Using the two-handed style, Ethan Fiore averaged 223 over two days bowling to capture the title in last year’s Kremer Classic PBA event in Minster. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Quietly, and without enough fanfare, the Professional Bowlers Association Tour launches another notable sports calendar for 2026-’27 with this weekend’s 6th Annual Kremer Minster Classic at Community Lanes.
A friend in Jackson Center asked me over the weekend if we had something up our sleeve to kick off the 2026-’27 sports year on Press Pros. Ohio State football camp starts, of course, along with local high school teams back at it.
And the state’s most competitive high school volleyball, by class, can be found in the four or five-county geography of Mercer, Auglaize, Darke, Shelby, and Miami counties. You won’t remember, probably, but the Tipp Red Devils are the reigning Division III champs from last year’s OHSAA tournament.
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And of course, cross country, golf, harness racing’s Little Brown Jug, and regular coverage of the Central Buckeye Conference comes to Press Pros. But none of it qualifies as the ‘kick off’ to our annual sports year.
That distinction for several years has belonged with the Annual Kremer Roofing PBA Classic, hosted by Doug and Lori Davidson and Community Lanes, in Minster, and if you’re counting, this weekend’s launch marks the 6th installment of what can only be the biggest little star-studded competitive collection on the Ohio sports calendar, annually.
What was it that Carl Sandburg once wrote…on little cat feet, like the fog…the back-to-back PBA regional events slip into Minster this weekend, and Coldwater (PBA Bowlerstore.com Classic) next weekend (Aug. 14-16) with a stunning roster of world-ranked competitors that no other sport can offer – EJ Tackett, Graham Fach, Shawn Maldonado, Versailles’ Michael Davidson, and Andrew Anderson are all listed as pre-event participants, heading a star-studded field.
“I had no idea,” my questioner responded as I shared the news. “Things like that slip up on you, don’t they?”
Not if you’re Doug and Lori Davidson, proprietors of Minster’s Community Lanes, and one of the state’s most progressive duos in the field of bowling center ownership.
Lori Davidson (far left) and Doug Davidson (right) with 2023 Kremer Classic winner EJ Tackett and presenting sponsor Jeff Kremer (Kremer Roofing, Versailles)
After their purchase of Community Lanes in 2019, the Davidsons have more than brought light to the fact of the area bowling awareness with events like the Kremer Classic, sponsored by Versailles businessman, Jeff Kremer (Kremer Roofing). They’re produced a winning event for the Minster community, as well as a well-known comfortable environment for area dining, and special event hosting.
And, they’ve also produced an event of surprise finishes, none more than last year’s emergence of 20-year-old Ethan Fiore, a two-handed bowler of slight build from Tampa, Florida, who overtook the field on the final day…including top qualifier, Michael Davidson…to lap everyone and claim the $4,000 first prize check.
“Didn’t expect this,” said Fiore, who earlier last year became the youngest-ever to claim the Professional Bowlers Tour’s prestigious Player’s Championship. “I just do what I do,” which includes bowling against adult competition since he was 15 years old. As conditions on the lanes became progressively tougher, he outlasted another little-known qualifier, Alex Keplinger, to claim the Kremer title.
As mentioned, Community Lanes is the overture to a much older event with Coldwater’s Bowlerstore.com Classic (sponsored by the Davidson’s Versailles bowling supply business), hosted by the Pla-Mor Lanes and the Hartings family. This year they present the 18th consecutive delivery of what’s become one of the PBA’s most notable regional, or satellite events.
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Known for its tough scoring conditions, Pla-Mor has for years attracted names like EJ Tackett (currently the #1 bowler in the world), Parker Bohn III, Tommy Jones, Norm Duke, Chris Barnes, and Kyle Troup…seeking to master Pla-Mor’s reputation for being one of the tour’s toughest stops. More than one confesses, “You don’t want to come here and get ‘Coldwatered’.” And many of them will warm to the task by participating in the Kremer Classic, in Minster, beginning Friday.
Top competition on back-to-back weekends? In the case of EJ Tackett, in his past three seasons, alone, he’s earned six standard titles, five major titles, 21 standard top-five finishes, 10 major top-five finishes and three Player of the Year awards. He won the Kremer title in Minster in 2023.
For a complete schedule of weekend activities in Minster this weekend, and Coldwater, next weekend, go online to https://communitylanes.com/events/6th-annual-pba-kremer-roofing-classic/ for Minster…and https://www.pba.com/tournaments/2026/2026-pba-bowlerstore-com-central-classic-presented-moxys-xtra-pair for Coldwater.
Seriously, could there be a better way to start the new sports season on Press Pros?
And best of all…it’s free, and your face-to-face with the friendliest professional athletes in the world.
At least in my experience.
Community Lanes sponsors your favorite area sports on Press Pros. We’re so much more than a bowling center. Visit us soon.