By BILL SNIER
CUYAHOGA FALLS — Dino Castillo has important responsibilities as a Brunswick ball representative on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour.
Actually throwing a ball is secondary. In fact, he had practiced only once in Reno, Nev., during the PBA World Series of Bowling.
“As of January, I hadn’t bowled at all,” the 54-year-old Highland Village, Texas,, right-hander and 2022 PBA50 Rookie of the Year, said. “I called Eric (Jones) right before the (PBA) Players (Championship) and said I needed to get some games in.
“So we bowled together in a Michigan area tournament and we did all right and made the top eight. Kind of did our thing.”
Although Castillo had considered bowling in this weekend’s PBA-PBA50 Doubles Clutch Lanes Central Open, he later came to realize there were two stepladder finals this weekend for the Players.
“Eric said he was going to bowl if he could find a good partner. Well, I didn’t want him to bowl with just anyone he could find,” Castillo said of Jones, a 20-year-old two-handed Edmond, Okla., lefty who met Castillo through the latter’s youth program. “So the last night of match play, (ball rep) Mike Wolfe said to me, ‘Aren’t you bowling this weekend?’
“I told him the situation and he told me, ‘We got this … go bowl.’ So I drilled up a couple of balls and here we are.”
It turned out to be a good decision.
Castillo and Jones finished Saturday’s second qualifying session with 3,667 total pinfall to top a 45-team field heading into Sunday’s match play rounds of the event at Clutch Lanes and Sports Center.
Castillo and Jones, averaging 229.19 as a pair, finished 81 pins ahead of first-shift leaders Dave Wodka and Dom Barrett (3,586). Others in the top four, both off of the first shift, are Randy Weiss and Sean Lavery Spahr (3,504) and two-time champions Michael Haggitt and Graham Fach (3,500).
Those four teams will receive a first-round bye during the opening round of Sunday match play, which consists of best-of-seven two-man Baker System matches. Haggitt and Fach earned the fourth spot by just 28 pins over Tom Adcock and Jake Peters (3,472).
The cut to the top 12 was at 3,368, with Jack Jurek and Kevin Bienko earning the final spot by just 12 pins over John Verbich and Bailey Mavrick (3,356).
TAKING THE LEAD
Jones went on a big run during the 2024 PBA Tournament of Champions at AMF Riviera Lanes in Fairlawn after qualifying for his first televised stepladder finals during last year’s World Series of Bowling. He topped the pre-tournament qualifier at AMF Riviera to earn a spot in the field.
Saturday, during his first appearance in this event, Jones was the high individual on the shift and second-high overall after averaging 233.13 over his eight games, including a tourney-high 289 in Game 1.
“This was more in my wheelhouse where I like to have fun .. just throw it over the pattern and kind of get in the middle and create some hold,” said Jones, who won four regional titles before starting the 2025 PBA Tour season. “I wanted to make sure my ball was missing any sort of front action that was there to hold up the integrity of the pattern. I was keeping a keen eye on everything.”
Castillo, who averaged 225.25 and finished seventh overall individually, had a simple plan.
“I just needed to execute and repeat shots and I knew we would be fine,” Castillo said. “I was confident in Eric to hold me up.”
The pair led the shift from the opening game, combining for 556 in Game 1.
“I really couldn’t build the lane because I crossed with three lefties,” Castillo said.
Jones will need to go through Monday’s PTQ again to get into the TOC field.
“This season has been terrible .. I just haven’t seen the right picture on the lanes all season,” Jones said. “It’s been really disappointing. I have to perform in the PTQ big time.”
Will the first-round bye help at all?
“Not really. We just have to see who we’re bowing and do our thing,” Castillo said.
OTHER BYES
Wodka and Barrett finished eight-nine individually to take the second position.
“I really haven’t done a ton of bowling the last two years … just on weekends and one league night,” Wodka said. “I don’t go practice. It’s been years since I’ve done that.”
As for the bye, all it means to the pair is “an extra hour of sleep … it doesn’t matter much,” Barrett said.
See more on their first-shift run here:
Fach led the overall individuals by averaging 243.38 — 82 pins ahead of Jones. Haggitt knows what his strategy is going into Sunday’s match play.
“Get a big old bag of apples for my horse to keep him going,” Haggitt said.
Fach also has a simple game plan.
“Strike in bunches,” Fach said.
Castillo still was watching out for his players in Michigan.
“I’m texting them and forth,” he said about Saturday’s stepladder, which was still going on when the second shift ended.
Today’s show begins at noon — and he again will be in contact despite his own run toward a regional title.
NOTEBOOK: Match play begins at 8 a.m. for seeds five through 12. The winners will then mix in with the top four for the second round of seven-game Baker match play. The semifinal and finals matches will be best-of-five Baker matches to determine the champion. … Tom Daugherty and Tom Hess, who won this event in 2023, had to compete separately since both are now seniors. Daugherty bowled with Shaun Maldonado and they made the cut as the No. 8 seed (3,434). Hess missed the cut in 22nd place with Brad Miller as his partner. … Mentor’s Bob Bures teamed with Willowick’s Dean Vargo to make the cut, finishing 10th on the second shift with 3,404. Vargo, who cashed during the Players Championship, finished sixth individually with a 225.50 average. … The PBA Hardwick 44 oil pattern was used for the event.