John Janawicz Wins 10th Career PBA50 Tour Title in Ballard Championship
Bloomington, Minnesota – With the PBA50 Tour making its first return to national television since 2009, John Janawicz was not going to let a broken blood vessel in one of his bowling fingers stop him from competing.
After finishing in third place at the PBA50 Ballard Championship last Sunday, Janawicz withdrew from the remainder of the World Series of Bowling IV. He got an MRI on the middle finger on his right hand and saw an orthopedist for the results. With no damage to the tendon or broken bones, he felt there was no risk of causing permanent damage, so he returned for the live TV stepladder finals on Saturday.
“The crowd was great and I would love to be able to do it again,” Janawicz said. “I am hoping we are afforded that opportunity come next year because it has been a wonderful experience. I am glad things worked out where I was able to make one show.”
In the opening match, he faced No. 2 seed Bill Rowe. Ironically, Rowe withdrew during the final few games of the World Championship, due to a bicep injury. Before starting the show, Janawicz took his equipment to the PBA truck and Don Simonian was able to make his finger holes big enough to relieve any pressure.
From there it was about execution and Janawicz aced the test. He started the match with four straight strikes followed by three spares to take the lead. Rowe began with a spare and a double before an open frame. The Canadian made a ball change in the fifth frame, but he was unable to put two strikes together after that. Janawicz won 235-182.
The championship match between Janawicz and PBA and USBC Hall of Famer Jason Couch got off to a strong start. For the second straight game, Janawicz started out with four strikes in a row. Couch doubled, picked up a 7 pin then doubled again falling just 12 pins behind. After a spare in the sixth frame, Couch watched a messenger take out the 7 pin as he said toward the camera, ”Old school, Couch.”
Janawicz converted a 10 pin in the fifth followed by five more strikes and a spare. After that messenger, Couch had two shots go heavy on the headpin. One resulted in an open frame as he missed the 2-7 split. With the 268-213 victory, Janawicz earned his 10th PBA50 title in only his fourth season.
“It was really special for a couple of reasons. It got me to 10 titles, which was the number of years I stopped at with Team USA,” Janawicz said. “Also, knowing I have to shut it down now for a while, it was nice to go off on a victory.”
Janawicz added, “It has been a great run so far and now I just need to try to do my part and allow myself to get healthy again and hopefully continue the run. I am probably more looking at Akron (Classic July 11-14) when we fire back up for the two majors in Virginia and West Virginia. That is probably giving me enough time to heal properly. That is my tentative timetable but with anything you have to just see what happens when you start coming back.”
While at home, he will talk to friends at the Kegel Training Center about his pitches and span on the middle finger to see if that might have led to the broken blood vessel. If so, he estimates he would have to plug the middle finger on 40 to 50 bowling balls before making a return to the PBA50 Tour. But before that, luckily, the trophy he won should help him when he makes his more than 1,600-mile drive home to Florida.
“The car is pretty full with a lot of bowling balls but I might have to clear a little extra space for that trophy,” he said. “It’s a big one. Probably can put a lot of ice for my hand in there to help reduce the swelling.”
Next up, the Monacelli Championship will air at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on CBS Sports Network. Bill Rowe is back in the No. 2 seed again but this time he will face No. 3 seed Jack Jurek in the opening match. The winner will take on top seed Jason Couch.
The Petraglia Championship is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Monday. Third seed Andres Gomez will face Ron Hurt with the winner set to take on top seed Tom Hess. This all leads up to the World Championship scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday. All shows are live on CBS Sports Network.
PBA50 Ballard Championship Final Standings:
- John Janawicz $10,000
- Jason Couch $5,000
- Bill Rowe, $3,000
Match Scores:
Match 1: Janawicz def. Rowe 235-182
Championship match: Janawicz def. Couch 268-213
More information on the WSOB IV is available here.