How much can happen in a single event qualification? Well, quite a lot, if we talk about the PBA Ohio Classic.

Most bowlers were expecting a high scoring pace this week in Columbus Square Bowling Palace after the oil pattern was announced, but probably no one thought it would be THIS high.

The scoring pace for this 24-game qualifying block was enormous. The total average of the top 10 alone was 246.7, while players averaging 232.75 and below didn’t even make the 40-player cut.

To put that into perspective, if you averaged 232 at the 2026 PBA Indiana Classic, which was also very high scoring, you would be somewhere around the top 20 and comfortably inside the cut.

But strikes were falling all over Columbus at an unbelievable pace.

Ryan Barnes, who led the field from the third block and eventually won qualifying, secured the top spot heading into the Advancers Round.

Barnes shot 300 twice in the final block, adding them to the one he made in Block 3, and finished with 6,061 total pins (252 average). He never went below 1,450 in any six-game block (1,450, 1,517, 1,571, 1,523) and is just one perfect game away from matching the all-time PBA Tour record for most 300 games in a single event (4).

But the belle of the ball, at least in the final two blocks, was François Lavoie.

The three-time major champion couldn’t miss on Wednesday, breaking not one, not two, but - by BowlingLife’s count - three PBA Tour records.

In the final block, the Canadian right-hander went ballistic, posting an 898 three-game total (300, 299, 299). If the PBA record books are correct, no one has ever scored that much, and Lavoie broke the previous record of 889 set by Jason Hurd at the 1999 Tournament of Champions.

Yes, 898 in three games. Just two pins shy of a perfect series. And no, that’s not an April Fools’ joke — we checked.

Lavoie added games of 290, 226, and 277 to reach a massive 1,691 six-game block, breaking the long-standing record of 1,635 shared by Norm Duke and Dave Wodka.

Interestingly, that 26-year-old record was already under pressure earlier in the same block, as Graham Fach posted 1,671, which would have been a record if Lavoie hadn’t scored more.

And yet, the Canadian was not done.

In January 2025, Michael Davidson broke PBA Hall of Famer Mike Aulby’s record, which had stood for nearly three decades, setting a new 12-game mark at 3,086. That record lasted just over a year.

Lavoie completely reset the mark with a 3,200 total over his final 12 games, improving it by 114 pins.

Even if it wasn’t for Lavoie, the 12-game record would have fallen anyway.

PBA Ohio Classic leader Ryan Barnes also beat the previous mark, shooting 3,094 over his final 12 games.

On almost any other day, Barnes would be celebrating a record, but Lavoie was basically a bowling Grinch last night, stealing every possible record from his fellow bowlers.

Talk about Canadian generosity, huh?

All eyes also caught another small detail. François Lavoie was using a new, unreleased Storm bowling ball - the Storm Mansoon - which has been on the USBC list for months and is expected to be announced Friday for the U.S. market.

The Mansoon is expected to be a solid version of the Storm Typhoon, suited for medium oil patterns.

EJ Tackett, who was leading the tournament after 12 games, could not keep the same pace over the final two blocks and dropped to seventh place heading into the Advancers Round.

The cut line for the top 40 fell at 5,594, held by Bailey Mavrick in 40th place.

Just below the cut, Kyle Troup finished 41st with 5,588, missing the Advancers Round by just six pins.

Top 10 PBA Ohio Classic

Click here for the full results.

Today, the remaining 40 players will bowl another six games in the Advancers Round. From there, the top 16 will move on to the next round, with the top five earning a place in Sunday’s stepladder finals.

The stepladder finals will be broadcast live on Sunday, April 5 at 4 p.m. ET on The CW.