June 12, 2026 Jill Winters

Shawnee, Okl. – The same day the United States Bowling Congress announced on social media the four male senior bowlers who will represent Team USA at the PANAM Bowling IX Senior Pan American Championship, two of them had big days at the 2026 PBA50 FireLake Classic.

Tom Hess posted the second highest block on A-squad with 1,446 for six games, while his soon-to-be teammate Chris Barnes fired his way to the top spot. Barnes shot 252, 257, 300, 252, 211 and 217 for 1,489. He had stretches of 11 strikes in a row and 22 straight strikes on the way to averaging 248.

Just a few minutes after Barnes shot 300 for an 809 series on B-squad, Jason Couch rolled a 300 two pairs away. Jeff Beasley also had a perfect game on A-squad. The other two bowlers who will join Barnes and Hess on Team USA are Tom Daugherty and Parker Bohn III.

Left-hander Michael Hartter began Friday averaging 243 on his way to a total of 1,463. He had games of 223, 244, 246, 267, 237 and 246 sitting in second place. He leads Hess by 17 pins. In fourth place is Dave Cirigliano with 1,436 and Rick Benard is fifth at 1,432.

Barnes and the B-squad will be on the lanes first at 10 a.m. Eastern Saturday for the final six games of qualifying followed by the A-squad at 4:30 p.m. ET. As soon as that squad is done, the field will be cut to the top 32. Currently, the cut number is 1,325. Those players will move into the Advancers Round on Sunday with all pins carrying forward.

After five games in the Advancers Round starting at 10 a.m. Sunday, all pins will drop and the top 24 will move into bracket match play. The top four undefeated players and the highest seeded eliminated bowler in the Round of 8 will make it to the stepladder finals scheduled for 7 p.m. ET Sunday. The only place you can watch the action is on BowlTV.

Top 10 2026 PBA50 FireLake Classic standings:

  1. Chris Barnes, 1,489 total pins (+289)
  2. Michael Hartter, 1,463 (+263)
  3. Tom Hess, 1,446 (+246)
  4. Dave Cirigliano, 1,436 (+236)
  5. Rick Benard, 1,432 (+232)
  6. Mark Clark, 1,430 (+230)
  7. Brett Cooper, 1,427 (+227)
  8. Mike Dias, 1,424 (+224)
  9. Mark Dillard, 1,419 (+219)
  10. Pete McCordic, 1,419 (+219)

Full standings - 2026 PBA50 FireLake Classic

 

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