July 16, 2025 Jill Winters

Jackson, Michigan – Less than a month ago, Chris Barnes enjoyed a victory more than he has in a long time at the 2025 PBA50 South Shore Classic. This week, he has earned three No. 1 seeds in the 2025 PBA50 World Series of Bowling III. 

During qualifying on Wednesday in the Holman Championship, Barnes bowled 298, 212, 222, 232, 233, 269, 258 and 231 for +355. With his big block, he was able to pass A-squad leader Bryan Goebel by 91 pins for the top seed. He was also able to climb from fifth place in the World Championship standings to first place. He is ahead of John Janawicz by 12 pins. Barnes’ other top seed came in the first event of the WSOB III in the Ballard Championship.

“I didn’t think catching J.J. (Janawicz) today was on the agenda but I am happy to be a lot closer. He has bowled fantastic since Day 1,” Barnes said. “I watched the morning squad and was going to use a game plan as close to J.J.’s as I could come up with. Having competed and roomed with (J.J.) and everything else, we have some of the same ways of trying to get to the same places. The last four games played to my advantage down the stretch.”

Barnes felt he was very fortunate to start his block with 298, leaving a 2-8 on his final shot. He admits he missed in the right places at the right times toward the end of the game as the lanes were getting tighter. 

“The 12th shot was really good, and I thought I was running that one out, but it backed up at the end. The next two games I was scrambling the whole time and threw some late strikes to get 212 and 222,” he said. “Today, I got to the right balls faster and survived the bad games early, so when it started going right, it got good pretty quick.”

Goebel led after A-squad took to the lanes first. He had games of 227, 257, 279, 215, 252, 216, 226 and 192 for +264. He felt like he had enough oil to help him out on the lanes on Wednesday, which allowed him to throw the ball just how he likes. He also capitalized on some good carry.

He has spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks competing inside JAX 60. He earned an 8th place finish in the PBA60 Webb Championship and 9th place in the PBA60 World Championship. The PBA50 World Series of Bowling III has not been as successful for Goebel, which made this block a relief.

“Today felt good. I am still stunned that I am sitting here as the leader of this squad. I am really happy I bowled as well as I did and I’m surprised,” Goebel said. “Last week and this week were the first two tournaments I have gotten to bowl this season. I was sure glad everybody was 60-and-over last week.”

Goebel is battling some pain in his right hip, which flared up in his final game of the day. Yet, he loves competing on tour when he can. 

“I just hope tomorrow I have something similar to what I had today. I am excited to be bowling another day,” he said. “I know I have limitations, so I try as hard as I can. Bowling out here is a big challenge.”  

Behind Goebel is Jon Rakoski in third at +257. Tom Hess is in fourth at +251 and Dan Knowlton is fifth at +249. The final player to make the Holman Championship cut was James Krafft at +165. 

The top 16 players will advance to bracket match play best-of-five matches in the Round of 16 scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Eastern on Thursday then the Round of 8 will start at 2 p.m. ET. The four undefeated winners and the highest-seeded losing bowler in the Round of 8 will be in the stepladder finals set to begin at 6 p.m. 

Qualifying for the World Championship is also now complete. After 32 games in the Ballard, Monacelli, Petraglia and Holman Championships, the top 18 bowlers have been determined. The top five are Chris Barnes, John Janawicz, Mark Clark, Tom Daugherty and Brian LeClair. The final player in was Tom Adcock at +537. 

“Mika got in and Brad got in today. It is the who’s-who out there in the top 18. But I want to make a show here first,” Barnes said. “Let’s see if we can win that first match, get that part out of the way and then see if I can win the second one and be the top seed for the Holman.”

For the World Championship, they will bowl two six game blocks of round-robin match play, with bonus pins, starting at 9 a.m. ET then at 2 p.m. on Friday. The final six games will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday to determine the top five bowlers who will make the stepladder finals at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The winner will earn a major championship title and the $25,000 first-place check. You can continue to watch the WSOB III action on BowlTV.

PBA50 Petraglia Championship Match Play Advancers:

  1. Chris Barnes, 1,955 (+355)
  2. Bryan Goebel, 1864 (+264)
  3. Jon Rakoski, 1,857 (+257)
  4. Tom Hess, 1,851 (+251)
  5. Dan Knowlton, 1,849 (+249)
  6. John Janawicz, 1,844 (+244)
  7. Mark Clark, 1,826 (+226)
  8. Tom Daugherty, 1,822 (+222)
  9. Michael Kramer, 1,818 (+218)
  10. Amleto Monacelli, 1,802 (+202)
  11. Dave Wodka, 1,800 (+200)
  12. Pete Weber, 1,787 (+187)
  13. Larry Verble, 1,781 (+181)
  14. Randy Weiss, 1,777 (+177)
  15. Mika Koivuniemi, 1,774 (+174)
  16. James Krafft 1,765 (+165)

Full standings - PBA50 Holman Championship

PBA50 World Championship Advancers:

  1. Chris Barnes, 7,369 (+969)
  2. John Janawicz, 7,357 (+957)
  3. Mark Clark, 7,306 (+906)
  4. Tom Daugherty, 7,266 (+866)
  5. Brian LeClair, 7,180 (+780)
  6. Larry Verble,  7,168 (+768)
  7. Ron Hurt, 7,101 (+701)
  8. Jon Rakoski, 7,044 (+644)
  9. Randy Weiss, 7,030 (+630)
  10. Tom Hess, 7,011 (+611)
  11. James Krafft, 7,006 (+606)
  12. Dan Knowlton, 7,006 (+606)
  13. Clint Dacy, 7,004 (+604)
  14. Pete Weber, 6,994 (+594)
  15. Brad Angelo, 6,987 (+587)
  16. Mika Koivuniemi, 6,980 (+580)
  17. Mario Quintero, 6,951 (+551)
  18. Tom Adcock, 6,937 (+537)

More information on the WSOB III is available here.

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