Motivated Via, Rejuvenated Belmonte Rise to Top in PBA Tournament of Champions
Ohio native Chris Via seized the PBA Tournament of Champions lead in style, firing 300 in the final game on Thursday night at AMF Riviera Lanes in Fairlawn, Ohio.
Via leapfrogged rookie Brandon Bonta for the lead. The 34-year-old has a total pinfall of 6,241, including bonus pins, after 26 games of competition through the first round of match play.
Bonta ranks second, followed by four-time TOC champion Jason Belmonte, Andrew Anderson and Zach Wilkins.
Two-handers Darren Tang, Kyle Troup and Santtu Tahvanainen are the first three players outside the current cut to the show.
EJ Tackett, looking to become the second player to win the Triple Crown twice, lurks in 12th place and 154 pins behind fifth place.
Complete standings are available here.
This year’s 61st TOC marks the 37th time Riviera has hosted the major championship.
The 10th tournament of the 2026 PBA Tour powered by Go Bowling also the final PBA Championship Sunday on The CW of the season.
The stepladder finals will air live Sunday, April 26 at 4 p.m. ET on The CW.
Via, who lives in Columbus, said this feels like a second home tournament of the season. When he attended Notre Dame College — not that Notre Dame — more than a decade ago, he drilled his bowling balls in the pro shop inside AMF Riviera Lanes.
Coincidentally, Via said his understanding of his arsenal has been the difference in his consistent strong performances this season.
“I feel like I really know what my equipment is doing,” Via said. “I’m seeing the lane really well, making faster guesses, and making a lot of correct guesses. I have a lot of good eyes behind me with the ball reps that are helping me get into the right position a little bit quicker. Any frames that you're not wasting, you're gaining an advantage on the field.”
Via has made three championship rounds this season, but has yet to earn a seed higher than third or finish higher than third.
“I feel like I've kind of lived in the four or five seed for a long time,” Via said. “When I won my first title, I happened to be the No. 1 seed. I know how big of an advantage it can be. I’m going to keep my head down, try to bowl as well as I can and see what happens.”
Bonta led the opening two rounds of qualifying on Wednesday. While he dropped to second after Via’s perfect game, the rookie said his confidence is at an all-time high.
“This shows me that obviously I belong out here,” Bonta said. “This whole year has been about proving myself and showing myself that I'm capable of being out here. In this tournament, from the get-go, I felt like I had the “it” this week, and then it just kept going. Hopefully, I can get some good hits to keep going my way, and we can keep climbing up to the top.”
Neither Via nor Bonta can feel too confident about their placement with Belmonte lingering in third place.
Belmonte has won the TOC a record four times — more than the rest of the match play field combined — among his record 15 major championship titles.
Belmonte has grown stronger with each passing round this week. He returned to the United States on Monday after spending time at home in Australia and missing the past two tournaments.
“We’re not done yet, but I'm very happy to be sitting where I am, and very grateful to have taken a couple of weeks off to recharge,” Belmonte said.
While Belmonte has not made a championship round yet this season, he has just one finish lower than 21st and ranks 10th overall in points.
“The main thing is when I throw it like that, over the course of 50 games, I'll always have a really good chance at making the show,” Belmonte said of his performance on Thursday. “I'm not overly disappointed this season with how I've bowled. In order to make a lot of these shows this year, you just had to have the best ball reaction in the building. I think my game, ever since I can remember, has been more of a fighter. Making those really tough shots on those tougher patterns, that has always been my strength.I feel like the TOC, especially in this building, has always been a little tricky at times. When you look at the class of player that have made the show here in the last decade, it's not a coincidence that you see those players make it regularly. It requires a lot of finesse.”
While content with his performance thus far, Belmonte is not resting on his laurels.
“I wouldn’t say I’m excited,” Belmonte said. “I’ve been here a thousand times. I’m not going to bed tonight thinking about making the show. I’ve got a job to do tomorrow. Once you start feeling the achievement before the achievement has been met, I think you're setting yourself up for failure.
“Ask me how I feel 16 games from now, when I'm the No. 1 seed, if I’m excited.”
The final rounds of match play will begin Friday at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET. All qualifying rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV.
The five players with the most pins after 42 games are completed on Friday will advance to Sunday’s stepladder finals, airing live at 4 p.m. ET on The CW.
This week’s 40-foot oil pattern is named in honor of Don Johnson, the PBA Hall of Famer who famously shot 299 on lanes 27-28 at AMF Riviera Lanes during the 1970 Firestone Tournament of Champions title match.
Match Play Round 1 Standings | 26 Games
- Chris Via, 6,241 total pinfall, 234.27 average
- Brandon Bonta, 6,218 233.96
- Jason Belmonte, 6,190, 232.31
- Andrew Anderson, 6,185, 229.23
- Zach Wilkins, 6,158, 230.50
- Darren Tang, 6,080, 228.08
- Kyle Troup, 6,058, 228.38
- Santtu Tahvanainen, 6,045, 227.31
- Mitch Hupé, 6,036, 226.38
- Kris Prather, 6,009, 227.65
- Alex Horton, 6,008, 224.15
- EJ Tackett, 6,004, 225.15
- Matt Ogle, 5,962, 224.69
- Marshall Kent, 5,937, 222.58
- Tim Foy Jr., 5,920, 224.23
- Ronnie Russell, 5,917, 221.81
- Anthony Simonsen, 5,890, 221.92
- Jake Peters, 5,826, 219.46
- Patrick Dombrowski, 5,811, 221.19
- Ethan Fiore, 5,802, 219.69
- Austin Grammar, 5,797, 220.65
- BJ Moore, 5,777, 221.04
- Kevin McCune, 5,709, 216.12
- Sean Lavery-Spahr, 5,497, 211.42
Complete standings are available here.
Tournament Schedule
All times Eastern
Friday, April 24 — BowlTV
11 a.m. — Round-Robin Match Play Round 2 (eight games)
6 p.m. — Round-Robin Match Play Round 3 (eight games)
Sunday, April 26 — The CW
4 p.m. — PBA Tournament of Champions finals
More information on the PBA Tournament of Champions is available here.