John Janawicz Wins PBA50 Monacelli Championship
Jackson, Michigan – There is never anything easy about winning a professional title in sports. John Janawicz just proved that as he battled his way to his eighth title on the PBA50 Tour.
Last year, Janawicz won five titles, which included two majors. The 2025 PBA50 Monacelli Championship on Sunday was his fifth stepladder finals appearance of the season.
“It is hard to win out here. What happened with me and Tom Hess last year, both winning five titles, is kind of an anomaly. This just shows the competition is really good out here,” Janawicz said. “If you make enough stepladders, you are not always going to continue to win, and you are not always going to continue to lose. The key is continuing to get there and putting yourself in that position to succeed. Learn from those mistakes and don’t let the past poison your future.”
While competing on a 40-foot oil pattern that has not been his favorite, Janawicz trusted what he was seeing with his ball reaction, which led to multiple ball changes in the title match against Rolando Sebelén, who was seeking his first PBA50 title.
Janawicz failed to pick up the 3-10 split in the first frame and came back with two spares. Sebelén, who was the 2018 PBA50 Rookie of the Year, began with a strike then four straight spares. Janawicz struck in the fourth followed by three spares in a row. Sebelén struck in the fifth frame and remained clean, even converting the 4-9 split in the eighth frame.
Janawicz stepped up on the right lane in the eighth delivering a strike before picking up another spare in the ninth frame. Sebelén finished the match first with two spares and a six count on his final shot for 186. Ending on the lane he wanted, Janawicz needed a double and six for the win. He was clutch with back-to-back strikes then chose to throw his final shot straight at the head-pin getting a strike and winning with 191.
“That was a mentally exhausting match more than anything. I did what I could and fortunately it was enough. Rolando bowled great,” Janawicz said. “You are going to get blown out sometimes and other times you blow the other guy out. And then you are going to get some that are just like this. They are all difficult, so you have to make your 10 best shots and whatever decisions you make you have to commit to them.”
The opening match featured good friends Dino Castillo and Tom Daugherty. Castillo started with two spares followed by a double. Daugherty, who had defeated Castillo in match play, began with six straight spares before throwing a double. After a split in the fifth frame, Castillo got a spare and four straight strikes going on to win 219-195.
Castillo began the next match with five consecutive strikes against No. 3 seed Pete Weber. Weber, who was making his fifth stepladder finals appearance of the season, went strike, spare then three straight strikes. Castillo left the 4-7-10 split in the sixth and Weber did the same thing on the right lane in the seventh frame. Castillo rebounded with a double in the eighth and ninth frames, ending up with the 231-205 win.
In the semifinal match, Castillo faced No. 2 seed Sebelén of the Dominican Republic. After two opening single-pin spares, Sebelén threw four straight strikes. Castillo left the dreaded 2-8-10 in his first frame for an open followed by a double and a spare. Castillo failed to convert the 3-6 in the fifth frame and ended up with 159 to Sebelén’s 225.
Prior to the stepladder finals, PBA and PBA50 Tour tournament director Tony Lanning acknowledged JAX 60 proprietor David Small for hosting his 100th PBA tournament.
Next up is qualifying for the PBA50 Petraglia Championship, in which Janawicz is the defending champion. B-squad will start at 9 a.m. Eastern on Monday followed by A-squad at 4 p.m. The top 16 players will then advance to bracket match play best-of-five matches and another stepladder finals all on Tuesday.
“I expect pretty high scores. The mindset is you are going to have to strike a fair amount,” Janawicz said. “With the longer patterns most of them tend to be on the higher scoring side out here. I will see if what I learned in practice will confirm or deny the strategy that I have or not.”
All qualifying pins from the Ballard, Monacelli, Petraglia and Holman Championships carry over to determine the top 18 bowlers who will compete in the PBA50 World Championship match play, scheduled to begin on Friday. The top five through the Monacelli Championship are John Janawicz, Chris Barnes, Brian LeClair, Mark Clark and Tom Daugherty.
There are three more PBA50 titles still available at the WSOB III. You can continue to watch the action only on BowlTV.
PBA50 Monacelli Final Standings:
- John Janawicz, $5,000
- Rolando Sebelén, $2,500
- Dino Castillo, $2,000
- Pete Weber, $1,750
- Tom Daugherty, $1,500
MATCH SCORES:
Match 1: Castillo def. Daugherty 219-195
Match 2: Castillo def. Weber 231-205
Match 3: Sebelén def. Castillo 225-159
Championship match: Janawicz def. Sebelén 191-186