AKRON — Viktor Varner had a long drive back from Louisville, Ky., and changed in the parking lot minutes before the event started.
Dean Vargo spent the day coaching his Willoughby South High School boys bowling team during the Division I Northeast District at Stonehedge Family Fun Center and used his 45 minutes prior to the event to take a nap in his car.
Somehow, Varner and Vargo — who teamed up for the first time in a doubles tournament and were the last entries — put it all together to win the Sunday Sweeper doubles event at Spins Bowl Akron.
Vargo and Varner, who earned the top seed for the four-team stepladder finals by 72 pins, both rolled 268 in the title match to stop No. 2 seed Jason Johnson and Mike Clark Jr. 536-470.
Varner, who bowled in the Bradley tournament in Louisville with Ryan Liederbach, cashed in two side tournaments, including surprisingly making the doubles match-play round Sunday to force the later return home after they were eliminated in their second match.
“Noel (Liederbach, Ryan’s father) called to ask if I wanted to bowl the sweeper,” Varner said. “He said he wound find me a partner and, 10 minutes later, he called back and got Dean.”
Vargo was at a team dinner after his team finished 18th in the 20-team field.
“I was just exhausted. But Noel called about bowling with Vic and I said all right,” Vargo said. “It ended up working out OK.”
Vargo, a 24-year-old Willowick right-hander, led the pair during qualifying with a tourney-high 1,025, including shooting 290 in Game 2, while Varner, a 43-year-old Akron left-hander, finished with 996 for their 2,021 total.
“It was one of those days when all the planets aligned. We were feeding off each other, just helping each other in the right space like you’re supposed to in doubles,” Varner said.
Vargo, who used a Storm Revenant throughout qualifying, turned to a Brunswick Melee Jab Carbon for the title match.
“The pairs we bowled on were really similar. We really never caught a pair that was much different from the others,” Vargo said. “We never had to make any drastic moves.”
Vargo started with the first eight strikes in the title match before leaving a solid 9-pin. He left a 7-pin on his first ball in the 10th frame.
Varner started with the first three strikes, left a 6-pin and a solid 8-pin back-to-back, and then struck out. He used a Hammer Envy Tour all night.
“It gave me the best look I had,” Varner said.
“I had to be a little deeper on this pair, so I needed something that would go a little earlier and give me a little more,” Vargo said.
If someone would have given Johnson and Clark a 470 in the title match before they bowled, they wouldn’t have turned it down.
“We didn’t have an open with two clean games. Unfortunately, there’s no defense in bowling,” said Clark, a 50-year-old North Olmsted right-hander. “They threw the ball well unfortunately for us.
“It was a typical Bill White sweeper, You have to bring your A game and throw a lot of strikes. If you don’t, you’re going home early. The scores were through the roof as usual.”
Clark, who shot 1,008 during qualifying, shot 290 in the semifinal match against Canal Fulton right-hander Matt Frock and Akron’s Jeff Alford, to lead his team to a 516-434 win.
“We never really got in trouble all night,” said Johnson, a 39-year-old Macedonia right-hander who was runner-up in the John Klonowski Memorial at Eastbury. “We try to keep an open mind. Neither of us is bowling leagues right now, so we’re just trying to practice as much as we can and bowl a couple of tournaments here and there.”
Clark and Johnson bowl the USBC Open Championships as doubles partners.
“We throw the ball close to the same part of the lane so it’s easy to get a good read off each other,” Johnson said.
“We know each other’s games pretty well so if one is struggling, the other can make suggestions on ball changes,” Clark said. “We talk to each other so it’s been easy for us.”
While Varner and Vargo were stringing strikes during the title match, Clark started with two spares. Johnson had the first three strikes but then left a 9-pin spare before running off three more.
Clark was unable to put a big string together until getting the final four strikes in a row as he finished with 235 to Johnson’s 234.
“The right lane started to hook a little more and there was more of a transition,” Clark said of the title match.
“We knew the one lane had kind of hang spot, and we put it in the back of our minds,” Johnson said. “But it really didn’t matter much in that game.”
In the opening stepladder match, Frock and Alford defeated Massillon right-hander Frank Testa and Plain Township two-handed righty Jordan Norris 458-441 Splits by Testa and Norris in the ninth and sixth frames, respectively, dashed their hopes.
But no one was going to stop Varner and Vargo — except maybe exhaustion.
NOTEBOOK: The event drew 25 doubles teams and featured a four-game qualifier, paying six spots. Vargo and Varner split $800 for the win. … Testa and Norris, who were surprised to make the stepladder after a 403 their final game, reached the finals with 1,846, just three pins ahead of Tyler Meredith and Rob Sample. Low to cash was 1,833. … Vargo had the high individual series and tied Clark for high game with 290.
SUNDAY DOUBLES SWEEPER
(Sunday, at Spins Bowl Akron)
Championship round
Match 1: Matt Frock (221)-Jeff Alford (237) d. Frank Testa (234)-Jordan Norris (207) 458-441. Testa-Norris win $200.
Match 2: Mike Clark Jr. (290)-Jason Johnson (226) d. Frock (188)-Alford (246) 516-434. Frock-Alford win $260.
Championship: Dean Vargo (268)-Viktor Varner (268) d. Clark (235)-Johnson (234) 536-470. Vargo-Varner win $800; Clark-Johnson win $500.
Other cashers
(With four-game pinfalls)
5, Tyler Meredithj-Rob Sample 1,843, $180; 6, Quinton Kocher-Ty McKinney 1,833, $160.
