By JILL WINTERS
PBA Communications
JACKSON, Mich. —Mika Koivuniemi came into the 2025 PBA50 Tour season determined to win.
After finishing last season with eight consecutive stepladder finals appearances, the PBA Hall of Famer from Finland was wondering what he needed to do to come out on top.
He has put in countless hours of extra time on the lanes working on his game. On Tuesday, he was able to deliver, winning his first title since 2018 at the 2025 PBA50 Petraglia Championship.
“It has been too long. It finally happened. I made it happen,” Koivuniemi said. “It was relief for sure. You always want to put the match away when it is your turn. It makes it feel even better. It was my day for sure.”
In the championship match, Koivuniemi faced No. 1 seed Bo Goergen. Both players were seeking their second career PBA50 titles. As the higher seed, Goergen chose to make his opponent finish on the tougher left lane, where he had only struck twice in his semifinal match.
Goergen got the match started by picking up a 10-pin as Koivuniemi began with a strike and a single-pin spare. Goergen responded with a strike and spare before he rolled a double. Koivuniemi again went strike then spare before putting together a string of four strikes in a row through the eighth frame. Goergen picked up a 7-pin in the sixth followed by three straight strikes.
Koivuniemi added his fifth straight strike in the ninth followed by a sixth strike and sealed the deal with his seventh straight strike. He walked out the shot and delivered a loud “yes” with a fist pump in the air. He got eight on his last shot for 258. Goergen ended his game with 224 as the players shared a hug.
“Bo is a really good bowler. You don’t want to give him a chance,” Koivuniemi said. “I tried to make the best shots as possible, and I threw two really good ones there. It seems like every show this year that is the lane nobody wants to finish on, and I know why. Bo did what he should do, make me finish on the tougher lane.”
Koivuniemi felt like the left lane had earlier hook, yet it also was tighter down lane, which is what made that lane such a challenge to bowl on.
Yet, he was able to deliver in the end.
Koivuniemi knows with so many great bowlers on this tour, he had to put in the work to fix parts of his physical game he was unhappy with. He did just that spending a lot of time at Turbo 2-N-1 Grip’s headquarters near his home in Michigan. Founder and longtime sponsor Dave Bernhardt Sr. helped him out.
“Dave gave me the keys for that place 29 hours ago, so I could go anytime I wanted to practice. He has watched me bowl for 30 years, so he knows when I throw it good,” Koivuniemi said. “He saw things and that helped me for sure. I was hitting up on the ball too much this year and I need to focus on rolling the ball more.”
He said it was a great feeling to celebrate with his wife and daughters while talking on the phone after his win.
In the opening match, No. 5 seed and new PWBA Hall of Famer Liz Johnson started the match with three straight spares, while No. 4 seed Brian LeClair went double, open and spare.
Johnson made a ball change on the right lane and struck then failed to convert the 4-7-10 split. LeClair responded with three strikes, and he picked up the 3-6-10 as Johnson came back with two single pin spares. LeClair chose to finish the match first. He struck in the ninth then split in the 10th for 199. Johnson rolled the last five strikes for 215 and the win.
The second game was a rematch from the Round of 8 in match play when Tom Daugherty defeated Johnson.
Johnson opened with a solid 9-pin followed by a double. Daugherty, who was making his second straight stepladder finals appearance, began with two spares followed by a double.
Johnson responded with spare, strike and another single-pin spare before three straight strikes through the ninth frame. After a spare in the fifth for Daugherty, he had a Greek church on the left lane, which he chose to finish on. He rebounded with a spare, double and then nine spare, along with nine in the final frame for 197. Johnson picked up a 9- pin and got eight on her final shot for 225 to advance.
Johnson then faced Koivuniemi in the semifinal match. They were on the same pair in qualifying Monday.
Both started with a strike and two spares. Johnson left the 4-6-7-10 on the left lane in the fourth frame as Koivuniemi put together three straight strikes holding the lead. Johnson came back with a spare and strike followed by another spare and strike. She finished first with a strike in the ninth and first shot in the 10th followed by a spare for 202. Koivuniemi remained clean with a spare and strike then another spare before striking out in the 10th for 227.
“She is so good at what she can do. She is one of the best shot makers ever and that did pay off,” he said, of Johnson.
Next up is qualifying for the Holman Championship. The A-squad will begin with the final eight games of qualifying at 9 a.m. Wednesday followed by the B-squad at 4 p.m. The top 16 will then advance to bracket match play best-of-five matches Thursday.
“I know if I bowl at the level I have been bowling the last four days, I should make both cuts and that is all I can do,” said Koivuniemi, who currently is 19th for the World Championship.
Akron’s Don Hogue finished 13th overall in Petraglia Championship.
All qualifying pins from the Ballard, Monacelli, Petraglia and Holman Championships carry over to determine the top 18 bowlers who will compete in the PBA50 World Championship match play, scheduled to begin Friday. The top five are John Janawicz, Mark Clark, Brian LeClair, Tom Daugherty and Chris Barnes.
There are two PBA50 titles still available in the WSOB III. Live coverage continues during the week atBowlTV.
PBA50 Petraglia Championship Final Standings:
- Mika Koivuniemi $5,000
- Bo Goergen $2,500
- Liz Johnson $2,000
- Tom Daugherty $1,750
- Brian LeClair $1,500
MATCH SCORES:
Match 1: Johnson def. LeClair 215-199
Match 2: Johnson def. Daugherty 226-197
Match 3: Koivuniemi def. Johnson 227-203
Championship match: Koivuniemi def. Goergen 258-224
Final standings – PBA50 Petraglia Championship
PBA50 World Championship standings (through 24 games of qualifying):
- John Janawicz, 5,513 (+713)
- Mark Clark, 5,480 (+680)
- Brian LeClair, 5,466 (+666)
- Tom Daugherty, 5,444 (+644)
- Chris Barnes, 5,414 (+614)
- Larry Verble, 5,387 (+587)
- Ron Hurt, 5,386 (+586)
- Clint Dacy, 5,319 (+519)
- Tom Adcock, 5,311 (+511)
- Rolando Sebelén, 5,300 (+500)
- Frank Guccione, 5,258 (+458)
- Randy Weiss, 5,253 (+453)
- Dino Castillo, 5,253 (+453)
- Brad Angelo, 5,246 (+446)
- James Krafft, 5,241 (+441)
- Tony Oliva, 5,235 (+435)
- Mario Quintero, 5,224 (+424)
- Pete Weber, 5,207 (+407)