LORAIN, Ohio – Kara Mangiola of Kenmore, New York, climbed the ladder at the 2026 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Greater Cleveland Regional to win her second PWBA Regional Tour title and earn an automatic berth into the PWBA Regional Showdown in December. She defeated Savannah Taillon of Huntersville, North Carolina, in the title match, 166-139.
Mangiola qualified as the No. 3 seed with 1,709 over eight games, averaging just over 213. She began her climb against No. 4 seed Victoria Giardina of Shelby Township, Michigan.
Mangiola opened with a spare and a double before missing the 2-8 combination in the fourth frame. Giardina, meanwhile, opened in the first frame but recovered with a strike, spare and strike. Both players spared in the fifth before Mangiola opened again in the sixth, leaving a pocket 4-9 split and knocking down only the 4 pin to sit at 101 through six frames.
Mangiola responded with three consecutive strikes heading into the 10th frame, while Giardina struggled to find consistency on the right lane of the championship pair. Giardina struck only on the left lane, where she finished the game.
Needing a mark in the 10th frame, Giardina left the 10 pin on her first shot and missed it on the spare attempt, finishing with 177. Mangiola needed to keep the ball on the lane and knocked down nine pins to advance with 188. Giardina earned $700 for her fourth-place finish.
In the semifinal, Mangiola faced No. 2 seed Anna Maxwell of Westland, Michigan. Mangiola started with a strike and followed with four consecutive spares, while Maxwell opened three times in the early frames. Maxwell stayed in contention by striking in the sixth after Mangiola opened.
A fourth open in seven frames put Maxwell further behind, and Mangiola took advantage by continuing to close frames. She finished with 173, while Maxwell closed with 149 to earn $900 for third place.
The title match continued the trend of lower scores compared to qualifying. Taillon, who averaged more than 222 to earn the No. 1 seed, opened four times in the first six frames, including three splits. Mangiola recorded five spares and a strike before leaving the big four split in the seventh frame. She was unable to convert, giving Taillon an opportunity to get back into the match.
Taillon’s fifth open, leaving the 4-6-7 split, further hurt her chances, though she spared in the eighth frame. Mangiola also left a 4-10 split, but it wasn’t enough to keep her from the title. She finished with 166 to secure the win, while Taillon took second with 139 and earned $1,300.
Mangiola collected $2,600 for her second PWBA Regional Tour title and secured an automatic berth into match play at the PWBA Regional Showdown in Florida in December.
Mangiola said the finals presented a much tougher challenge than qualifying.
“I feel like I was just bowling the U.S. Women’s Open,” she said. “I honestly can’t tell if it was tighter or what after they reoiled for the finals. The only thing that I may have done differently was to take off my wrist brace, just because on the shots that I felt like were good, they went through the face compared to no brace, which rolled a little differently.”
After the win, Mangiola embraced her father, who was in attendance, and reflected on breaking a streak of not winning when he was in the building.
“I think the jinx broke because I was also wearing my ‘bad luck’ jersey, so those two really canceled out the bad luck,” she said with a laugh.
With her place in match play at the Regional Showdown secured, Mangiola can skip qualifying for the event.
“I kept telling myself that I really want to make it to Showdown without having to bowl qualifying because the last two times I’ve had to do that, I was one of the first people out,” Mangiola said, who won last year’s PWBA Greater Columbus Regional to avoid qualifying. “It feels really good now that I don’t have to do that.”
The PWBA Regional Tour continues November 22 with the PWBA Greater Pittsburgh Regional at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes in Pittsburgh. The event will determine the final player to qualify for match play at the PWBA Regional Showdown, which begins December 3.
For more information on the PWBA Regional Tour, click HERE.
