Chris Barnes Seizes Lead at PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Tournament of Champions
Chris Barnes continues to rise up the leaderboard after each round of the PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Tournament of Champions.
He sat in ninth place after the first round of qualifying, climbed up to fifth after the second round, and rose into second after this morning’s advancers round. But following this afternoon’s first round of match play, there’s nowhere left for Barnes to climb.
Barnes leads the PBA50 TOC with a total pinfall of 7,679 (+1,279) through 32 games, including a 5-3 record in match play.
“A little bit of everything,” Barnes said of what’s been working for him this week. “It seems like every round as usual, the pattern gets a little flatter. You have to really watch your speed control because there’s so much downlane on 46 feet.”
“I've gotten off to a pretty good start every day,” said Barnes, who is averaging over 242 in the first game of each round. “I’ve got to get score early in the first two or three games, and I’ve got to get better at the transition game, identifying it sooner and getting to the right thing faster.”
Barnes said he has added motivation because of Mark Anderson, who has run the Storm booth at the USBC Open Championships for more than 20 years and who Barnes called a lifelong friend. Barnes said Anderson's cancer has returned and he wants to bowl well this week to honor his friend.
"That's a lot of the focus and drive to do well this week, it's to do something good for him," Barnes said.
Tom Adcock sits in second place at +1,216, followed by John Janawicz, previous tournament leader Jason Couch and Parker Bohn III.
The TOC is the final event of the PBA50’s 2023 season, which means the awards races will be determined this week.
Following this afternoon’s elimination of Tom Hess and Jon Rakoski, the final contenders for Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively, the winners have been solidified.
Pennsylvania’s Troy Lint will earn the Player of the Year award, while Florida’s John Janawicz will take home Rookie of the Year honors. The official announcement will come later this week.
The 16 players will resume match play at noon Eastern on Wednesday. After the eight games are complete, the top five players will advance to the stepladder finals, which will begin at 6 p.m.
All rounds of the PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Tournament of Champions will be livestreamed on BowlTV.
Match Play Round 1 Leaders
- Chris Barnes, 7,679 (+1,279)
- Tom Adcock, 7,616 (+1,216)
- John Janawicz, 7,551 (+1,151)
- Jason Couch, 7,518 (+1,118)
- Parker Bohn III, 7,509 (+1,109)
- Michael Haggitt, 7,467 (+1,067)
- Amleto Monacelli, 7,449 (+1,049)
- Brad Angelo, 7,401 (+1,001)
- Danny Wiseman, 7,392 (+992)
- James Campbell, 7,390 (+990)
Remaining Schedule
Orange Bowl Lanes | Lakeland, Fla.
All times listed in Eastern.
Wednesday, Aug. 30
12 p.m. — Match Play Round 2 (eight games)
Top five players advance
6 p.m. — Stepladder finals
More information is available here.