GREEN BAY, Wis. – The 2025 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Anniversary Open started off with a bang at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in Green Bay, Wisconsin, which saw Josie Barnes of Hermitage, Tennessee, end Wednesday in the overall lead and Kelly Whipple of nearby Sheboygan narrowly make it to Thursday’s qualifying round.
Barnes, looking for her second title of the year after winning the United States Bowling Congress Queens in May, finished with a 12-game total of 2,821, good for an average of 235. Kayla Verstraete of Loves Park, Illinois, was second at 2,786, while Lauren Russo of O’Fallon, Missouri (2,764), Canada’s Jade Côté (2,762) and Bailey Delrose of Crest Hill, Illinois (2,753) closed out a high-scoring top five.
Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio (2,750), who won the 2024 USBC Queens at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley, is sixth, followed by England’s Verity Crawley (2,739), Olivia Farwell of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania (2,737), Sweden’s Anna Andersson (2,727) and Kayla Pashina of Otsego, Minnesota (2,715) in the top 10.
Three perfect games were thrown on Wednesday by Andersson, Alexis Runk of Milton, Pennsylvania, and Jordan Snodgrass of Adrian, Michigan, all of whom will advance to Thursday’s qualifying round. That brings the total number of 300s this season up to 20, breaking the relaunch record of 19 thrown in 2019 and 2023, with four events remaining on the schedule.
Barnes came into today’s qualifying blocks knowing that scores were going to be high and had her gameplan ready.
“It was relatively easy to get to the pocket, going through the pins was another story,” said Barnes. “I really tried to have an open mind because I haven’t fared well in this center in the past and didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself.”
The Queens champion showed few nerves, aided by having her husband and daughter in attendance for support, something that doesn’t happen very often.
“She’s in year-round school and he’s got a full-time job so it’s hard for them to get away, but it was nice to have them in the stands,” Barnes said.
In the 32nd and final spot for Round 3 of qualifying tomorrow, Whipple needed every pin she could get after ending Round 1 in 88th place. The right-handed rookie locked in for Round 2 and shot games of 279, 238, 268, 244, 226 and 237 for a six-game total of 1,492, the highest block total of the day and overall total of 2,624.
“I went into the first block really confident and I felt like I threw it phenomenal, but didn’t see the scores I wanted,” said Whipple. “I went to lunch, talked it over with my roommates and knew I had to do something different. So I came back, shut my brain off, threw the ball and struck a ton.”
The two-time NCAA Player of the Year at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater said she bowls the best under pressure and kept applying it after shooting 785 the first three games of the second round, making the first cut of her young career just an hour away from her hometown.
“I haven’t had the greatest season and this six-game block right here just made it all worth it,” said Whipple.
Barnes, Whipple and the rest of the top 32 will bowl Round 3 of qualifying tomorrow at 11 a.m. Eastern, cutting to the top 12 after for the final qualifying round on Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern. The top five after will advance to the stepladder finals at the Resch Center on Sunday, where CBS Sports Network will broadcast the finals live at 7 p.m. Eastern.
