By BILL SNIER
CANTON — It came down to trust and confidence for Dean Vargo.
After claiming the 2024 Furbay Electric Supply Open title, the 26-year-old Wilowick right-hander came to AMF Hall of Fame Lanes on Sunday with a similar game plan.
“I figured it I could stay far enough right and give myself good head oil to get it to the spot, I would be all right,” Vargo said. “I trusted that it would come off the gutter. As long as it did, I liked my shot.”
Vargo was able to stick with his plan for all but two of his 10 games, staying clean through six of them, en route to claiming his second straight title during the 23rd annual event.
Vargo, the No. 1 seed heading into the stepladder finals, struck on six of his first seven shots in the title match to stop Adam Barta 223-211 for the win.
“It really feels good,” Vargo said about his back-to-back wins in the event. “You can’t ask much more than six of 10 clean games.
“It would have been seven, but that last frame I just wanted to make sure I got the head pin (he left a 4-6 split on that final ball).”
Vargo was the No. 6 seed following the five-game opening qualifying round, averaging 210 with a high game of 257 in Game 4, using a combination of the Brunswick Mesmerize and Hammer Purple — the latter being the same ball he used en route to his 2024 win.
“I used the Purple earlier in the day, but it just wasn’t going through the pins the way I wanted to,” Vargo said. “So I made the change and it looked good.”
His one adjustment came in his opening round of two-game match play in the Round of 20 against Dubois, Pa., right-hander Melia Mitskavich, a Jacksonville (Ala.) State University freshman.
“I went to the Hammer Special Effect and made a move,” Vargo said. “But then I went back out the rest of the day. They seemed to be drying out more under the lights so I went with the Purple from there.
“My only concern was watching the ball coming off the gutter and having the confidence to stay out there. I was hoping it would stay that way, and I was lucky it did.”
STEPLADDER RUN
Wadsworth 23-year-old two-handed righty Chris Steele, also the Grizzlies high school boys bowling coach, opened the stepladder finals by stopping 52-year-old North Olmsted right-hander Mike Clark Jr. 243-239 in what would ultimately be the highest scoring match of the title round.
Steele, making his first Furbay appearance, struck on seven of his first eight shots before failing to convert a 2-4-8 spare in the ninth frame. Clark, who converted a 2-7-8 split in the fourth frame, was on a five-strike run into the 10th frame before leaving a 1-2-4-6-10 washout on his second ball in the frame to come up short.
Steele struck out in the 10th following his open frame to advance.
Three-time champion Joe Bailey, a 43-year-old Doylestown right-hander, was up next, but fell behind in the sixth frame following a pocket 7-10 split. But Bailey then ran off three strikes in a row and converted a key 2-4-8 spare in the 10th frame to hold on for a 199-194 win.
Steele, who had a 4-6-7-10 split early, left a 4-9 split in the eighth frame after three strikes in a row. He also failed to convert a 4-pin spare in the fourth frame after Bailey had missed a 10-pin conversion in the third.
Barta, the 2011 Furbay champion, was next up. Bailey started the match with five strikes in a row — but never struck again, leaving a 2-10 split in the ninth frame.
After converting a 2-8 spare in the first frame, Barta ran off six strikes in a row before leaving a 2-4-10 split in the eighth. But he was able to strike out in the 10th frame after a 6-pin conversion for a 245-220 win.
TITLE MATCH
The title match was all Vargo as he left only a 4-7 spare in the third frame during a strike run into the seventh frame.
Barta, a 45-year-old Girard right-hander, left 3-6 and 9-pin spares in two of the first four frames. Then in the fifth, he slipped on the approach while delivering a shot on the left lane, leaving a 1-3-6-8 spare, which he failed to convert.
“When I practiced on the right lane and when I first bowled Joe, I thought that lane was tighter,” Barta said. “Then, when I bowled Dean, I just felt like I was throwing it bad because it was hooking more.
“I didn’t realize until the 10th frame when I actually did move left and threw to it. I just didn’t catch up to it quick enough.”
After a strike in the ninth, Barta was able to double in the 10th frame — his first strikes on the right lane since the second frame. But it was too late.
“Dean was locked in,” Barta said. “If you miss a couple of times against him, it’s going to be good night anyway, so …”
LOSS OF A FRIEND
It was an emotional weekend for Barta, following the death of good friend and teammate Joe Nuzzo on Friday in Youngstown.
“I’m still in shock for sure. Tomorrow is never guaranteed for anyone,” Barta said of Nuzzo, who was a tourney fixture in Northeast Ohio events. “Someone who is in perfect health and you’re having fun with him the night before and then get the call the next morning and he’s gone.
“It was so sad, unfortunate and freakish. He was just a great human being with what he had to offer both on and off the lanes. He was the first one always there to help … a great friend and great teammate.”
BATTLING THE LANES
The tourney employed a modified Furbay sport oil pattern.
“It played very different pair to pair. That’t the thing with a tourney like this … you have to have the mindset that shooting 200 is a great number,” Barta said. “You just have to grind, make your spares and try and match up with a pair or two through the first five games.
“You know you’re going to have a bad pair, and just just have to grind through it. Shooting 180 sometimes is OK … you might just be fishing around and you just have to take a lane out of play.”
An example was in Barta’s Round of 10 match against 2014 winner and top qualifying seed Gary McGanahan. The former needed nine pins to shut out his opponent, but had missed the head pin right on his previous ball.
“I threw it has hard as I could at the head pin,” said Barta, who won 424-398. “It might seem to be the easy way out, but I guaranteed I hit the head pin.”
Vargo also felt the oil volume in the middle of the lanes was heavier, but added the outsides were similar to a year ago.
“There wasn’t a wall in the gutter, but still about the same. But moving in, the back end was not nearly as angular,” Vargo said.
Now Vargo prepares for the PBA Central Region events coming up, beginning with back-to-back events in Fairlawn and Lorain the next two weeks.
“The work is paying off,” Vargo added. “The (PBA) Players went well, the Cleveland Masters went well and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.”
NOTEBOOK: The tourney drew a 122-player field, only the second time it has eclipsed 120 and its highest ever. … McGranahan led qualifying with 1,130 total pinfall, an average of 226, finishing 45 pins ahead of Bailey. … The cut to the top 20 for match play was at 982 (196.4 average), with Tony Confalone earning that spot by just five pins over Martez Walker. … The final cash spot in the 30th position went to Brendan Wrights at 958 (191.6 average). … Only 15 players averaged 200 or better during qualifying, with Chris Logan turning in the high game of 278. … There was a rolloff for the Nos. 12 and 13 seeds, with Reggie Petty and Derrick Simon going two rounds of a one-ball contest and Petty winning 10-9. Both were eliminated in the Round of 20. … During qualifying, lane assignments were staggered in Games 2 through 5 so players did not follow the same groups all day. … Junior bowlers were permitted with tournament director Joe Altimore III saying more SMART funds were paid out in the 2025 event than in past ones. Brooklyn 16-year-old two-handed righty Adam Cowper was the No. 7 seed overall and won his opening match. He then fell in the Round of 10 to Vargo 449-391. His father, left-hander Kevin Cowper, also reached the Round of 10 before falling to Steele 421-383. … Mitskavich, also making her first tourney appearance, was the lone female to cash among 10 in the field. She led qualifying after Game 1 with an opening 255. … In addition to Bailey, Frank Testa was seeking his fourth Furbay title, but fell to Clark 388-372 in the Round of 10. … There were six past champions in the field with Josh Haddad (2017) being the only one not to earn a cash spot, finishing 57th. … The Round of 10 and stepladder finals were live-streamed on Joe Atlimore’s Facebook page. … Sponsors of the event, in addition to Furbay Electric Supply, included Track, WagRich Excavating, 3-D Sanitation, M&L Heating and Cooling, Fishermans Central, Diehl Auto Group, Heighway Awards and Apparel, AMF Hall of Fame Lanes and Apex Roofing.
FURBAY ELECTRIC SUPPLY OPEN
(Sunday, at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes, Canton)
Stepladder finals
Match 1: Chris Steele d. Michael Clark Jr. 243-239; Clark wins $500
Match 2: Joe Bailey d. Steele 199-194; Steele wins $600
Match 3: Adam Barta d. Bailey 245-220; Bailey wins $700
Championship: Dean Vargo d. Barta 223-211; Vargo wins $1,500, Barta wins $900
Round of 20
(Two-game cumulative match play; losers each receive $210; seed listed before names)
1 Gary McGranahan d. 20 Tony Confalone 358-335; 2 Joe Bailey d. 19 Ryan Liederbach 419-332; 18 Adam Barta d. 3 Ryan Suter 483-304; 4 Michael Clark Jr. d. 17 Jeff Sustarsic 421-315; 16 Chris Steele d. 5 DJ Assaff 398-383; 6 Dean Vargo d. 15 Melia Mitskavich 466-384; 7 Adam Cowper d. 14 Cameron Kilgore 391-364; 8 Frank Testa d. 13 Derrick Simon 402-344; 9 Kevin Cowper d. 12 Reggie Petty 433-400; 11 Jack Wells d. 10 Tony Godden 413-408
Round of 10
(Two-game cumulative match play; losers each receive $300)
Barta d. McGranahan 424-398; Clark d. Testa 388-372; Vargo d. Adam Cowper 449-391; Steele d. Kevin Cowper 421-383; Bailey d. Wells 438-400
Other cashers
(With five-game qualifying pinfalls)
21, Martez Walker 977, $190; 22, (tie) Matt White and Austin Gate 976, $175 each; 24, Casey Cohagan 969, $160; 25, Adam Webb 968, $150; 26, Andrew Ritz 967, $140; 27, (tie) Tony Varn and Zachary Abbott 963, $125 each; 29, Eric Bator 959, $110; 30, Brendan Wrights 958, $100