Tompkins had an eight-game total of 1,787 pins today in the 18th River Valley Challenge. Mike Kirian was second at 1,736 and Brian Himmler finished in third place at 1,717.
Tompkins had taken four months off after suffering a knee injury. He just started bowling again about six weeks ago and wasn't sure if he would be able to defend his title. But he started practicing again when he got the okay from his doctor.
"I had a 300 game last night (in Columbus), so I came down today with a lot of confidence and came down with the same game plan: make my spares and just try to stay out of trouble, and it worked," Tompkins said.
Tompkins only had two games under 200 in winning the River Valley Challenge for the third time.
"Probably my best eight-game block here in all the years I've bowled this tournament," Tompkins said.
