Ethan Fiore's First Major ｜ 2025 PBA Players Championship ｜ Full Match vs. Ryan Barnes

Don't sleep on these two phenom. What's that like? Fiori and Barnes, the title showdown. Neither one of these kids were alive when I left that solid eight, Johnny. Just saying. Neither was I. Here is Ryan Barnes. Wait, you weren't alive? Sorry, Randy. All right, same ball to start the title match for young Ryan Barnes. Messenger to start for Barnes. Messenger sending a message early. Tail-to-tail time. Matched up in strike percentage. Is there an advantage anywhere? Slightly for a strike-after-strike percentage for Ethan, but that's it. And, man, if you could go back and watch the seven-frame roll-off that Ethan had against Eagle Attack at last month. The loft and a 10. Yeah, interestingly enough, Ethan is going with a three-step approach to start. He uses five and then goes to three, and he uses three to get his ball speed a little bit slower and to shape it more. We'll get you a full shot here in a minute. Three-step approach or five. Ethan said, before coming out here, I wasn't confident on shorter lengths, but just the way he went through ball selection reps. Early on, Ethan playing this pair. Ten boards hooking more than Ryan Barnes, going with a max thrill solid. He said, look, there's no pressure for me. Everybody has these expectations built up when you enter a season. Now, there's a different level of pressure when you're in a championship matchup, but he said, I've already smashed what my expectations were heading into the year. Get right, well, he started in a precarious position. And one more time, taking a look at his approach. Here's a three-stepper. He's really trying to open up this pattern. First couple of frames early on in the title match. Not ideal. I don't think it is. I think things have broken down. I think Ryan's line of the pocket is better. Just got to get it off my hands. Good cover. It's a good reaction, too. And it also gives us a chance to say hello to everybody at Maple Lane's Lakeland, where there's a watch party happening. Not far from where I live. Johnny LaSpina. Love Johnny. Got a hook. You see that break point board down lane at four. And he's lucky the ten's not standing with the two, four, eight. Again, it's all about managing the emotions, managing that heart rate. I was just going to ask you. That tendency for Ryan is to get fast, right? He likes to throw it. Too fast and to the right, it's going to do that. Do you remember how old you were when you made your first TV appearance? Yeah. Push. Oh, boy. Yeah, I knew I missed it left immediately. And what was that like? How old were you? I was 24, and I shot 153. And I did that against David Ozio. Tournament leader was Mike Durbin. This is in Tucson, Arizona. Ozio takes on Mike Durbin. Title match, Durbin shoots 150. Just a totally different vibe from anything else you've ever done. It's the same thing that Tim Foy's been going through, right? It's a learning process, so it's all the progression. Starts from learning how to catch, to making match play, to making shows, to learning how to win. One of these two will be a winner, and for Barnes, after he looked unflappable in the semifinals, leaves the four here. And so things have shifted. Fiore with back-to-back spares. Barnes with an open on the second and is able to spare here, but it's Fiore with the advantage early on. Ethan just 20 years of age. 14th at the World Championship. Both these guys were outside the top 130 at the USBC Masters. Top three at the Nevada Classic. That epic roll-off with Tackett, and this is a nightmare. 410. Brutal. I think it was Keplinger in his match with Foy where he left that light pocket ripper 4-7. That's kind of that hit there, but the 10 stands. There's no way that should be a split. No way that should be a split. That is a terrible break. Brutal. When you look at those max scores as we hit the fourth. So both guys blinking here early on. We've had both of them have an open in the first three. Johnny, what were you doing when you were 17? Let's see here. Turning pro? Nope, definitely not. That was mowing lawns at Mr. Bustos, my next-door neighbor. Making $25 every two weeks, I guess. This kid's trying to make 100 grand. Yeah. Nice life, kid. Good shot there. Nice rebound after that bad break. Ethan Fiore playing the lanes deeper than anybody has played this pattern today. He's way in, lofting it, and trying to get the ball to the right zone down lane. And you can see the side rotation. When you're covering that much territory, that many boards, you have to have side rotation to get the ball to come off the end of the pattern and get back to the pocket. When you're going straighter, more up the back, more roll. Like that. Good response by Ryan. So, again, a good note for the folks watching. When you're trying to go straighter, it's better to have your hand more up the back of the ball to control that roll. Having a little more end-over-end will control the down lane reaction. When you're trying to open up the pattern, open up the lane condition, more side roll. Said he's had a lot of conversations with Mark Baker, with Steve Jacobs. Coach Biggs. Best ever. About his game. Mark Baker, PBA champion, regarded as one of the best coaches, zipped up, the best coach that was left. Bad shot. Yeah, he got lucky. He got lucky in a big way there. Yeah, nice break, just leaving a three, a good two boards left to target. Talked to his dad last year when he made the show and the players, and he actually faced his dad. And Chris said, it just occurs to you, man, it's a better emotion, it's a better feeling than any of my 19 titles when your son can do it. Especially a kid that two, three years ago, they didn't know this was within the realm of possibility. He was going to play basketball. Ryan's worked his tail off to get to this point. Amazing. Yeah. Ethan trying to double up. Went off his first strike. And he does. I think we witnessed his moxie last month in that roll off with E.J. Tackett. Yeah, he did get a nice break, tripping a two pin in that seven frame run with E.J. But, I mean, he was right there shot for shot and just left that ripper seven to end the run. But he showed that he can show up in big moments. Johnny was feeding out the only one with maple lanes, Lakeland. Yeah, there's another guy there by the name of Amleto Monacholi. You might've heard of him. Yeah. Hall of Famer. Amleto, Johnny helping Ethan along the way and down there in Lakeland, Florida. With a watch party this afternoon. And how about this kid? What E.J. said to him after the roll off, he said, you just earned the respect of everybody on this tour. Yeah, yeah. You're just not supposed to do this when you're 20. Looking to try to repeat what Kevin McCune did in 2023, win this tournament for your first title. And, oh, by the way, $100,000. So bailed on him down lane. Sure did. Looked at those tracking, right? What happened here? The numbers actually look pretty good. And then all of a sudden the ball just bails like somebody poured oil right in front of the pocket. Randy, how do you explain that? It was just, I, how do you explain that? Missed it again. Oh my. Brutal. Ethan is way farther left. Could be pushing oil into that zone for Ryan Barnes, but now it's back to back. Missed two four eights, one in the second frame, and now here in the sixth. And now he trails by 30. And a re-rack. Now let's talk purse money. So second place, not too shabby. Whether you're 20 or 22 years of age, that's $50,000. And Tim Foyle will walk away with $30,000. 20 and 15 for fourth and fifth. Started with 172 entrance in this event. Incredibly gruesome just to get here, and that's a nice bounce back for Ryan in the seventh, but now he needs Fiore to blink. Here are top 12 finishes for Ethan in the World Series of Bowling. Eighth in the Rothholmen doubles with Pete Virgo. Twelfth in the Scorpion. Virgos. I know, they typed it wrong on your paper. I know, Pete. Here it comes for Fiore, and Ethan is in that groove. I've coached Pete for many, many years. Doubles partner to Ethan, and I saw Ethan for the first time last year when they bowled together in doubles. I would use the word impressive, but I don't think that's a big enough word to use describing Ethan Fiore and what he's doing here in the title match of the players. So calm, so cool, so collective, folks. I don't wanna use the word boring, but when you're talking with him, to think that he's 20 and he's got this much maturity, it's like talking with a 40-year-old. He's just so even keeled. I mean, if he didn't have the Razor stubble, you'd think he's 12, right? Oh my goodness. It is spectacular. Even talking with Ryan's dad, the Hall of Famer, Chris Barnes, about Ethan, he said, make no mistake about it, this kid can flat out bowl. That is inside between fifth and sixth arrow, with loft, and the trajectory to the right has to be spot on, and it has been for the last five straight. Ball change for Barnes. Hustle x-ray on the right. See what he does on the left if it's the same ball. But right now, he's kind of in that mode where it's, I gotta strike on every shot to have any chance. Ethan's in the 220s right now with that five bagger. Right now, Ryan Barnes in the 180s. You see the max score is 214, 254. Must strike. He did. Let's go. Bernard is right, he's gonna make Ethan do it. Oh my goodness. Yeah, it is a good night when there's 100K on the line. That were the 10, and he does as we hit the 10th, but there's still pressure on. If you're wondering who the youngest player to ever win a major, that still goes to Anthony Simonson. But at 20 years old, he needs a mark to win for the first time, that first win, a major. History in the making once again on the PBA Tour, just incredible. At 19 years and 39 days, back in February of 2016. You're talking Simon, right? For Anthony Simonson when he won the USBC Masters, and now Ethan Fiore at 20 years of age. And you know what Anthony's done? Five major titles and already a legendary career, Hall of Fame career by 28, Ethan Fiore. To punch his ticket to the main event at the Tournament of Champions next week. A moment of glory for Fiore, the Player's Champion. The moment of the match is brought to you by Pilgrim's. Chicken can be boring, but Pilgrim's is turning chicken nuggets upside down. I love it, you love it, put it in a nugget. Here's a nugget, this kid is phenomenal. From roll-off history with Tackett, to championship glory, this is your day. He turned pro at 17, he bet on himself. And now at 20 years of age, the youngest major champion since Anthony Simonson. And his name is Ethan Fiore. Incredible, absolutely incredible. I didn't think that he would be able to do what he did, playing that deep an angle and carving the lane that much. And I mean, his shot making was just absolutely on point. Incredible. A third last year for Barnes and the Players, this year runner-up, he's got championships in store for him. He's only 22. Oh, absolutely. But I mean, Ethan just did something that no other player was able to do today, playing the lanes like that. One of one, $100,000 at the age of 20. Incredible. His first PBA Tour title.