April 13, 2025 Nolan Hughes

In a battle between a 20-year-old and a 22-year-old, the younger of the two emerged with the major championship title.

Ethan Fiore defeated Ryan Barnes, 232-179, to win the PBA Players Championship, the fourth major of the 2025 season.

Fiore, the top seed, earned his first career PBA Tour title and the $100,000 top prize at David Small's JAX 60 in Jackson, Mich.

“When you put it in words, it just doesn't sound real,” Fiore said. “But we're here and I’m happy I got the win.”

With the win, Fiore becomes eligible for next week’s PBA Tournament of Champions powered by 1800 Tequila and the PBA Elite League. Motiv manager Brett Spangler said Fiore will be added to the team and will likely be started in next week’s regular season finale.

“It feels pretty good to be surrounded by the actual best in the world, knowing that they're all champions,” Fiore said. “Granted, they’ve got stacks of things on their résumé compared to mine, but it's cool to be a champion with them.”

Fiore said he achieved his goals for the season after qualifying for the PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic finals last month in Reno. After winning a major championship this week, he said those goals are evaporated.

“They're not even in existence anymore,” Fiore said after winning his first title. “I'm just going to go out there with one more week left of the swing and hope we bowl good. Otherwise, I am content and happy with what I've done so far.”

Kevin McCune, who qualified ninth after 48 games of qualifying and match play, advanced to the championship round of the two-part stepladder finals by winning Saturday’s preliminary round.

Though McCune shot three games north of 240 on Saturday, he mustered just 185 in his loss to Tim Foy Jr., his PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship partner.

Foy also won the second match of the afternoon over Alec Keplinger, a native of nearby Coldwater, Mich., by a 247-215 margin.

Foy, making his sixth championship round of the season, sought to win his first career title as well. That hope came to an end in the semifinal match, which he lost to Ryan Barnes 264-235.

Barnes fired 11 of 12 strikes in his decisive semifinal PBA Players Championship victory, the same match he lost a year ago as an amateur.

Making his third finals appearance of his rookie season this year, Barnes rose to the No. 2 seed by playing farther right than most competitors on the 37-foot Don Carter oil pattern.

Fiore opted for a different strategy, playing much farther left, that he never wavered on.

“That was the plan, we just had to put our finger on exactly what to focus on,” Fiore said. “About three frames in, we figured it out. We just attacked it head on and hoped that Ryan would get a bad enough break to kind of ease the pressure a little bit, or that I would just throw good enough shots to where I didn't miss. We kind of got a mix of both.

“The kid bowled great all week,” Fiore said of Barnes. “He's getting there. He's close. I thought he was going to win before I was. He's going to be scary.”

“I’m learning what my misses are and what my physical keys are during those moments,” Barnes said. “The same thing has been popping up relatively consistently. So get to work on that, and hopefully we'll overcome that next time. I get a little forward, my shoulder comes around it and I miss left.”

The regular season concludes in next week’s PBA Tournament of Champions powered by 1800 Tequila.

This will be the final event in which players can earn points, which means the PBA Playoffs and PBA Tour Finals fields will be set, and the PBA Elite League standings will be finalized.

Championship Round Matches

Match One: No. 4 Tim Foy Jr. def. No. 9 Kevin McCune, 235-185
Match Two: No. 4 Tim Foy Jr. vs. No. 3 Alec Keplinger, 247-215
Match Three: No. 2 Ryan Barnes def. No. 4 Tim Foy Jr., 264-235
Championship: No. 1 Ethan Fiore def. No. 2 Ryan Barnes, 232-179

Final Standings

  1. Ethan Fiore, $100,000
  2. Ryan Barnes, $50,000
  3. Tim Foy Jr., $30,000
  4. Alec Keplinger, $20,000
  5. Kevin McCune, $15,000

More information on the PBA Players Championship is available here.