Hammond, Indiana – When John Janawicz is on the lane, he sees every pitch and every tournament as an opportunity to solve another puzzle. This bowling genius has proven in his short career on the PBA50 Tour that he can usually solve the puzzles better and faster than anyone else. On Thursday night, he showed us all again when he won his fifth title of the year at the 2024 PBA50 South Shore Classic.
He admits that he always tries to simplify things and not let his emotions get too high or too low. He believes he performs at his best when he keeps calm and basically slows the game down. This allows him to logically process what is happening in front of him behind the free throw line.
The only time Janawicz lost in a championship match at Olympia Lanes last year at the 2023 PBA50 South Shore Classic. Since then, he has been perfect in these moments. This time, the man most simply call “JJ” defeated Mika Koivuniemi 234-205. Over the course of two seasons, Janawicz has competed in 25 PBA50 Tour events, reaching the stepladder finals 56% of the time. His seven career PBA50 titles put him on par with the legendary Earl Anthony and Dave Soutar.
“That’s pretty special, to say the least. I didn’t realize that. Whenever you’re mentioned in the same breath as Dave Soutar and Earl Anthony when it comes to bowling success, you’ve done a pretty good job,” Janawicz said. “I’m very honored and humbled to be able to share some statistics with them.”
Overall, Janawicz has won 28% of those tournaments and secured another title: that of 2024 PBA50 Player of the Year, in addition to being named 2023 PBA50 Rookie of the Year. He said it will be difficult to maintain those incredible statistics for the rest of his career, but it’s a good start and he hopes to keep it up in the years to come. When things go well, history shows there will be difficult periods, he said, so he’s grateful for the opportunity and for what he’s been able to accomplish so far.
“I don’t really know how to explain it honestly. You have a process that you follow and you prepare for the game on the track, you think about what you need to do with the equipment, you develop a game plan and see if it works. Fortunately, it probably worked a little more than not this year,” he said. “I still have a hard time grasping it. It’s pretty special to win five times in one year. It’s pretty surreal.”
In the championship match, Janawicz started with a strike and a spare, followed by five strikes in a row, and had a commanding 53-pin lead over Koivuniemi by the seventh frame, which gave him the win. Koivuniemi had seven strikes in total, putting on another solid performance on the lanes. This was Koivuniemi’s seventh consecutive appearance in the stepladder finals and his second runner-up finish.
In the second game, he was able to assert himself in the title match by recovering from an open frame in the fifth game against number 3 seed Brian Link. Koivuniemi managed five strikes from the sixth to the tenth.th frame for a 204 game. He took two of his balls off the rack and thought he was done because Link needed a mark in the 10th Frame for the win. Link saw his shot go too high and the score was 3-10, and he only managed the 3-pin and finished the match at 195. Link held out both arms in disappointment, but smiled and shook Koivuniemi’s hand.
This was a memorable show not only for Janawicz, but also for Link and No. 4 seed Dave Cirigliano, both making their PBA50 Stepladder debuts. In the opening match, Cirigliano faced left-hander John Marsala, who led this tournament after qualifying. Marsala could only muster two doubles, along with five spares and an open frame in the 10th.th for 201 when Cirigliano got all the attention. The big right-hander from Arizona hit all 12 of his shots and repeated them en route to a perfect game, which earned him a $1,000 bonus from the PBA.
“It’s definitely one of the things on my bucket list, I can tell you that. I really wasn’t nervous, which surprised me the first time I was here,” Cirigliano said. “I was very calm. Maybe my dad was watching from above.”
Perfection is no stranger to Cirigliano. He is one of three bowlers to have three perfect games in USBC Open Championship history. He reacted to the ball in his opening game, which allowed him to relax. He also enjoyed the trip after beating Tom Adcock, Tom Hess and Parker Bohn III to make it to the show. “They definitely inspire me to keep working. Today was a good day,” he said.
In Cirigliano’s next match against Link, Cirigliano got off to a bad break early on, taking a 7-10 in the first frame. Link, who is also right-handed, started off with spare, strike, spare before hitting three strikes in a row. Cirigliano got a spare, then a double, before hitting his worst shot of the day, hitting just two strikes on a 3-4-6-10. He was back on and finished with seven strikes in a row for 231. Link got a spare, followed by three strikes in a row and a single-pin spare to move ahead at 238.
The final event of the PBA50 season is the Tournament of Champions at AMF Riviera Lanes, which begins Monday. “I’ve never bowled there, but I’ve been there. To be able to bowl the TOC at a place with so much history will be very special for me,” he said. “I’m just trying to maintain a high level of play as long as my body allows it. That’s pretty much all I can ask for.”
GAME RESULTS:
Game 1: Cirigliano defeats Marsala 300-201
Game 2: Link defeats Cirigliano 238-231
Game 3: Koivuniemi defeated. Links 204-195
Championship match: Janawicz defeated. Koivuniemi 234-205
PBA50 SOUTH SHORE CLASSIC FINAL PLACEMENT:
- Johannes Janawicz $7,500
- Mika Koivuniemi 4,000 USD
- Brian Link $3,000
- Dave Cirigliano $2,500
- John Marsala $2,000
Final Standings – South Shore Classic 2024
