PBA Regional Recap: Tour Stars and a PBA League Rookie Prevail
Of the recent trio of PBA Regional Tour stops in Ohio, the granddaddy of them all took place at Pla-Mor Lanes in Coldwater, Ohio. It’s an event that many players put on their schedule because of the high payouts and brutal lane conditions, bringing in phenomenal bowlers to the center. The PBA Bowlerstore.com Classic presented by Moxy's Xtra Pair awarded $10,000 top, and that cash went to Frank Snodgrass of Center Line, Mich.
As one of five bowlers who will make their PBA League debut this fall, Snodgrass was selected by the Snickers Waco Wonders and Johnny Petraglia in the second round. The now two-time regional champ put his name in the hat at the very beginning of the 2023 PBA season, making his first telecast appearance in the U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling! in late January.
Read more on this event as well as five others in this week’s PBA Regional Recap:
PBA Overland Park Southwest/Midwest Open
A full field of 120 bowlers entered Bowlero Overland Park, but only one exited a champion. After qualifying, it became evident that a local would have to be on their A-game to emerge victorious, as the top seven players competed on the PBA Tour in 2023.
As the advancer rounds continued, PBA Tour pros filled out the stepladder in François Lavoie, Nick Pate, Nathan Bohr, and Zach Wilkins. Wilkins defeated Bohr in the opening match, 225-216, but lost to Pate 195-174. In the final game, Pate lost to his friend Lavoie, 278-224, as the Canadian picked up his ninth regional title and second this season.
PBA Overland Park Southwest/Midwest Open Final Standings
- François Lavoie, 2,500 points, $3,000
- Nick Pate, 1,500, $2,000
- Zach Wilkins, 1,150, $1,600
- Nathan Bohr, 950, $1,325
PBA Overland Park Southwest/Midwest Open Full Results
PBA Showtime Cup Asheville Open
It’s Showtime! Ethan Fiore led the way in Asheville at Sky Lanes, averaging 242 on the 40-foot Don Johnson pattern. After the first advancer round, Zachary Tackett joined the fray, and it was a battle between those two for the rest of the day. Fiore’s lead started to expand over Tackett, but once the two were the last remaining, all scores dropped and it was one winner-take-all match.
Fiore began with a split and grabbed the lead back with a double, while Tackett went spare, strike, spare. But Tackett put up a double in the fifth frame and never relinquished the lead. Tackett, who is not the brother of PBA Tour star EJ Tackett by the same name, won 229-194 and earned his third career title and his second of the season.
PBA Showtime Cup Asheville Open Final Standings
- Zachary Tackett, 2,500 points, $3,000
- Ethan Fiore, 1,500, $1,360
- Kyle Troup, 1,150, $1,040
- Garrett Thompson, 950, $1,040
PBA Showtime Cup Asheville Open Full Results
PBA Bowlers Supply/Storm Open
On the 38-foot Marshall Holman pattern, it took a 218 average to get inside the top 12 for match play, which meant Anthony Neuer grabbed the final spot. He shot the event’s lone 300 during match play, but still couldn’t catch up to the tournament leaders Alex Cavagnaro and Jake Rollins.
Cavagnaro and Rollins sat in first and second place with only the position round remaining. Cavagnaro held a 38-pin lead, meaning Rollins needed a nine-pin victory in the final match. Rollins got the win by 20 pins to jump into first place, take the title and $2,500.
PBA Bowlers Supply/Storm Open Final Standings
- Jake Rollins, 2,500 points, $2,500
- Alex Cavagnaro, 1,500, $1,300
- Adam Zimmerman, 1,150, $1,100
- Ryan Galli, 950, $1,000
PBA Bowlers Supply/Storm Open Full Results
PBA Bowlero/Findlay Central Open
In the first tournament of a back-to-back-to-back swing in Ohio, Patrick Dombrowski, in his home state, led at +275 for eight games. He earned a bye in the first round along with three others, but he fell in the Round of Eight to Graham Fach.
Fach then fell to Jean Perez, while Dean Vargo eliminated Jordan Malott to advance to the finals. Perez was looking for a repeat performance, as he won this event last year, while Vargo was searching for his first title. The latter happened as Vargo collected a 222-183 victory and a banner at future tournaments.
PBA Bowlero/Findlay Central Open Final Standings
- Dean Vargo, 2,500 points, $2,000
- Jean Perez, 1,500, $1,200
- Jordan Malott, 1,150, $900
- Graham Fach, 950, $900
PBA Bowlero/Findlay Central Open Full Results
PBA Kremer Roofing Central Classic
The bowlers traveled about an hour south for the middle of the three tournaments with a larger field at 72 entries. In a field with plenty of big names, the biggest name grabbed the one-seed in EJ Tackett. Graham Fach, Zach Weidman, Michael Davidson, and Sam DeWitt III took seeds two through five.
In the opening match of the stepladder, Davidson left a pesky 10-pin in the 10th frame as DeWitt took the first win by single digits. Weidman dominated in match two, starting with the front-10 before leaving a 10-pin and winning 289-207. Weidman put up another solid 248 with the front-six to Fach’s 202 to advance to the finals.
In the final match, EJ Tackett put up a huge double in the 10th to shut out Weidman and win 236-226. This marks EJ Tackett’s 12th regional title and second this season.
PBA Kremer Roofing Central Classic Final Standings
- EJ Tackett, 5,000 points, $4,000
- Zach Weidman, 3,000, $2,000
- Graham Fach, 2,300, $1,500
- Sam DeWitt, 1,900, $1,200
PBA Kremer Roofing Central Classic Full Results
PBA Bowlerstore.com Classic presented by Moxy's Xtra Pair
In one of the most anticipated events of the regional season, Coldwater, Ohio, brought in 96 bowlers with $10,000 on top. After a few advancer rounds, Michael Davidson and Michael Schlabach barely missed out on the stepladder, while Frank Snodgrass, BJ Moore, Sam DeWitt, and Graham Fach took the top four seeds.
Snodgrass stayed near the top for the first 15 games, but in the third advancer round, the righty vaulted up the leaderboard. Shooting a 513 for his two games in the final advancer round, which included the front-eight strikes, Snodgrass jumped from fourth to first to put him one match away from a $10,000 check and the accolades that come with it.
In the opening match, DeWitt threw too many good shots for Fach to keep up with. A 258 would get the job done for DeWitt, who looked to avenge his stepladder loss in the previous tournament. Fach, who shot a 197, started strong but lost count with a five-spare and six-spare in the middle of the game, which drained his hopes. Next, BJ Moore stepped up in match two and struggled with ball reaction, switching between reactive and urethane throughout the game. Moore gave himself a chance, striking out in his final frame to force DeWitt to mark in the 10th, but DeWitt threw a beautiful shot to win 196-186.
In the final match, Snodgrass started out strong with a spare and a six-bagger to take a 37-pin lead through seven frames. He split in the eighth frame to make things a tad interesting, but DeWitt couldn’t find a strike in the eighth or ninth frames. The PBA League rookie needed just 26 pins in his final two frames, which he got thanks to a spare in the ninth.
Snodgrass hoped his softer ball speed would get his ball to read the treacherous pair a little more than his opponent, and it obviously did. The Michigan native earned a check for $10,000 en route to winning his second career regional title and first since 2017.
Snodgrass knew the conditions would be demanding, but also knew whoever got the job done would rightfully have earned it. In an event also won by EJ Tackett, Chris Via, Parker Bohn III, Darren Tang, and many others in years past, Snodgrass’s picture will now be hung up next to those champs at the center. In an interview with BowlTV's Kurtis Von Krueger, the champion credited his strong mental game to part of this win.
PBA Bowlerstore.com Classic presented by Moxy's Xtra Pair Final Standings
- Frank Snodgrass, 5,000 points, $10,000
- Sam DeWitt, 3,000, $5,000
- BJ Moore, 2,300, $2,500
- Graham Fach, 1,900, $2,000
PBA Bowlerstore.com Classic presented by Moxy's Xtra Pair Full Results
View the season-long PBA Regional Tour points leaders here.