March 11, 2026 Nolan Hughes

Standings after Qualifying Round 2

Santtu Tahvanainen captured his first career PBA Tour title last year in Illinois.

Though this year’s Groupon PBA Illinois Classic is being held three hours south of Vernon Hills in Decatur at David Small’s Victory Lanes, Tahvanainen is once again making pins fly in the Prairie State.

Tahvanainen led the 96-player field through 16 games of qualifying, totaling a 3,882 (+682) pinfall. He averaged 242.63 on the 43-foot Carmen Salvino oil pattern.

“I feel like on the fresh and the first five or six games — it feels kind of stupid to say, but easy,” Tahvanainen said. “I have so much room to miss, and then during the last two games, I would suddenly need to get my game up and bowl much better. I feel like that's the thing that throws me off a little bit.”

 

Anthony Simonsen, first round leader Boog Krol, EJ Tackett and Matt Ogle round out the top five.

AJ Johnson, an Illinois native himself, held onto the last berth in the cut with a total pinfall of 3,522 (+322).

Andrew Anderson finished one pin behind Johnson, while rookies Brandon Bonta and Spencer Robarge were each less than 10 pins back.

Anderson, Bonta and Robarge each averaged more than 219, a pace that would have placed them top-10 in last week’s Go Bowling U.S. Open.  

Simonsen, who finished runner-up in the U.S. Open to Patrick Dombrowski, said competing in the season’s hardest tournament is a factor in the higher scores this week.

“I do feel like I’m bowling well, but after last week and then bowling on this (pattern) it feels like a whole different ball game,” Simonsen said. “When you feel like your window is so small, bowling on U.S. Open oil patterns, to then bowling here where the lanes are a little more forgiving, I think it makes it a lot easier to make good shots. You know that if you make a decent shot it’s going to get to the pocket.”

Advancing players will bowl a six-game round on Thursday at 12 p.m. ET (11 a.m. CT) to determine the 24 match play finalists.

Elimination match play begins Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT).

Each match will be the best of seven games.

The winners of each bracket, as well as the highest-seeded loser in the Round of 8, will advance to the stepladder finals.

The stepladder finals will air live Sunday, March 15 at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT) on The CW.

“I feel like the first six games are going to be really favorable for me,” Tahvanainen said. “But also EJ and Simo are not far off, and (the lanes) are also favorable for them. I’m going to try to make some good shots and hopefully keep the lead, so then I only have to win one match, at least, to have a chance to defend (and make the show). Defending and leading the tournament feels really good, and hopefully I get a chance to actually defend it.”

Tournament Schedule

All times Eastern

Thursday, March 12 — The CW
12 p.m. — Advancers Round (six games)
7 p.m. — Elimination Match Play - Round of 24 (best of seven games)

Friday, March 13 — The CW
12 p.m. — Elimination Match Play - Round of 16 (best of seven games)
7 p.m. — Elimination Match Play - Round of 8 (best of seven games)

Sunday, March 15 — The CW
4 p.m. — Finals