Chris Barnes Takes Day Two Lead At PBA50 TOC
Morgantown, West Virginia – After the final day of qualifying for the last event on the 2026 PBA50 Tour schedule, Chris Barnes is at the top of the standings at the Johnny Petraglia BVL PBA50 Tournament of Champions presented by Pleasant Day Schools.
He started his morning on fire averaging 251.4 for his first five games. That included 268, 279 and 226 for 773 followed by 257, 227, 206, 225 and 207. His two-day total is 3,730 (+530).
“I was doing pretty good for a while there. I slowed down there at the end, but it was a good day,” Barnes said. “I felt like I have bowled pretty good here for a while, but you still need good ball reaction and to make the right choices. For a little while, it was really good.”
He is considering adding a couple of balls into the equation moving into Friday, because he feels there is a lot of early friction on the frequently used bowling lanes.
“How you manage the front part of the lane is key. Slower speeds, a softer hand with a little bit of loft, which I am trying to get better at this year,” Barnes said. “It has paid off a little bit more.”
The four bowlers mathematically in the Player of the Year race – Tom Hess, Mika Koivuniemi, Tom Daugherty and Barnes – all advanced into the top 32. Daugherty is fourth, Hess is seventh and Koivuniemi is in ninth place. Hess is leading the way with 28,765 points, while Koivuniemi has 26,120 in second. Barnes and Daugherty are tied for third with 24,125 points. The winner of this event receives 7,500 points.
“When you look where everybody else is at the only way to make up that many points is first place, so you have to win. There are a lot of small goals to accomplish before you can get to that match,” Barnes said. “It is there and that would certainly make it special but there is so much bowling left.”
Barnes is followed by day one leader and defending champion John Janawicz with 3,691 in second. Michael Haggitt is third at 3,659 and Daugherty is fourth at 3,623. Troy Lint had a huge day moving into fifth place with 3,532.
Lint started out in 40th place and put up a block of 1,922. He had 258, 238, 268, 247, 234, 214, 248 and 215 games in the same bowling center where he won the 2023 PBA50 Morgantown Classic.
The last player to make the cut was Carl Breaman at 3,315 (+115). The top 32 bowlers will now move into the Advancers Round starting at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Friday. They will bowl eight games with all pins carrying over and the top 16 will advance to round-robin match play Round 1 starting at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Round 2 will begin at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday with the final eight games to determine the top five. The finals will start at 6 p.m. only on BowlTV.com.
As a side note, longtime PBA Tour truck fixture Don Simonian was surprised on Wednesday night. In celebration of his 70th birthday and the announcement of his retirement after 18 years, the PBA50 bowling family gathered to show him their appreciation. PBA National Tour and PBA50 Tour Director Tony Lanning presented Simonian with an unexpected gift.
“This guy has sacrificed a lot, and we couldn’t appreciate you more for all that you have done. We tried to think of what was an item that was sort of specific to the PBA and would be representative of hard work and dedication to the game, the sport, the organization, and we had one idea,” Lanning said, as he presented Simonian with his own champion’s banner.
Simonian told them, “I am definitely going to miss all of you people. I didn’t expect anything like this.”
John Burkett spoke up to let Simonian know “Donny, we all appreciate everything you have done.”
Top 10: PBA50 Tournament of Champions:
Chris Barnes, 3,730 total pinfall (+530)
John Janawicz, 3,691 (+491)
Michael Haggitt, 3,659 (+459)
Tom Daugherty, 3,623 (+423)
Troy Lint, 3,532 (+332)
Andy Neuer, 3,529 (+329)
Tom Hess, 3,525 (+325)
Brad Angelo, 3,522 (+322)
Mika Koivuniemi, 3,503 (+303)
Dan Knowlton, 3,482 (+282)
Full standings - Tournament of Champions
