Delaware
Graham Fach Ends Title Drought in Delaware
Fach wins second career title, first since 2016
Almost nine years after winning his first career title, Graham Fach captured his second on Saturday night at Mid County Lanes and Entertainment in Middletown, Del.
Fach defeated top seed Jakob Butturff, 277-200, in the 2025 season-opening PBA Delaware Classic title match to take home the $30,000 top prize.
“I feel nothing, but I feel everything at the same time,” Fach said. “I can’t even begin to think of my emotional state right now. It’s everything all at once, and I’m enjoying every second of it.”
For the first time in nine years, Graham Fach is a PBA Tour champion!
Fach celebrates with the Pilgrim’s Moment of the Match. pic.twitter.com/tWTBzVmwmZ
— PBA Tour (@PBATour) January 26, 2025
Fach won his first career title in the second event of his career, becoming the first Canadian to win on the tour. 3,261 days later, the now-father of two said each win feels like night and day.
“I know how hard it is to win on the PBA Tour now,” Fach said. “I fought so hard for nine years trying to get back in the winner’s circle. I’m not a kid anymore trying to see if I can do it. I’m out here proving to myself that I can do it. I’m proving to everyone that I can do it. More importantly, I’m comfortable doing it now.”
As the drought prolonged, Fach said he began to suffer from imposter syndrome.
“I didn’t really have any expectations when I joined the tour,” Fach said. “I was just a kid going to give the tour a shot and I won. After that, you build expectations. When you fall short, it gets heavy. It’s a big weight to bear. I started to feel like maybe I don’t belong out here. Maybe I had my week and that was it.”
Over the past few seasons, Fach had begun to work his way towards title contention. He finished 14th in points last season and made the PBA World Championship finals. He also dominated the PBA Elite League in Portland in 2023 and 2024.
Fach said can’t specify any particular low moment during the drought, just incremental burden.
“The weight gets a little heavier each time, but to pinpoint any one event I’d say is unfair,” Fach added. “It’s definitely a journey, and without it I don’t think this would feel as good as it does right now.”
Fach said the win felt even sweeter with his wife, Jen, in attendance.
“I’m so thankful my wife was able to make the trip and witness this,” he said. “She’s my biggest supporter. She will go anywhere if I’m on TV. She believes in me. She watches the kids when I’m out on tour. There’s no one that can do anything more than what she’s doing for me. To have the support right behind me, enjoying the moment with me, I love this feeling.”
Fach ran away and hid from top-seeded Butturff in an all-left-handed championship. Fach started with four strikes, while Butturff failed to notch a second strike until the sixth frame.
“I’d like to say that I handled the nerves better, but man those nerves were there,” Fach said. “Jakob is obviously world class. He’s the top seed for a reason. You expect him to be Jakob. If we replay that match, nine times out of 10 he’s that Jakob.
Butturff nearly converted his split in the fourth frame, but it may have been for naught regardless as Fach cruised to 277 with 10 strikes.
“After Jakob split, that got me thinking this could happen,” Fach said, “but you still expect Jakob to be what we all expect Jakob to be. I expected him to strike out for 230 and I knew I needed a couple more strikes to get there. It wasn’t until the ninth frame where I was able to strike and enjoy the moment. I sat down in the chair, basking in it, and realized what happened.”
Fach defeated Nick Pate in the semifinal, 249-226. Pate, who emerged from the pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ), sought his first career title. Pate needed a double in the 10th frame to upend Fach, but missed left on his first attempt.
In the second match, Fach out-struck another PTQ player in Michael Davidson, an impressive feat considering Davidson set the PBA’s 12-game scoring record during qualifying.
Davidson made the show as the highest-seeded qualifier to lose in the Round of 8 of bracket match play. He lost to AJ Johnson in that round, and earned his revenge in the first match of the stepladder finals.
The PBA Tour continues on Tuesday with qualifying of the U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling.
“Next week is next week. I want to focus on today right now,” Fach said. “You can’t go into the U.S. Open too high or too low and expect success. I’m going to have to bring myself into reality real quick, and I’m sure that tournament won’t hesitate to do so.”
Championship Round Scores
Match 1: No. 5 Michael Davidson def. No. 4 AJ Johnson, 237-232
Match 2: No. 3 Graham Fach def. No. 5 Michael Davidson, 256-242
Match 3: No. 3 Graham Fach def. No. 2 Nick Pate, 249-226
Championship: No. 3 Graham Fach def. No. 1 Jakob Butturff, 277-200
Final Standings
- Graham Fach, $30,000
- Jakob Butturff, $18,000
- Nick Pate, $13,000
- Michael Davidson, $10,000
- AJ Johnson, $9,000
More information on the PBA Delaware Championship is available here.
The Hagley Museum and Library houses a collection of patent models
The Hagley Museum and Library houses the nation’s second-largest collection of patent models, many of which the public never gets to see.
For most, 41 years of service is more than enough. For State Librarian Annie Norman, though, even retirement can’t slow her down.
“The work is never done; there’s always something to do,” she said. “I’m going to have to continue to help in other ways.”
Norman will step away this fall after 24 years as the Delaware state librarian and director of the Delaware Division of Libraries.
Throughout her tenure, Norman made waves; the director helped create the Delaware Library Consortium, which allowed all of Delaware’s Public libraries to share items, and brought the library system along during a wave of technological change. For these achievements, she was named to the Delaware Women’s Hall of Fame in 2016 and appointed by President Joe Biden as a member of the National Museum and Library Services Board.
We spoke with Norman as she wraps up an accomplished career about her proudest achievements, and the state of libraries in 2026.
Question: As you look back on your tenure, what was your proudest accomplishment?
Answer: What I’ll be known for more than anything is probably the statewide library catalog and consortium. The politics of bringing all of those libraries together, after years of there being four separate library catalogs in Delaware, took about eight years. More recently, I think bringing the school libraries into that catalog is going to be really significant. We’ve got more than 50 school libraries to be a part of the statewide catalog, something we think can really help with the literacy crisis in this state.
One of the biggest challenges of your tenure was adjusting to the large wave of technology that came about. How have you and the Delaware libraries handled it?
It’s been very systematic. We have a great IT team that helps manage for us, as well as the state funding 100% of library technologies. The growth of the iPhone has certainly had a huge impact on literacy, but we’re really just working hard to bring back the excitement of reading.
The Delaware libraries’ programming have always been a popular resource. How important do you view these offerings to local communities, and will they continue to expand?
Yes, libraries are about enrichment, which means helping support people in things like entrepreneurship, education and innovation. We’ve had libraries start up job centers, which were so successful we could expand to entrepreneurship, and even help with more basic social needs, by starting a “social innovation team” to help with more of the social services-type work.
Where we still struggle is we can only help people access Delaware systems to help with their needs, not fix things within those systems. For that reason, we always encourage these systems to work with us, so the Delaware library system can fit everyone’s needs.
Cuts toward libraries just occurred in New Castle County, with the potential for more to come. How will the library system look to stay afloat?
Because of the economy, because of federal changes, things can get difficult, it’s not the first time we’ve experienced budget cuts. We’ve progressed significantly over the years, but there is much more work to do, and I don’t know that the public understands how critical libraries and librarians are to literacy.
The power of walking into a library and being able to choose what you want to read for a child is powerful, and until people understand that, we can’t achieve our literacy goals.
Adam Denn is an intern reporter for Delaware Online/The News Journal. You can reach him at apdenn@delawareonline.com.
Inspiration
Do you have a suggestion for our Inspiration page? E-mail Tammy Paolino at tpaolino@usatodayco.com
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio — People in Delaware County said it feels like new housing developments are popping up on every corner.
WSYX
“What haven’t you noticed, right? The whole area just exploded,” said Scott Shonebarger.
Scott Sanders, the executive director of the Regional Planning Commission, said companies like Intel and other industries are a main driver for thousands of people moving to Delaware County.
With the big boom comes an urgent need for more housing.
John Wicks is the developer at Real Property Design and Development.
He has spent over a decade building homes for families in Delaware County.
Wicks said the Olentangy School District is one of the hottest spots for new homes.
“I started with one high school up until the 90s, then now we’re up to four up to five different high schools so it’s just a big draw,” said Wicks. “It’s a beautiful community.”
The district has grown into the fourth largest in Ohio with a new elementary school opening next year, and a fifth high school in 2028.
Wicks said the growth has presented some challenges over the years like labor shortage and some opposition.
“It’s become a big issue for a lot of people that live in and around these areas. They tend to oppose new growth and new development, so restrictions have gotten a little bit harder. Costs have obviously gone up over the last 20 years,” said Wicks.
The planning commission says between 275,000 and 350,000 people could call Delaware County home by 2040.
That’s up from 214,000 in 2020.
Scott Shonebarger said he supports growth but wonders when is enough.
“I mean to a certain extent I think you know at some point right you have to have some sort of boundaries I think, getting into the fact that now you have five high schools,” said Shonebarger. “What’s the limit?”
Police in Wilmington, Delaware, shot and killed a 19-year-old man Wednesday night.
The incident happened in a residential area near 24th and Jessup streets just after 11 p.m., Wilmington police said in a news release. The person who was shot has not been publicly identified.
Officers were monitoring a large crowd gathered outside when they saw a man exit a home with a handgun and point it toward the crowd, police say.
When officers approached the man, he ran away and a foot pursuit began, police say.
At some point in the chase, an officer fired their weapon and hit the 19-year-old. The man was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.
Police say they recovered a loaded gun from the man and that the officer was not injured.
Video filmed at the scene shows a crowd of residents gathered outside after the shooting.
Police are asking anyone with more information to come forward. The shooting is under investigation by the Delaware Department of Justice and Wilmington police.
-
Kentucky2 minutes agoOfficials identify missing woman as search enters third day
-
Louisiana5 minutes agoAASHTO Journal – Louisiana DOTD Completes I-20 Rehabilitation Project
-
Maine10 minutes agoAmtrak train strikes, kills man in Old Orchard Beach, Maine
-
Maryland17 minutes ago
Celebrate America 250 at Maryland State Parks with Fun Events Planned All Weekend
-
Michigan20 minutes agoUniversity of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker apologizes after investigation confirms
-
Massachusetts25 minutes agoCrash disupts traffic on Interstate 195 in Seekonk
-
Minnesota32 minutes agoMinnesota primary voting starts for major 2026 races
-
Mississippi35 minutes agoRetirement savings gap hits seniors. How to avoid outliving your money
