GREEN BAY, Wis. – In an arena filled with over 6,500 bowling fans, Josie Barnes of Hermitage, Tennessee, took home her second Professional Women’s Bowling Association title of the year at the PWBA Anniversary Open in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
With cheers and screams pouring down from the stands, Barnes took down No. 1 seed Kayla Smith of Rockford, Illinois, 236-191 in the title match.
“I think I’m still processing this,” said Barnes. “I’m a big sports fan so I’ve attended a lot of different sporting events, to sit in the stands as a fan and as someone who competes professionally, I’ve always thought ‘I want that for bowling.’”
Barnes’ journey to the title began in the semifinals, facing off against England’s Verity Crawley. Crawley was coming off a 212-193 win over Colombia’s Rocio Restrepo in the second match of the night. Restrepo earned $6,500 for her fourth-place finish.
The semifinal match stayed even early on before Crawley opened twice in the fifth and seventh frames, allowing Barnes to just stay clean the rest of the way and advance to the title match against Smith with a 214. Crawley ended with 194, earning $7,500 for third place.
Smith captured the top seed after a final six-game qualifying block of 1,593, the second-highest six-game qualifying total since the relaunch in 2015.
After trading marks in the opening frames, Barnes fired off five strikes in a row from frames three through seven, distancing herself from Smith who opened in the fifth frame. Carry for Smith became an issue late in the match as the corners refused to fall before a strike in the fill ball ended the drought, finishing with 191 while Barnes ended with 236, earning her sixth career title and the $20,000 top prize.
Once the last ball was thrown, Barnes scooped up her daughter and went to embrace her husband.
“(Having them here) keeps me grounded and stay in the moment,” said Barnes. “My daughter keeps me very honest, but at the end of the day, regardless of what happened tonight, I was going to come home to her running around and becoming a parent helped me change my outlook during these moments.”
The stepladder finals kicked off with Restrepo and Sweden’s Nora Johansson in the opening match, with Johansson making her first career stepladder finals appearance and being the first two-handed bowler to make a PWBA stepladder.
Despite an early split by Johansson, she was in control of the match until the final two frames where back-to-back splits forced her to settle for 209 while Restrepo struck when she had to and had a clean 215 game to advance. Johansson earned $5,500 for her fifth-place finish.
After four rounds of qualifying at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley earlier in the week, the stepladder finals moved to the nearby Resch Center as a part of the Junior Gold Championship Opening Ceremonies Sunday evening to bring professional women’s bowling in front of today’s top youth bowlers.
The crowd did not disappoint.
“Feeling that type of atmosphere with all the fans that were here is going to stick with me for a long time,” said Barnes. “I hope more events in the future are like this.”
All five stepladder finalists leaned into the energy the crowd brought one way or another, adding an additional layer to the event as the sport was in front of those that may one day find themselves in the same spot in the future.
The PWBA Tour continues July 24-27 with the annual Professional Bowlers Association/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles event in Houston.
