By BILL SNIER
CANTON — The “short” side — lanes 23 through 36 — at Eastbury Bowling Center has never been a favorite for Zachary Abbott.
It extended to his first adult appearance Sunday in the 34th annual John Klonowski Memorial Scratch Singles tournament, when he started his tournament qualifying run with 195 — sitting in a tie for 74th in the 83-player field — on Lanes 35 and 36.
“I just couldn’t et the ball going through the pins the right way,” the 18-year-old Lake High School graduate said. “I missed the pocket one time for a clean 190 with six nine counts. I went through a couple of balls, but I really wasn’t in the right one.
“I needed something that rolled earlier and blended the lane more. But when you have only three shots on each lane to start, you have to decide quickly.”
Deciding to go to his Brunswick Alert for most of the rest of the day, the Capital University freshman two-handed right-hander found his comfort zone, finishing 15th during qualifying and then surging to the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals with the help of a 300 game during the Round of 10 match play.
Abbott then completed the journey — something that has been problematic so far in 2026 — with a 211-184 win over tourney veteran Adam Barta to claim his first Stark County adult title.
“It was great. I’ve had a lot of second-place finishes recently,” said Abbott, who also took seconds in the Youngstown Masters and the Hangover Classic. “I’ve been bowling well recently, but I just haven’t been able to finish one out.
“I really don’t think I finished this out, but I will take it, especially after starting with 190 and fighting my way back. I’m just glad the finals were on this side.”
STEPLADDER RUN
The opening stepladder match was between 22-year-old Louisville two-handed righty Chase Barstow, who finished second to champion Josh Haddad in 2024, and newcomer Ian Allan, a 34-year-old Canton right-hander, who was making his third overall Klonowski appearance and was bowling in his first stepladder finals.
Both bowlers had four-strike runs during the match on Lanes 11 and 12, but Allan failed to convert a 10-pin spare in the second frame when Barstow also left a 4-9 split.
After Barstow had a strike on his first ball in the 10th, he left a 10-pin on his second ball and converted. It gave Allan a chance to advance with a spare up in the ninth. But after converting a 4-pin spare to open the 10th, he left a 10-pin on his final ball to fall 215-214.
Barstow then took on 25-year-old Alliance right-hander Rich Elliott III in the quarterfinals, starting with three strikes while the latter had just five strikes in the match — three coming in the 10th frame. Barstow stayed clean while Elliott had a 2-10 split in the fourth as the former gained a 213-199 win. At one point, Elliott had four straight nine counts following his split.
But in the semifinals, Barstow ran in a buzzsaw with Barta.
The 46-year-old Girard right-hander, who is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records for a couple of milestones, had cashed in his previous three Klonowski appearances the last three years, but had not reached the stepladder finals.
“Ever since the NFL added another week to its schedule and moved the Super Bowl, I’ve been able to come back,” said Barta, whose last Stark County win came during the Furbay Electric Open at AMF Hall of Fane Lanes. “I have another event I’m committed to on Super Bowl Sunday.”
The high game on the pair was 215 before Barta stepped on it. He started with the front six strikes before leaving a 10-pin and then another double. Barstow left a 6-7-10 split in the fourth and a 4-7-10 split in the eighth as Barta rolled to a 255-197 win to set up the title match.
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Barta could see potential problems with the title pair late in his opening match.
“My first game, the left lane was hooking a lot more so I was throwing two different balls. I knew that Zac is a very high rev rate bowler, and I could see the transition on the right lane,” Barta said. “It got kind of funky.
“My angles were just too steep and the balls were slowing down in the pocket, which brought my carry down. I also had some unfortunate breaks.”
There was only two doubles thrown during the match, both by Abbott. He had one early in the third and fourth frames; the other didn’t come until the 10th.
Meanwhile, Barta had just three strikes through eight frames, with five nine-counts.
“My ball was crawling at the finish line when it hit the head pin,” Barta said. “Zac had a super high rev rate, a great attitude and good ball speed. His future is definitely bright.”
Abbott had to convert a pair of difficult spares — a 3-6-9-10 and a 2-4-5-8 to remain clean going into the 10th frame.
Disaster struck Barta in the ninth when he left a 4-6-7 split following a rerack on Lane 12 and readjusting the tape in his thumb hole.
“The tape was getting real tacky and I had to put it back in again,” Barta said. “But that is no excuse for that. It was just a bad shot.
“That pair just broke down so weird. But what are you going to do? It’s on to the next one.”
Abbott said adjusting to the two sides was something he had to figure out.
“This side hooks a little more so I had to speed things up a bit,” said Abbott,, who earned $1,600 for the win and a free entry into next year’s event.
It came despite Abbott being involved in a car accident last week. He wasn’t hurt, but there was a lot of damage to the front end of his vehicle.
But it doesn’t overshadow what this win meant.
“It’s just been great so far this year. Being able to come back here and bowl these tournaments,” Abbott said. “I haven’t bowled real well in college yet. But bowling on those college (oil) conditions are a lot different. It makes these adult tournament where I can read the lanes so much better.
“College overall is making me a lot better. It’s great to come back here and bowl well. I’ve never been really great here.”
For that one day, Abbott admittedly wasn’t “great.” But “good enough” still meant a title.
NOTEBOOK: The event drew 83 players out of a possible full field of 90. …. Canton left-hander Alex McCourry was the qualifying leader with 1,287 (257.4 average), finishing 22 pins ahead of Keith Zeigler. … There was some controversy with the cut number at 1,169 (233.8 average). Originally four players — 2023 champion Michael Thewes, Andrew Smith, Jason Gribble and Brett McCourry — were announced as tying for the final spot, forcing a four-man, two-frame rolloff. When that rolloff was completed, Smith emerged as the winner with 60, followed by McCourry (49) and Gribble and Thewes (47 each). But a scoring error was discovered following that rolloff, showing McCourry and Gribble should not have been involved as each finished at 1,166. Officials ruled to hold a second rolloff between Smith and Thewes, with the latter winning 59-50 to advance to match play. Smith earned the final cash spot, good for $140. … A second three-way tie for seeding among the top 20 was decided by the high games for each. … In addition to Abbott’s 300 during match play, Matt Frock (Game 1) and Randy Bugara (Game 2) also had 300 games. Kevin Schott also shot 298. … Allan was the top qualifier to reach the stepladder, sitting eighth after the opening five games. The posiitons of the other finalists were Barta (10th), Elliott (12th), Abbott (15th) and Barstow (18th). … Bowlers rolled five qualifying games before the top 20 bowled two-game match play by seed to determine the final 10. Those 10 players bowled another round of two-game match play to determine the stepladder finalists. Pinfall during match play determined cash positions. … Defending champion Ryan Liederbach fell to Barstow in the Round of 20 and finished 16th. … Next year’s event is scheduled for Feb. 7, 2027. … Joe Klonowski again was on hand to present checks to the winners of the tourney named in his father’s honor. … Our thanks to Gary Rebillot, Deana Gouge and Heather Edwards for their assistance with our coverage.
34TH ANNUAL JOHN KLONOWSKI MEMORIAL SINGLES
(Sunday, at Eastbury Bowling Center, Canton)
Stepladder finals
Match 1: Chase Barstow d. Ian Allan 215-214; Allan wins $360
Match 2: Barstow d. Rich Elliott III 213-199; Elliott wins $400
Match 3: Adam Barta d. Barstow 255-197; Barstow wins $500
Championship: Zachary Abbott d. Barta 211-184; Abbott wins $1,600 and free entry into 2027 event; Barta wins $800.
Round of 10
(With two-round total pinfall totals)
6, Chuckie Gardener 943, $330; 7, Joe Bailey 925, $300; 8, Alex McCourry 924, $280; 9, TJ Charles 867, $260; 10, Troy Wilt 825, $240
Round of 20
(With opening match play pinfall totals)
11, Michael Thewes 489, $220; 12, Jeremy Thompson 455, $210; 13, Scott Vandegrift 432, $200; 14, Ryan Suter 415, $190; 15, Kevin Schott 412, $180; 16, Ryan Liederbach 411, $170; 17, Ryan Trowbridge 408, $160; 18, Keith Zeigler 397, $155; 19, Joe Stauffer 390, $150; 20, Chance Mattern 385, $145.
Other cashers
(With five-game pinfall totals)
21, Andrew Smith 1,169, $140 (lost in two-frame rolloff for final spot)
