June 13, 2026 Nolan Hughes

For the fourth consecutive year, EJ Tackett put himself in position to win a major championship in the PBA World Series of Bowling.

And for the fourth consecutive year, Tackett won the match to become the first player in PBA history to win a title event in four consecutive years.

Tackett, the top seed, defeated Zach Wilkins in the title match, 188-181.

“I can't even put it into words what this feels like right now, to do something that no one else has ever done in the history of our sport,” Tackett said.

 

The final frame of the 2026 AMF PBA World Championship left the hundreds of people at Strobl Arena inside AMF Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich. — and the hundreds of thousands watching around the world on CBS and Paramount+ — speechless.

Wilkins, who had won six straight matches after beginning the nine-player stepladder finals as the No. 7 seed, needed a mark in his 10th frame to clinch the title.

The Canadian left a pocket 4-9 split. He missed the spare attempt by centimeters.

The match took place on the same exact pair of lanes where Tackett lost in similarly dramatic and devastating fashion two months ago in the USBC Masters.

The career Grand Slam slipped through Tackett’s hands in the Masters. The first four-peat in PBA history did not.

Tackett claimed the 28th PBA Tour title and eighth major of his career, earning his fourth consecutive AMF PBA World Championship title and the $100,000 top prize.

The nine players advanced to the stepladder finals following 66 games of qualifying during the PBA World Series of Bowling XVII last month. 

The 2026 PBA Tour powered by Go Bowling continues with the Magnum Ice Cream Company PBA Norm Duke Open on Tuesday in Pennsylvania.

This story will be updated.

Match Results

Play-in Stepladder
No. 8 Jason Sterner def. No. 9 Darren Tang, 203-202
No. 7 Zach Wilkins def. No. 8 Jason Sterner, 180-165
No. 7 Zach Wilkins def. No. 6 Brandon Bonta, 223-173
No. 7 Zach Wilkins def. No. 5 Jason Belmonte, 185-181

Championship Round
No. 7 Zach Wilkins def. No. 4 Kris Prather, 192-192 (X-X, X-9)
No. 7 Zach Wilkins def. No. 3 Bill O’Neill, 205-144
No. 7 Zach Wilkins def. No. 2 Chris Via, 235-217
No. 1 EJ Tackett def. No. 7 Zach Wilkins, 188-181

Final Standings
  1. EJ Tackett, $100,000
  2. Zach Wilkins, $60,000
  3. Chris Via, $40,000
  4. Bill O’Neill, $30,000
  5. Kris Prather, $25,000
  6. Jason Belmonte, $20,000
  7. Brandon Bonta, $17,000
  8. Jason Sterner, $14,000
  9. Darren Tang, $12,000

Complete standings are available here.