins, the duo earned $1,800 apiece and a title to their names. 

PBA Member/Non Member Doubles Hazel Dell Final Standings 

  1. Warren Crawford/Lanndyn Carnate, 2,500 points, $3,600
  2. Marcus Winklepleck/Ryan Nikolas 1,500, $2,400
  3. Andy Kinney/Nick Borgaro, 1,150, $2,000
  4. Jacob Dobkins/Shawn Horenberger, 950, $1,800

PBA Member/Non Member Doubles Hazel Dell Full Results

PBA50 Spokane Open presented by Steve Jones - Windermere Valley

 

Back up in the Pacific Northwest, Chuck Harns paced the PBA50 field during seven games of qualifying at the one-day event in Spokane. However, Harns fell to No. 8 seed Blaine Weninger in the first round of the eight-player bracket.

Weninger then took down Spokane native Michael Hanson to meet Michael Kennedy in the finals. Kennedy, who also beat a Spokanite in the semifinals, defeated Weninger 196-180 for his second career PBA50 regional title.

PBA50 Spokane Open presented by Steve Jones- Windermere Valley Final Standings

  1. Michael Kennedy, 2,500 points, $1,800
  2. Blaine Weninger, 1,500 points, $1,200
  3. John Green, $900
  4. Michael Hanson, $900

PBA50 Spokane Open presented by Steve Jones- Windermere Valley Full Results

PBA Mike Eaton Sr. Memorial Central/Midwest Open

 

Despite finishing 29th on the PBA Tour in points this season, Justin Knowles was not selected during last week’s PBA League Draft. It appears he took out his frustration on the pins at Spectrum Entertainment Complex in Wyoming, Mich. last weekend.

Knowles averaged over 244 to lead the eight-game qualifying round. The two-handed lefty maintained his lead through 15 games of round-robin match play, then held off Gerald Marrs in the position round to bring home the title. This marks his third career regional title and first since 2019.

PBA Mike Eaton Sr. Memorial Central/Midwest Open Final Standings

  1. Justin Knowles, 2,500 points, $2,600
  2. Gerald Marrs, 1,500 points, $1,350
  3. Nick Pate, 1,150 points, $1,200
  4. Daniel Farish, $1,100

PBA Mike Eaton Sr. Memorial Central/Midwest Open Full Results

PBA Spokane Open presented by Salas Real Estate

 

While there were no reported bigfoot sightings at either of the regionals in Spokane last weekend, there was a Payden Stumpf breakthrough. The 30-year-old has earned three runner-up finishes over the past three seasons, but got over the hump and secured his first career regional title.

Stumpf qualified in fourth place, averaging over 228 across eight games of qualifying on the 46-foot Petraglia oil pattern; fellow Puyallup native Austin Gratzer led the way. Stumpf slipped to fifth after the next four games, but surged into the lead during the three-game second advancer round.

After nine more games across three advancer rounds, Stumpf settled in the No. 2 seed for the three-player stepladder finals. He defeated Shawn Horenberger and top seed Cameron Weier to claim that elusive title.

PBA Spokane Open presented by Salas Real Estate Final Standings

  1. Payden Stumpf, 2,500 points, $2,500
  2. Cameron Weier, 1,500 points, $1,800
  3. Shawn Horenberger, 1,150, $1,400
  4. Tyler Cruz, 950, $1,100

PBA Spokane Open presented by Salas Real Estate Full Results

PBA Bowlero Manassas Open

 

The next generation of the PBA South Region put on a show last weekend in northern Virginia. Eighteen-year-old Ethan Fiore outscored the 88-player field by 12 pins per game, leading the eight-game qualifying round by almost 100 pins. Fiore maintained his lead through the first advancer round, but slipped into third after the second.

Oklahoma Christian University star CJ Petrin maintained a top-four standing for the duration of the tournament, finishing fourth. Fiore fought back to reach the title match where he faced Julian Michael Salinas, who fired 264 and 279 to jump into the lead during the third advancer round.

Salinas, a multi-time Junior Team USA member and SCAD-Savannah student-athlete, defeated Fiore 193-183 for the win.

PBA Bowlero Manassas Open Final Standings

  1. Julian Michael Salinas, $3,000
  2. Ethan Fiore, 1,500 points, $1,300
  3. Zachary Tackett, 1,150, $1,050
  4. CJ Petrin, $1,050

PBA Bowlero Manassas Open Full Results

View the points leaders in each region here.