John Janawicz Wins 2024 PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Open
Clearwater, Florida – John Janawicz was simply on fire Wednesday at the 2024 PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Open. The reigning PBA50 Rookie of the Year averaged nearly 250 over 16 games to win his third career PBA50 title.
He was in 58th place after Monday’s first seven games of qualifying before climbing into 23rd place after day two. On Wednesday, he averaged 251.25 during the advancers round to move into ninth place. He needed 14 more pins to earn a first-round bye, but instead he took a longer path to the winner’s circle.
All three of his best two-out-of-three game matches went to game three, including his Round of 8 match against No. 1 seed Tom Hess. Hess took Game 1 237-226, but Janawicz responded with 279 and 239 to get the win and the No. 3 seed in the stepladder finals. Hess got the No. 5 seed.
“Tom Hess has been bowling unbelievably well,” Janawicz said, about the victory. “To actually be able to beat him like I did in my match felt like a Herculean accomplishment there.”
Janawicz continued to put on a show rolling 28 strikes in his 35 frames over three matches in the stepladder to raise the bowling ball trophy, defeating No. 1 seed Chris Warren in the title match 268-246.
“I knew I was striking a lot, but I didn’t realize how much. That is really cool,” he said. “I knew I was in a pretty good zone. To be able to get a win feels great.”
Janawicz, who won the 2023 PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Tournament of Champions, would like to see more tournaments featuring the 46-foot Petraglia oil pattern, which he felt matched up perfectly with his game. His key after day one was getting slower and using equipment that was cleaner and weaker.
“Everything worked out amazingly,” he said. “I got into a pretty good rhythm with my timing. I knew I was hitting the line, and I was able to stick the finish really well.”
His confidence on the lanes was running high. In the third frame he raised his right leg up after his delivery looking to almost kick down the 5 pin that stood for a few seconds. His next time up on the left lane, again he raised up his right leg with authority showing the pins who was in control. Janawicz began the championship match with seven consecutive strikes earning a 33-pin lead over Warren. Three straight spares from Warren in frames sixth through eight kept him in catch-up mode. Warren finished with four straight strikes but came up short in his attempt to win his second PBA50 title.
In the opening match, Hess squared off against last year’s PBA50 Player of the Year Troy Lint. The powerful left-hander and Hess battled each other frame-for-frame. Lint, who returned this season after having knee surgery, put together six straight strikes starting in the fifth frame, while Hess had a key open in the sixth to fall behind. Lint earned the win 267-226. Janawicz came on in match two and he was basically lights out. He took an early 23 pin lead in the fourth frame before reeling off eight straight strikes for the 269-159 win over Lint.
Janawicz started his semifinal match against Brad Angelo with three strikes and two single-pin spares through five frames before he was back on the strike train closing out the match with six strikes and an 8 count for the 257-224 win.
Prior to the start of the stepladder, the five players agreed to donate 5% of their individual winnings to BVL, the official charity of the PBA. Petraglia, who is an ambassador for Bowlers to Veterans Link, told Janawicz during the trophy presentation “I love watching talent and your talent is exceptional.”
“Any tournament with Johnny’s name on it is going to be a very prestigious event,” Janawicz said. “It makes it even more special to win knowing that you are bowling for a great cause and the people that helped fight to give us the freedom to be able to bowl these events is very special.”
Janawicz enjoyed leftover Key Lime Pie after his win. He also received the green light from his full-time employer at Kegel Training Center to bowl the whole season.
"I wanted to thank Chris Chartrand, Don Agent, Doug Dukes and all the staff at Kegel for giving me the time to pursue this dream and covering me while I'm away."
“Hopefully I can build on this and try to make a good run at defending my USBC Senior Masters title,” he added.
Championship Round Scores
Match 1: No. 4 Troy Lint def. No. 5 Tom Hess, 267-226
Match 2: No. 3 John Janawicz def. No. 4 Troy Lint, 269-159
Match 3: No. 3 John Janawicz def. No. 2 Brad Angelo, 257-224
Championship match: No. 3 John Janawicz def. No. 1 Chris Warren, 268-246
PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Open Standings:
- John Janawicz, $7,500
- Chris Warren, $4,000
- Brad Angelo, $3,300
- Troy Lint, $2,700
- Tom Hess, $2,200