March 15, 2026 Nolan Hughes

A week ago, Anthony Simonsen’s Sunday afternoon ended in a nightmare. He left a 7-10 split on his final shot to lose the Go Bowling U.S. Open by that very two-pin margin.

But the 29-year-old said he treats each week as its own tournament, that he would put the disappointing finish behind him and go to work at David Small’s Victory Lanes in Decatur, Ill.

That’s exactly what the bowling professional did. He put his head down, averaged more than 240 during qualifying and match play to earn the No. 1 seed and put himself one game away from another title.

This time, Simonsen finished the job in the Groupon PBA Illinois Classic.

He fired 11 consecutive strikes, including the two title-winning strikes in the 10th frame, to defeat defending champion Santtu Tahvanainen in the title match, 290-279.

Simonsen earned his 17th career PBA Tour title — his first since July 2024 — and the $30,000 top prize.

“To bounce back after last week,” Simonsen said moments after the win, “I made a couple good shots there. I made a couple really good shots here. I made a smart choice and finished on my good lane. Hats off to Santtu, I hope I don’t have to beat 279 in any more title matches in my career. 

“Redemption is obviously sweet,” he continued. “I’m going to enjoy this one, and we’ve got more work to do next week.”

The scoring pace was much higher during the Illinois Classic than in last week’s U.S. Open.

After earning the No. 3 seed for the finals on Friday night, EJ Tackett predicted that “270 is probably what you're going to have to put up to to really feel safe.” Even that lofty estimation came up short as Tahvanainen lost with 279.

In fact, the title match between Simonsen and defending champion Santtu Tahvanainen was the highest-scoring PBA Tour title match in more than 30 years, according to PBA researcher Eric Hartman.

The highest scoring title match ever was the 1993 Wichita Open, in which Mike Aulby defeated David Ozio by a 300-279 margin.

Simonsen and Tahvanainen’s title match was the highest since Bryan Goebel defeated Norm Duke 296–280 in the 1994 True Value Open title match.

In the opening match of the stepladder finals, Matt Ogle got his revenge against Shawn Maldonado. The two faced off in Friday’s Round of 8, where Maldonado rallied from a 3-1 deficit to prevail in seven games.

This time, Ogle made the comeback. A pair of single-pin spares from Maldonado opened the door for Ogle, who struck on his final four shots to advance.

Ogle’s bid for a third career title came to an end against the three-time reigning PBA Player of the Year, EJ Tackett.

With both players pacing for 279, Ogle blinked and missed the 3-10 baby split in the sixth frame.

Tackett didn’t run away from Ogle, but Tackett’s strikes in the eighth through 10th frames were enough to shut out the Kentucky native. 

While the 43-foot Carmen Salvino oil pattern often led to higher scores, that did not bode true for Tackett in the semifinal match.

Tackett lost the right lane in particular, leaving three splits with open frames in the first, fifth and seventh frames. His struggles allowed Tahvanainen to cruise along to a 247-185 victory.  

In the first frame of the title match, Simonsen converted a 4-pin and Tahvanainen spared the 10-pin. Neither player would fail to strike again until the 10th frame.

Tensions rose and as the powerful two-handers matched each other strike for strike.

Tahvanainen, finishing first, tripped the 4-7-10 on his first shot of the 10th frame for a strike. The near-miss forced him to make a slight adjustment, and it did not work. 

Tahvanainen left another 10-pin and spared it. That created a similar but more advantageous scenario for Simonsen.

This time, with two strikes in the 10th frame and a third purely for good measure, Simonsen secured the title.

“As I showed last week, the first two aren't the problem,” Simonsen joked.

“My motto is to make a good shot and live with the results," Simonsen elaborated. “If I make a good shot and it doesn't strike, it doesn't strike. There are thousands of shots that I make that are really good and don't strike, and there are thousands of shots that I make that aren't very good that do strike. You’ve just got to hope that they balance themselves out at the right time.”

The 2026 PBA Tour powered by Go Bowling continues with the PBA Indiana Classic in Fort Wayne.

Qualifying gets underway at David Small's Pro Bowl West on Wednesday.

The finals are set for Sunday, March 22 at 4 p.m. ET on The CW.

Championship Round Matches

Match One: No. 5 Matt Ogle def. No. 4 Shawn Maldonado, 268-258
Match Two: No. 3 EJ Tackett def. No. 5 Matt Ogle, 258-224
Match Three: No. 2 Santtu Tahvanainen def. No. 3 EJ Tackett, 247-185
Championship: No. 1 Anthony Simonsen def. No. 2 Santtu Tahvanainen, 290-279

Final Standings
  1. Anthony Simonsen, $30,000
  2. Santtu Tahvanainen, $18,000
  3. EJ Tackett, $13,000
  4. Matt Ogle, $10,000
  5. Shawn Maldonado, $9,000

Complete standings are available here.