June 10, 2026 Nolan Hughes

There could not be a more iconic venue to host the finals of this weekend’s AMF PBA World Championship than Strobl Arena in Allen Park, Mich.

While the bowling center has been renamed, taking the title of AMF Thunderbowl Lanes this week, the arena’s rich history remains intact.

The stakes are immense heading into the season’s final major championship.

A win could spell a life-changing moment of triumph, a career-redefining victory, or a history-of-the-tour-altering conquest.

Five of the nine finalists, including top seed EJ Tackett, are already champions on the lanes where they will compete again this Saturday.

The play-in stepladder begins Saturday, June 13 at 11 a.m. ET on CBS Sports Network, leading up to the championship round at 1 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.

EJ Tackett

The man who will aim to win his fourth consecutive World Championship title this Saturday is much more seasoned than the one who first entered Strobl Arena back a decade ago.

Though Tackett had yet to win a televised title entering the 2016 PBA Bear Open as a two-time PBA Tour champion, Tackett described his then-most recent performance under the bright lights — a loss in the Tournament of Champions earlier that season — as the best of his young career.

“I came home from that event and I told my dad, ‘The next time I'm on TV, I'm going to win’ and I believed it,” Tackett said. “That was the first time I'd ever believed it.”

The 24-year-old made good on his word, defeating Jesper Svensson in the title match.

Eight years later, Tackett entered Strobl Arena carrying vastly different expectations as the reigning Player of the Year.

His first 10 tournaments of the 2024 campaign were brilliant, notching five finals appearances and seven top-10 finishes, but he had yet to win a title.

Fans, analysts and competitors alike all shared the same question: When is the “best player in the world” going to win again? (Sounds familiar, huh?)

By winning the Shark Championship and, four days later, winning his second of three straight World Championship titles, Tackett answered that question with the same force he hopes to respond with this weekend.

Oh, and if you think he hasn’t been itching for an opportunity to dismantle the 10-pin that cost him the USBC Masters title and the career Grand Slam, you’d be mistaken.

Bill O’Neill

The genesis of O’Neill’s career took place on the same lanes where the now Hall of Famer will compete for his fourth major title on Saturday.

The first WSOB came in O’Neill’s fifth season on the PBA Tour. The former Rookie of the Year, however, was still in search of his first title entering the Chameleon Championship finals.

Twelve times O’Neill had left a championship round empty handed. Needing two strikes in his final frame, O’Neill threw two of the best shots of his career to defeat Ronnie Russell.

A champion, and a future Hall of Famer, was born.

Kris Prather

The trophy every bowler dreams of hoisting also eluded Prather until his fifth season.

Sharing the lanes with O’Neill himself in the 2019 Scorpion Championship finals, Prather was the least heralded member of the championship round field.

During the opening segment, the thrown-in line of “Kris Prather’s in the show” was the only commentary directed towards the Florida native.

Prather went on to defeat Kyle Troup, O’Neill and BJ Moore to capture his long-awaited first career title. The date of which coincidentally landed directly in between titles by the next player on this list.

Prather also won the 2024 Roth/Holman Doubles Championship with Andrew Anderson. The duo claimed their second doubles title by defeating a team composed of the previous and next players on this list.

Jason Belmonte

The most decorated finalist has won four titles with two majors at Thunderbowl.

Belmonte won the 2014 Tournament of Champions, took down Tackett in the 2018 PBA Tour Finals championship match, and brought home two previously foreshadowed titles during the 2019 WSOB.

The latter of which was kind of a big deal.

Belmonte’s win in the 2019 World Championship marked his 11th career major title, breaking the PBA Tour record he shared with Pete Weber and the man whose name adorns the World Championship trophy, Earl Anthony.

A win this weekend would extend that record to 16 major titles, more than twice as many as any active player.

Jason Sterner

Before Austin Grammar made waves by shooting 299 to win his first career title earlier this season, Jason Sterner did so in the 2013 Don Carter Classic.

Rocking an immaculately groomed chinstrap, the 29-year-old put a whooping on Wes Malott in the title match.

Sterner left a 10-pin on his final shot and left Thunderbowl as, at long last, a PBA Tour champion.

The Others

While Chris Via hasn’t won a title inside Thunderbowl Lanes, he did roll a televised perfect game against Tackett in the 2021 PBA Tour Finals. Via became the third player to throw multiple televised 300 games and the first to throw two in the same season.

Zach Wilkins competed in a PBA Elite League match during the 2024 regular season. Making his second appearance for the Waco Wonders, Wilkins struck three times and left two single-pins.

Darren Tang competed in the same PBA Elite League show as a member of Belmonte’s L.A. X. The one-handed Tang struck on his first three attempts before leaving a split and knocking over eight pins in his roll-off shot.

Brandon Bonta is the only World Championship finalist who has not thrown a single televised shot at Thunderbowl Lanes. The star rookie came up just shy of making the USBC Masters finals earlier this year, finishing fourth in the four-for-three match. Back in 2023 as an amateur, Bonta also lost to Kyle Sherman in the final non-televised match before the two-show finals.

The AMF PBA World Championship play-in stepladder begins Saturday, June 13 at 11 a.m. ET on CBS Sports Network, leading up to the championship round at 1 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.