February 26, 2026 Nolan Hughes
  • Match play finalizes Friday on BowlTV
  • Belmonte and defending champion Tackett remain in title contention
  • Championship Sunday begins at 4 p.m. ET on The CW

Sixteen players remain in title contention for the 2026 PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic. 

Among them is 32-time PBA Tour champion Jason Belmonte, who secured the top seed for match play with a total pinfall of 4,291 (+691) for his 18 games at Bowlero St. Peters.

Belmonte averaged more than 238 to lead the 90-player field on the 45-foot Dick Weber oil pattern.

Zach Wilkins and Patrick Dombrowski secured the second and third seeds for match play.

Justin Knowles, Matt Russo, Cameron Crowe, Packy Hanrahan and Anthony Neuer — all left-handers — round out the top eight players, each earning a bye through the Round of 24.

 

The ninth through 24th qualifiers began the best-of-seven-games match play bracket on Thursday night.

EJ Tackett, who won his 25th career PBA Tour title in this event last year, engineered a four-game sweep of Dom Barrett in a rematch of last year’s title match.

Other winners included Thomas Larsen, Hayden Stippich, Tom Smallwood, AJ Chapman, Brandon Runk and Austin Grammar.

But the star of the night, without a doubt, was Graham Fach.

Fach turned lanes 29-30 into his personal playground, firing games of 300, 277 and 290 to sweep Eric Jones.

Jones, to his credit, largely kept pace with the Canadian. Jones shot 242, 288 and 248 before succumbing to his inevitable demise with 213.

“You're trying to keep your head clear, because if you start thinking of the moment, it's easy to get derailed fast,” Fach said of his mentality. “Fortunately or unfortunately, Eric didn't let me get derailed fast. He was right there the entire match. I was fortunate to be on the right end of some strikes and fortunate to get ahead.”

Fach, who finished third a week ago in the PBA Players Championship, said he cannot recall a performance in his career quite like this one.

“You'd think I'd remember, but it's hard to remember, so I'm going to say this is probably the best I’ve bowled (in match play),” he said.

Fach’s performance came on what will be the championship round pair for Sunday’s finals, boding well for his chances should he make it to the stepladder.

The 16 remaining players will continue match play at 12 p.m. ET (11 a.m. CT) on Friday. The winners will compete again at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT).

Each of the four winners in the Round of 8 will advance to the stepladder finals on Sunday.

The highest-seeded loser in the Round of 8 will join them as the No. 5 seed, which means Belmonte is one match victory away from securing a berth on the show.

The championship round is set for Sunday, March 1 at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. local time).

 
Match Play Results

Round of 24
No. 17 Hayden Stippich def. No. 16 Richie Teece, 4-2
No. 24 Austin Grammar def. No. 9 Ryan Barnes, 4-3

No. 18 Tom Smallwood def. No. 15 Santtu Tahvanainen, 4-3
No. 10 Graham Fach def. No. 23 Eric Jones, 4-0

No. 20 AJ Chapman def. No. 13 Kris Prather, 4-1
No. 21 Brandon Runk def. No. 12 Matt Sanders, 4-1

No. 14 EJ Tackett def. No. 19 Dom Barrett, 4-0
No. 11 Thomas Larsen def. No. 22 TJ Rock, 4-3

Round of 16
No. 1 Jason Belmonte vs. No. 17 Hayden Stippich
No. 8 Anthony Neuer vs. No. 24 Austin Grammar

No. 2 Zach Wilkins vs. No. 18 Tom Smallwood
No. 7 Packy Hanrahan vs. No. 10 Graham Fach

No. 4 Justin Knowles vs. No. 20 AJ Chapman
No. 5 Matt Russo vs. No. 21 Brandon Runk

No. 3 Patrick Dombrowski vs. No. 14 EJ Tackett
No. 6 Cameron Crowe vs. No. 11 Thomas Larsen

Complete scores are available here.

PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic Schedule

All times Eastern

Friday, Feb. 27 — BowlTV
12 p.m. — Elimination Match Play - Round of 16 (best of 7 games)
7 p.m. — Elimination Match Play - Round of 8 (best of 7 games)

Saturday, Feb. 28 — BowlTV
8:30 p.m. — PBA Junior National Championship Finals

Sunday, March 1 — The CW
4 p.m. — PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic stepladder finals