By BILL SNIER
AKRON — The event came down to the final frame of the final game in the Akron Open Doubles Sweeper.
The problem was, that final frame took almost 30 minutes to complete.
A lane maintenance issue, a missing spare ball preceded by a late ball change all contributed to the “competitive guessing” by Dean Vargo and Vincent Bellar as the pair captured Friday’s Akron Open satellite event by just seven pins at Station 300.
Vargo and Bellar finished with 1,926 total pinfall as the former led the way with 1,001 (250.25 average) — one of only two bowlers to break 1,000 — and Bellar added 925.
Ty McKinney and Ryan Ashby — two-thirds of the co-trio champions from Thursday’s satellite event — shot a Game 4-high 525 the final game to vault from eighth up to second with 1,919.
The remainder of the top five included Indiana Tech teammates Tuna Boncu and Hayden Tarris (1.912), who were second heading into the final game; defending Akron Open singles champion Zack McSwain and Robert Holmes (1,883); and Jordan Wilson and Devin Hoffer (1,871).
CHAOS AT FINISH
Problems with Lanes 5 and 6 developed as soon as Vargo and Bellar, who led the 92-team event from start to finish, moved to the pair for Game 4.
“The whole game, the 7-pin was dropping on every third rerack,” said Bellar, a 31-year-old Fairview Park two-handed right-hander.
The eight players on the pair had endured the delays throughout the game. But, for some reason, lane maintenance personnel began working to correct the problem as Bellar went up to make his first shot in the 10th frame as the final bowler on Lane 6.
“They must have thought we were finished or something and decided to start working on it,” Bellar said.
Holding a 39-pin lead heading into the final game, the duo had problems with that final pair from the start.
“The biggest thing is we were caught off guard … that pair got tighter. As the day goes on, you expect it to hook more,” said Vargo, a 28-year-old Willowick right-hander and Fairport Harbor Harding High School bowling coach who got a call from Bellar on his birthday to pair up for the first time in a major event. “As bowlers, we are all competitive guessers. Sometimes, you get it wrong and have to adjust.
“We had to adjust and got in a little bit of a hole. But I think we did an OK job of holding it together there.”
Bellar, who had used the Storm Concept all night, had a good look when starting on the pair. But it changed quickly.
“It started reading too early and started losing energy on the back end,” said Bellar, who left a pair of 2-8-10 splits in the sixth and eighth frames on Lane 6 before facing the delays in the 10th.
Bellar decided to switch to his Storm Ion Pro Solid for the opening shot in the 10th after the two splits and following the delay. It came in high, but he left a 3-6-10 spare.
Then came the second problem.
“I went to get my spare ball and it wasn’t there,” Bellar said.
After another delay — and with the ball still not being found — Bellar borrowed Eric Randazzo’s two-handed spare ball and covered the spare. It turned out to be huge.
“What happened on that lane forced me into the ball change. I knew I had to get a mark to win,” Bellar said. “The less I think about it, the better. You’ve been doing this for so many years that you just have to follow what you’ve learned and make the spare like you’ve done 100 times before.
“There was a little bit of chaos there … I’ve never seen anything like that; at least, not in that sequence.”
Bellar, who owns one USBC Open Championships title in all-events team with Higgy’s Aquarium, had just converted to a two-handed delivery 11 months ago.
“I had a lot of conversations with great mentors and coaches and I wanted to bowl on (Professional Bowlers Association) Tour this year. Rev rate and speed are very successful on Tour, so that’s why we converted,” Bellar added.
Vargo, who used his “go-to” Brunswick Alert, said staying calm the first two frames of each game also was a key.
“If you stayed calm and made good shots, you could learn from it,” Vargo said. “There were differences pair to pair and the right lane seemed to be hooking more on each. But one of the nice things about being a low rev player is when they are different, it doesn’t have as much of an effect.”
BIG JUMP IN GAME 4
Ashby and McKinney felt like they were playing with “free” money after joining with Zeke Bayt to share Thursday’s trio title.
“I don’t know what happened (the last game). We kind of looked at each other and said it’s time to go … and we kind of went,” said Ashby, a 31-year-old Painesville right-hander who shot 982 to lead the pair including 268 the final game.
“We were bowling off of free money from last night and we kind of knew that all day. Even if we threw a clunker for a game, we were just going to battle back.”
McKinney, who led the trio field with 1,017 Thursday, added 925 Friday.
“I thought it was honestly the same thing (as Thursday). I got locked in and made some good shots,” said McKinney, a 46-year-old Ashland right-hander. “The last game, once I saw him throwing strikes, I just wanted to keep it close.
“I really never looked at the scores. I was just hoping they would be handing me money at the end.”
Ashby was aware the team was in eighth place going into Game 4.
“I knew we bowled the big one so I knew we had to go up,” Ashby said. “I just didn’t think it would be second place.”
Next, it’s time for the main event — the eighth Akron Open Scratch Singles — which has a pair of six-game qualifying shifts and over 300 bowlers in the field Saturday.
McKinney summed up the feeling of the top finishers from Friday’s doubles. What’s next?
“Just win the bitch,” McKinney said, “that’s the main goal … make the top 64 and whatever happens, happens.”
NOTEBOOK: There were a pair of 300 games shot during the event, with Vargo starting the day with 300 and McSwain shooting the other in Game 3. … Zach Grove turned in the high individual series with 1,050 (262.5 average), with no game under 257. … Vargo and Bellar posted the high team game of 556 in Game 1, with Bellar adding 256 to Fargo’s 300. … Defending champions AJ Rice and Andre Gonzales challenged for the lead during the first two games, but fell back to seventh after shooting 387 and 429 the final two games. … The tourney paid 18 spots, with the final spot being 1,796, with Zach Grove and Shawn Spaulding getting that spot. A scoresheet mistake discovered at the end of qualifying resulted in Spaulding receiving six more pins. The mistake was discovered after the top 18 were paid, so the tournament also paid 19th place Brandon White and Mike King despite the discrepancy. … First place was worth $3,000 to the team, with the final seven spots earning $400 on a $200 entry fee per team. … The third member of the McKinney-Ashby trio team — Zeke Bayt — finished 31st with Michael Mossbarger. Tony Carson and Chris Steele, who were two-thirds of the other trio co-champion team, finished 35th.
AKRON OPEN DOUBLES SWEEPER
(Friday, at Station 300, Akron)
Final standings
(With total pinfalls, earnings)
1, Dean Vargo-Vincent Bellar 1,926 total pinfall, $3,000 earnings; 2, Ty McKinney-Ryan Ashby 1,919, $1,800; 3, Tuna Boncu-Hayden Tarris 1,912, $1,600; 4, Zack McSwain-Robert Holmes 1,883, $1,400; 5, Jorsan Wilson-Devin Hoffer 1,871, $1,200; 6, Graham Fach-Kyle Mayberry 1,857, $1,000; 7, AJ Rice-Andre Gonzales 1,856, $900; 8, Dylan Jablonski-Charlie Zelecbowski 1,836, $600; 9, Ricky Einone-Josh Curtiss 1,829, #$500; 10, Brian Walker-Eric Emerson 1,829, $500; 11, TJ Charles-Eric Randazzo 1,828, $500; 12, Ronald Bradley-LeAndre Thomas 1,827, $500; 13, Earl Simpson-Jeff Streets 1,814, $400; 14, Robert Harvischak-Trent Pektas 1,813, $400; 15, Tony Preston-Brian McMahon 1,806, $400; 16, Conrad Chapple-Phil Drumm 1,801, $400; 17, Dylan Megliorino-Preston Smith 1,800; $400; 18, Zach Grove-Shawn Spaulding 1,796, $400.
