By BILL SNIER
LORAIN — Just how difficult were Lanes 29 and 30 for Saturday’s Professional Women’s Bowling Association Greater Cleveland Regional at Rebman Recreation?
“I really don’t know what it was doing … and I’ve been doing this a long time,” said 21-year-old Huntersville, N.C., right-hander Savannah Taillon.
“That was just a grind … not just for me, but for everyone,” said 30-year-old Kenmore, N.Y., right-hander Kara Mangiola — and she won the tournament by climbing the four-woman stepladder.
The No. 3-seeded Mangiola, whose combined score in the semifinals and finals matched exactly what she shot during a quarterfinal win at the Albany (N.Y.) Regional on Sept. 27 (243), stopped top-seeded Taillon 166-139 to claim her second career regional title.
Mangiola, who finished third in the Albany Regional won by good friend Haley Carroll, bowled nine regular PWBA Tour stops this season with just one cash. She has bowled partial schedules on tour for the past six seasons, 49 events in all.
Her lone regional win came in the 2025 Columbus Open at HP Lanes in Columbus.
“I honestly was a little upset about the way I bowled in my last regional, but I was happy that Haley won. I was just upset at the way I started,” said Mangiola, who earned ,$2,600 for the victory and a berth in the PWBA Regional Showdown in December at Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
“I wanted to make it into the showdown without having to bowl in qualifying. Twice before, I was the first person out. It feels really good. Now I can go home and work on a lot more.”
Saying she felt Lane 30 of the title pair was “like bowling on dirt” at one point, Mangiola said spares were the key. Overall, there were only five strikes rolled on Lane 30 during the three stepladder matches — with Mangiola having two in the quarterfinal and Taillon with two in the title match.
Mangiola had the other strike in the title match — going without a double for the final two matches.
“I figured I didn’t want to do anything too major. I just pretty much tried to make spares,” Mangiola said. “In qualifying, I shot 206 on that pair in Game 6 so that was pretty recent. I had a low game of 190 so I stayed pretty much in it all the way. Again, it was all about spares.
“I had the front eight in the last game, but I got a little upset because a spare with nine or better could have gotten me to the No. 2 seed in the 10th. But I told myself to shut that off … you had the front eight to make it so be happy with that.”
STEPLADDER RUN UP
Mangiola, who wears sneakers and plants when she throws, also experienced some early problems with the approaches on the title pair.
“You could hear squeaking when I stepped. And my push off step, I’m used to planting,” Mangiola said. “But that pair was really slick and my foot was slipping. I’m not used to any movement.”
Against No. 4 seed and Shelby Township, Mich., right-hander Victoria Giardina, Mangiola was able to put together an early double and the lone three-bagger of the finals in the seventh through ninth frames to earn a 188-177 win.
It came despite Mangiola failing to covert 2-8 and 10-pin spares and leaving a 4-9 split in the sixth.
Giardina, who earned the final stepladder spot by just 19 pins, struck on four of her five shots on Lane 29, but missed a 10-pin spare in the 10th frame on that lane along with failing to convert a 3-6-10 spare in the first frame on Lane 30.
In the semifinals, No. 2 seed Anna Maxwell, a Westland, Mich., right-hander, had just two strikes before throwing three in the 10th frame on Lane 29. She also had just one spare and three splits on Lane 30 as Mangiola continued her stepladder run with a 173-149 win.
Mangiola had just one strike and one open frame in that match, failing to convert a 2-4-8 spare, but covering a pair of difficult 2-4-5-8 “bucket” leaves.
TITLE MATCH
Taillon, a criminal justice major at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte who bowled just one season at Stephen F. Austin before transferring, led the field with 1,779 total pinfall (222.38 average. She shot the high game of the day of 289 in Game 4 which put her in the top spot to stay during qualifying.
“Me and the pattern just really matched up,” said Taillon, who will graduate in December 2027 but confines her bowling to three leagues and occasional tournaments since UNC-Charlotte doesn’t have a bowling program.
“I tend to do better on the longer patterns because I have more rotation and my ball speed is lower. I found a line on the inside of the lanes that I like to play and it was just money all day.”
That is, until the title match.
Taillon started on Lane 30 and left a 2-6-7-10 split in the first frame. It didn’t get any better.
“It was tight, then it wasn’t tight, then it was tight again,” said Taillon, who was appearing in just her third PWBA event overall. “It didn’t matter where you put the ball … it wasn’t going to do what you wanted it to do.”
Mangiola stayed clean through six frames before a 4-6-7-10 split ended her run — which included just one strike.
Taillon had three splits during the first five frames and added another 4-6-7 split in the seventh while also missing a 10-pin spare. She had three strikes in the match.
“I just didn’t understand it … I hit that pair earlier and had no problems,” Taillon said. “I really think it was more a product of the stepladder.”
Mangiola had a second split in the ninth frame with a 4-10 — both splits coming on Lane 29 instead of 30.
“I thought I finally had it right when I left the 8-pin (second frame solid on Lane 30) and then I struck on it,” said Mangiola, who used a combination of the Hammer Black Widow 3.0, Hammer Full Effect and Brunswick Alert during qualifying and the stepladder. “But on the left lane, I felt like when I tried to move left, the ball wanted to hook earlier. I just told myself to take your spares and move on.”
And she got the win with her father in the building — putting a family jinx to rest. She actually wore a “black cloud” Hammer jersey to help.
“Both my parents weren’t there when I won the New York City Queens and my mom was the only one there when I won in Columbus,” Mangiola said. “I wore the jersey to end the jinx — and it did.”
Now, it’s back to work for Mangiola.
“I feel like I’m trying to have more tools in my toolbox,” said Mangiola, who works at ABC Gates Bowl in Rochester, N.Y. “I started today without my wrist brace and then I put it back on. The last regional, I put it on and took it off. I feel working on my release with it off has made my release with it on even better.
“I’m also trying to make quicker decisions … don’t waste two or three frames making ball decisions.”
This also concludes a great week for Mangiola, who was at Tonawanda Bowling Center in Tonawanda, N.Y., when the Jonas Brothers came to bowl before their show in Buffalo early last week. They also were at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl before their Ohio show, getting equipment drilled by PBA senior pro Tom Carter.
“I got to bowl with the Jonas Brothers on Tuesday and everyone was kind of jealous about that. After that, it didn’t matter how I bowled … but I threw it really well,” Mangiola said, laughing. “Maybe I need to go play the lottery now.”
NOTEBOOK: This marked the first stepladder appearances for Taillon and Maxwell. … The tourney used the 43-foot Cleveland Regional oil pattern. The title pair was re-oiled for the stepladder finals. … The event drew a 54-player field with one late withdrawal. Giardina earned the No. 4 stepladder spot with 1,683 total pinfall for the eight-game qualifier, an average of 210.38. She finished 19 pins ahead of Dayton’s Sierra Kanemoto. … The final cash spot in 18th spot was 1,585, with Sara Prince earning that position just nine pins ahead of Bellefontaine’s Erica Warne. …. Eight Ohioans gained cash spots, including Kanemoto. Area players cashing included North Olmsted’s Katelyn Hull (eighth, 1,644), Tallmadge’s Kirsten Moore (10th, 1,643), Amherst’s Amanda Morrow (1th 1,637) and North Ridgeville’s Katelyn Mahilo (16th, 1,586). … The next PWBA regional will be Nov. 22 at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes in Pittsburgh.