Swindle climbs ladder to win 2023 PWBA Northern Colorado Regional
GREELEY, Colo. - Haley Swindle of Sharpsburg, Georgia, had a slow start to qualifying, but she snuck in as the fourth seed and proceeded to run up the ladder to take home her first Professional Women’s Bowling Association Regional title at the PWBA Northern Colorado Regional, which was contested at Highland Park Lanes in Greeley, Colorado, on Saturday.
“This is definitely at the top of my list of accomplishments so far,” said Swindle after her win. “This tournament had the highest level of competition I’ve gone up against.”
The 17-year-old Nebraska commit’s road to the win went through a gauntlet of high-level bowlers in Senior Team USA member Sharon Powers, Junior Team USA’s Avery Domaguin and PWBA member Giselle Poss.
Swindle was unfazed though as proven during her first match against Powers that pitted experience versus youth.
The match was close throughout, but two opens by Powers led to a 179 finish while Swindle remained clean and shot 209 to move on. Powers would earn $525 for her fourth-place finish.
Both Swindle and Domaguin started with turkeys during their semifinal match, but Domaguin would open in the fourth frame to open the door for Swindle.
Swindle, meanwhile, would keep it clean until a 3-6-10 chop in the seventh frame. The miscue could have let Domaguin back into the match, but Domaguin would then miss a 7-pin. Swindle, on the other hand, would strike out, which allowed her to win the match 231-215 to earn a spot in the title match against Poss.
Domaguin earned $675 for her third-place finish.
Poss earned the top seed by leading the field by more than 10 pins per game thanks to a qualifying block that included scores of 222, 279 and 268 the final three games. Poss’s success was largely due to her ability to use her high rev rate to move left of everyone and move ahead of the transition.
Her ball reaction wasn’t quite the same during the title match against Swindle, however, as she began the game with two splits and never recovered.
Meanwhile, Swindle’s up-the-lane approach proved to be the difference as she only had just one open and struck on her last six shots to win the match and title, 223-167. Poss earned $825 for her runner-up finish.
Getting into the stepladder was already a great accomplishment for Swindle, who shot 919 her last four games to make it into the final four.
Swindle attributes her higher scores to being able to calm her nerves after a slow start.
“Once I calmed down, I was able to execute my shots better than I was during the first four games,” Swindle said. “I was then able to put what I learned during those last four games in the stepladder and trust the process.”
Swindle not only earned $1,650 for the win, but she also earned an automatic spot in the PWBA Regional Showdown on December 7-9. The last person who won the Regional Showdown was Julia Bond, who is currently an assistant coach at Nebraska and Swindle’s future coach next fall.
“The goal in the short run now is to continue to do well in tournaments and keep working on my physical and mental game, looking towards competing on the tour after college,” said Swindle.
For more information on PWBA Regional competition, visit PWBA.com/Regionals.
