By JILL WINTERS
PBA Communications
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. —Two wins in one tournament.
Chris Barnes has done a lot of winning in his professional career. But on National Bowling Day, he averaged 240 to win three straight matches on the way to winning the Johnny Petraglia BVL PBA50 Tournament of Champions.
To make his Saturday even better, he earned his first PBA50 Player of the Year award.
“Once Troy (Lint) bowled the 10th frame and I knew I had won Player of the Year, it hit all at once that it was probably more important to me than I had wanted to believe. It has been a long time since I had been Player of the Year on the kid’s tour,” Barnes said.
“My retirement on the other tour kind of freed up my mind at the end. I cashed the last four tournaments out there and I came in here feeling like I was pretty close. I kept building on that. A part of that is (wife) Lynda bowling again and getting to bowl with Ryan a lot.”
The wild race for Player of the Year came all the way down to the final games of the year with Tom Hess leading the way in points. Hess would have been Player of the Year if Lint or John Janawicz had won the TOC.
Barnes, Mika Koivuniemi or Tom Daugherty had to win the event to earn the honor.
“JJ (Janawicz) missing six weeks kind of opened things up for a lot of us. He has been so good,” Barnes said. “It was crazy of the three people chasing Tom (Hess) that all of us were in the stepladder and if any of us win, that it came down to that. It came down to one shot with Daugherty and then I am fourth in points this year.
“It feels awfully good to end the season on a win, which I don’t think I have ever done, and Player of the Year is about as good as it gets.”
After a disappointing finish in match play earlier in the day, Barnes dropped from first place to third in the position round. Yet he was able to rebound as he defeated Daugherty, Koivuniemi then Lint to close out his year with two titles.
The title match started out with Lint making a 7-pin followed by five straight strikes. Barnes began the match with a strike, made the 10-pin followed by five strikes of his own. In the seventh frame, the left-hander’s delivery went through the nose leaving a 2-7. He picked up the split then left the 7-10 on the left lane for an open frame.
In the eighth frame, Barnes went high flush. The 4-pin fell first yet the 9-pin remained standing. Barnes made the spare then his next shot went through the nose leaving only the 4-pin. He again made the spare. In the ninth frame, Lint struck before leaving the 1-3-6-7 washout for an open in the 10th for 213. Barnes finished off the victory with a spare and nine count for 236.
The opening match featured No. 4 seed Janawicz against No. 5 seed Daugherty. As the higher seed, Janawicz chose to finish on the right lane. He never struck on the left lane yet struck six out of seven times on the right lane for 208.
However, Daugherty was able to strike five times on the left lane. He started out strike, spare, double, then he converted the 3-6-7-10 split in the fifth frame. Daugherty struck four straight times in the end for 225. Janawicz ended his shortened season (missing six weeks due to a finger injury) with two titles in six events.
In Match No. 2, Daugherty took on Barnes. They were matching each other shot-for-shot through seven frames tied at 149. Barnes struck in the eighth then made an adjustment on the left lane, which resulted in a strike and him slapping his hands together.
“The key was I made a hand position change in the ninth after a couple of flat 10s and that was enough to get the 10-pin out and put some pressure on Tom,” Barnes said.
Working on a strike in the eighth, Daugherty picked up the 2-4 before leaving a 9-pin in the 10th. He made the spare and struck for 208. Barnes admits he didn’t throw it very well on his first shot in the 10th.
He immediately put his hands behind his head out of relief when only the 3-6 remained standing. He made the spare and struck for 217 to “survive and advance,” Barnes said.
Daugherty’s season included a major title this year at the PBA50 World Championship.
In a rematch of the roommates at the Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship, Barnes took on Koivuniemi in the semifinals. After two opening single-pin spares by Koivuniemi and one by Barnes, they both had great looks on the lanes. Koivuniemi had five straight strikes from the third through the seventh before leaving a 10-pin. He made the spare then struck.
Barnes fired off eight in a row through the ninth frame. In the 10th, his ball on the left lane labored its way back to the pocket. The 2-4-8 all fell leaving only the 10-pin. He made the spare and struck for 269. Koivuniemi made a 10-pin and got eight for 236. Koivuniemi ended his year finishing first, second then in third place in the final three tournaments.
Koivuniemi and Barnes always have a jersey bet going. With Koivuniemi’s win over Barnes at the Players Championship and now Barnes topping Koivuniemi at this tournament, Barnes promises they will both be wearing the custom jerseys they will have made for each other to start off the 2027 PBA Senior Tour season.
With the win, Barnes has won the Tournament of Champions on both tours, 20 years apart. Barnes now joins Amleto Monacelli with 10 career PBA50 titles.
Monacelli clinched this year’s PBA60 Player of the Year and Mike Machuga is the Rookie of the Year.
The final cash spot in 32nd place went to Carl Breamen, while Craig Auerbach, Pete McCordic, Chris Warren, Rudy Kasimakis, former Canton resident Tony Johnson, Brian Kretzer and Gary Alstott earned super senior $500 checks. Super duper senior checks for $250 each went Charlie Tapp and Tom Baker.
MATCH SCORES:
Match 1: Daugherty def. Janawicz 225-208
Match 2: Barnes def. Daugherty 217-208
Match 3: Barnes def. Koivuniemi 269-236
Championship match: Barnes def. Lint 236-213
- Chris Barnes, $15,000
- Troy Lint, $8,000
- Mika Koivuniemi, $6,000
- Tom Daugherty, $5,000
- John Janawicz, $4,000
See complete final results here: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=69a8dc0efc8c27dd1b82bdff