Ken Abner wins River Valley Challenge

Ken Abner (on left) receives the championship belt
from two-time defending champion Chuck Tompkins

After a three-week break since he rolled his last game, Ken Abner of Cincinnati didn't know how he would make it through eight games in the 19th River Valley Challenge at Town and Country Bowling Lanes today. 

When the long day of competition was over, Abner was the winner with a total of 1,616 pins. 

Jeff Fehr was the runner-up with a total of 1,606 pins. Jeremy King was third (1,605) and two-time defending champion Chuck Tompkins took fourth place (1,602).

"I made spares and survived and stayed close," Abner said. "I was in fifth place going into the last game, so I didn't expect to get to that point where 216 would get me a win, so it was nice."

Abner's high game was 249 in Game 2.

Here are the top 12 finishers:

1. Ken Abner 1,616
2. Jeff Fehr 1,606
3. Jeremy King 1,605
4. Chuck Tompkins 1,602
5. Marc Massie 1,598
6. Chris Pollard 1,571
7. Tommy Kalb 1,550
8. Shane Ison 1,549
9. Brian Himmler 1,533
10. Gary Ostrowski 1,529
11. Jennifer King 1,528
12. Brandon Novak 1,520
13. Kirby Allen 1,516
14. Audra Mrenak 1,511
15. Ben Sobel 1,506