By JILL WINTERS
PBA Communications
COLUMBUS — The 2026 PBA60 World Series of Bowling II began Friday with nearly 130 bowlers competing in the Webb Championship at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace, a new site for the event.
Nearly 130 bowlers started their holiday weekend off competing on the 37-foot Webb oil pattern named after Wayne Webb.
Leading the way is Pennsylvania State USBC Hall of Famer Darryl Bower, who is seeking his second PBA60 title. Bower had games of 222, 279, 237, 226, 225, 224, 215 and 199 for a total pinfall of 1,827 on the 37-foot Webb oil pattern, named for PBA Hall of Famer Wayne Webb.
He had a stretch of 73 straight clean frames.
“At the start, I was able to go up the 6 and 7 board playing fairly direct. I had a really good second game,” Bower said. “As the lanes started transitioning, I gradually kept moving a little bit left. The last game I changed ends, and the backend seemed to play a little tighter, so I was grinding away. ”
Bower finished in 26th place at last year’s Webb Championship. He enjoys this tournament format with the potential to bowl on different patterns, if you are fortunate enough to qualify for all three events.
“Usually, I like the 42- to 44-foot oil patterns. So today it was exceptional for me to bowl as well on the 37-foot pattern,” Bower said. “I enjoy the variety of bowling on different patterns.”
Jack Jurek, who won the inaugural PBA60 World Championship, climbed into second place with 1,794. Former Canton resident Tony Johnson is third at 1,784.
The remainder of the top five include Johnnie Payne, who rolled two 279 games to get to 1,768 in fourth place, and George Szczublewski is in fifth place at 1,762.
The field was cut to the top 16 for Saturday’s first round of best-of-five match play, which begins at 11 a.m. The winners will then begin best-of-five Round of 8 match play at 3 p.m.
The four remaining winners and the highest-seeded losing bowler from the Round of 8 will advance to the stepladder finals, beginning at 6 p.m.
The final player to make the cut was Keith Dommer at 1,720 after throwing a 257 his final game to advance. He finished just four pins ahead of Larry Verble and eight ahead of Andrew Neuer. Verble had just 192 his final game while Neuer had 235.
The World Series of Bowling II continues on Sunday with the PBA60 Roth Championship. The field will bowl eight games of qualifying on the 43-foot Roth oil pattern starting at 1 p.m. The top 16 will qualify for match play on Monday.
After 16 games of qualifying at the Webb and Roth Championships, the top 18 overall combined pinfall will advance to the PBA60 World Championship match play on Tuesday and Wednesday. Three titles will be awarded during the WSOB II, which will air only on BowlTV.
PBA60 Webb Championship Match Play Advancers:
- Darryl Bower, 1,827 (+227)
- Jack Jurek, 1,794 (+194)
- Tony Johnson, 1,784 (+184)
- Johnnie Payne, 1,768 (+168)
- George Szczublewski, 1,762 (+162)
- Amleto Monacelli, 1,742 (+142)
- Tom Adcock, 1,742 (+142)
- Neil Kassel, 1,731 (+131)
- Bill Rowe, 1,730 (+130)
- Rob Rice, 1,725 (+125)
- Ken Gibson, 1,725 (+125)
- Mark Willians, 1,722 (+122)
- John Burkett, 1,722 (+122)
- Kevin Grahn, 1,721 (+121)
- Chris Warren, 1,721 (+121)
- Keith Dommer, 1,720 (+120)
See complete standings here: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=69a8d46381e5081f75420fbf