March 21, 2023 Nolan Hughes

The Tournament of Champions lived up to and exceeded even the wildest of expectations. For an encore, the PBA returns to central Indiana for the PBA Kokomo Classic.

Last year, Jason Belmonte claimed The Storm Cup: PBA David Small’s Kokomo Classic title at Heritage Lanes. He defeated Nick Pate in a thrilling title match that came down to the final frame.

After a thrilling comeback to win a record fourth TOC on Sunday, Belmonte is back atop the bowling world.

The action begins on Wednesday morning and all rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV. Here’s what you need to know:

Storylines

It felt like only a matter of time, but a third horse has entered the Player of the Year race. After defeating Anthony Simonsen and EJ Tackett in succession to win last week’s PBA Tournament of Champions, the second major of the season, Belmonte is up to third in the points list.

Heading back to his home state of Indiana, Tackett will look for title No. 20. Despite the loss in the TOC title match, he has been utterly dominant this season: Tackett’s 16 rounds led, including championship rounds, is as many as all players not named Simonsen combined.

Furthermore, Tackett or Simonsen have been the leader following 23 of 39 rounds this season. Before Belmonte won the TOC, the last player other than Tackett or Simonsen to lead a round was Tommy Jones after the third round of the PBA Jackson Classic — two weeks ago Wednesday.

All three titans made the championship round last year at Heritage Lanes, where Belmonte got the win. Could the trio return to the stepladder in 2023?

Players to Watch

By virtue of his success in majors, Kyle Troup sits fourth overall in points this season. He hasn’t fared as well in the standard events, posting an average finish of a 27.5. He’ll look to buck that trend and potentially throw his hat in the ring for Player of the Year.

It’s been a similar story for Marshall Kent, who finished eighth in both majors but has yet to tally a top-10 finish in a standard event.

Perhaps a ninth place finish at the TOC, which included three straight wins on the first Saturday night telecast, could signal a turning point in Chris Via’s season.

Fellow Hoosiers looking to win a title in their home state include Kevin McCune, Matt Sanders and Ronnie Russell. Wes Malott, who moved to Indiana a few years ago, will not be competing this week.

Classic Series Points Leaders

As the final Classic Series tournament, the Kokomo Classic will determine the final field for July’s PBA Skill Ball Challenge. The top eight point earners across the Classic Series earn spots to the event.

It’s consistency versus dominance at the top of the Classic Series points list: Two-time champion Tackett holds the slimmest of leads over one-time champion Simonsen.

Keven Williams occupies the final spot heading into Kokomo, but virtually any player could jump into the field with a win this week.

  1. EJ Tackett, 10,850
  2. Anthony Simonsen, 10,800
  3. Sam Cooley, 7,260
  4. Dom Barrett, 6,940
  5. Jakob Butturff, 5,580
  6. Jason Belmonte, 4,860
  7. Tommy Jones, 4,830
  8. Keven Williams, 4,340
  9. Santtu Tahvanainen, 4,290
  10. Bill O'Neill, 4,100
  11. Shawn Maldonado, 4,050
  12. Sean Lavery-Spahr, 3,950
  13. Tom Daugherty, 3,750
  14. AJ Johnson, 3,500
  15. DJ Archer, 3,490

Format

Just like the PBA Jackson Classic, another dual-pattern format awaits in Kokomo. Players will compete on the 41-foot Harry Smith (left lane) and 37-foot Viper (right lane) patterns.

All players will bowl three six-game qualifying rounds between Wednesday and Thursday morning, totaling 18 games of qualifying. The top 24 players will advance to a fourth six-game round on Thursday evening, which will determine the 12 advancers to Friday’s competition.

A final six-game block will determine the four advancers to the stepladder finals, livestreaming at 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday evening on BowlTV.

Tournament Schedule

All times listed in Eastern

Wednesday, March 22
11 a.m. — Qualifying Round 1 (six games)
5 p.m. — Qualifying Round 2 (six games)

Thursday, March 23
11 a.m. — Qualifying Round 3 (six games) — top 24 players advance
5 p.m. — Top-24 Qualifying Round (six games) — top 12 players advance

Friday, March 24
12 p.m. — Top-12 Qualifying Round (six games) — top four players advance
6:30 p.m. — Stepladder finals

More information on the PBA Kokomo Classic is available here.