John Janawicz Increases Lead in PBA50 Akron Classic
Fairlawn, Ohio – Two blocks on two separate days yet the difference was only 10 pins. John Janawicz followed up his first qualifying block in over 60 days with games of 218, 279, 258, 246, 172, 258 and 259 for 1,690. His 14-game total of 3,390 gives him a 52-pin lead over Amleto Monacelli, who is in second place, in the 2026 PBA50 Akron Classic.
“I had to make a few different changes with bowling balls and a little bit of technique. Fortunately, it worked out and I still had a pretty good look,” Janawicz said. “I got slower quicker compared to yesterday. Trying to combat a little bit more tightness down the lane with a touch less ball speed.”
Janawicz hopes to find a different way to get off to a faster start than the 200 and 218 he has rolled so far. He will look over what equipment he already has and take a look at what is available on the PBA Tour truck to see if there is anything he might have missed. After his injury, he was focused on trying to be back specifically for this tournament, because it’s held inside AMF Riviera Lanes.
“You look on the walls here and you see PBA and TOC. You see all of the winner’s banners over the lanes. You can feel a lot of the history in this bowling center,” Janawicz said. “That is also part of the reason why I wanted to target my comeback for this event. This is a special building in my opinion.”
Monacelli recorded the second highest block on Monday behind Janawicz with 1,672 and Michael Clark Jr. had 1,670 to move into third place overall with 3,333. He is followed by Ryan Shafer at 3,306 in fourth. Mike Machuga is fifth at 3,275.
After games of 247, 255, 226, 186, 249, 284 and 214, Shafer passed fellow B-squad bowler Machuga. Shafer had the highest block for his squad at 1,661. Paired with his 1,645 from Sunday, Shafer finished with 3,306. He had some meaningful support behind him on Sunday.
He met the Jasin family about four years ago while competing in Westland, Mich. Aubree is a type 1 diabetic like Shafer. As soon as she noticed the insulin pump on his belt it made her “an instant fan,” Shafer said. She and her dad cheered for him and Shafer took notice. That connection has continued and always adds some additional motivation for Shafer while on the lanes.
“According to her dad, it made her realize, ‘I can do whatever I want to do. Here is a guy that is diabetic and he is out bowling professionally, so if I want to do something, I can do it,’” Shafer said. “They drove down three hours yesterday to watch and drove back home. It is always nice to see them, and they seem to be a good luck charm.”
Shafer added, “When I met her, she did not bowl. So, she got into bowling just by watching me. Last night she said to me, ‘I want to bowl a doubles tournament with you someday.’ I said, ‘I’ll make you a promise. You bowl high school and you improve; we will bowl the Luci together.’ So, I gave her something to work toward.”
Shafer admits he was also out to prove to his fellow PBA50 players that even though he hasn’t been around much, he can still bowl. He plans to stay focused and pay attention to himself on Tuesday.
At the end of qualifying, the top 37 bowlers made the cut. The final player in is Shafer’s close friend Troy Lint with 3,007 (+207). They will all bowl four games in the Advancers Round starting at 9 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday as all pins carry forward. The top 24 will then bowl in bracket match play best-of-three matches, as all pins drop.
The Round of 24 starts at 12:30 p.m. with Qualifiers 9-24. Those winners will go into the Round of 16, along with Qualifiers 1-8. All winners will then move into the Round of 8.
The undefeated players and the highest eliminated bowler in the Round of 8 will be in the stepladder finals scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET. Watch all of the action on BowlTV.
Top 10 2026 PBA50 Akron Classic standings:
- John Janawicz, 3,390 total pins (+590)
- Amleto Monacelli, 3,338 (+538)
- Michael Clark Jr., 3,333 (+533)
- Ryan Shafer, 3,306 (+506)
- Mike Machuga, 3,275 (+475)
- Randy Weiss, 3,255 (+455)
- Mika Koivuniemi, 3,243 (+443)
- Tom Hess, 3,230 (+430)
- Bill Watson, 3,225 (+425)
- Liz Johnson, 3,180 (+380)
