Cam Crowe Leads PBA Cheetah Championship
The 10-game sprint is complete in the PBA Cheetah Championship, the first title event of the PBA World Series of Bowling XVII.
The top 12 players advanced to the two-part finals, airing live Saturday, May 9 at 4/6 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.
Cam Crowe led the 120-player field at Bowlero Brooklyn Park in Minneapolis.
Crowe, Spencer Robarge, Matt Sanders and Zachary Tackett (no relation to EJ or Zac Tackett) each earned a one-round bye.
Packy Hanrahan, Bill O’Neill, Minneapolis native Brandon Kreyer, Brandon Bonta, Kris Prather, AJ Johnson, Hayden Stippich and Chase Nadeau also advanced to the show.
Complete standings are available here.
Crowe averaged 246.5 for his 10 games on the 35-foot Cheetah oil pattern.
The two-handed lefty qualified second in last year’s PBA Delaware Classic, also contested on Cheetah, but lost in match play prior to the televised championship round.
This will mark Crowe’s PBA TV debut in a singles event. He has previously competed in PBA Elite League: Battle of the Brands and PBA collegiate shows.
“As a kid, as a bowler, you work your whole life for this,” Crowe said. “To be in this field, one of the strongest fields that we're going to have all year with all the international players, and lead the first event… that’s something you work for your whole life. I'm just really proud of myself right now.”
Crowe also was featured in the HBO docu-series “Born To Bowl” that aired last month. All episodes are available to stream on HBO Max.
Kreyer, who said he lives 10 minutes from Bowlero Brooklyn Park in Mounds View, Minn., turned what was already a dream week into a fairytale.
Kreyer earned the final berth in the WSOB main field, finishing 17th in the pre-tournament qualifier and making the cut by five pins. He said his goal was merely to make it out of the PTQ and gain experience.
After Game 7, Kreyer said he felt he had a good chance to earn a check with a top 32 finish. When the score update came in, he said he realized a much greater ambition was within reach.
“With three games to go, I’ve got a chance at doing this,” Kreyer said. "It's still kind of sinking in. It's been a very long day, and I am very low on energy. I'm sure I'll wake up tomorrow and I'll be like, ‘Wow, I just did that.’”
Brandon Bonta notched his second consecutive finals appearance after finishing fifth in last week’s PBA Tournament of Champions.
The rookie, who has long shattered the rookie earnings record, is firmly in contention for the Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year award. He won the season-opening PBA Players Championship with a 300 game over EJ Tackett.
“Today was great, being able to make the show here and being one for one,” Bonta said. “But now, you just have to say it’s a new day. We have 10 more games to be great. I’m going to reset tonight, get a good night's sleep, and then hopefully have my striking shoes on for tomorrow.”
Qualifying in the PBA Chameleon Championship (and the continuation of PBA World Championship qualifying) continues on Saturday.
Each five-game round will begin at 11 a.m. CT (12 p.m. ET) and 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET).
All qualifying rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV.
During each animal pattern finals, the semifinal round will feature two concurrent matches each game.
- Game 1: No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed + No. 5 seed vs. No. 12 seed
- Game 2: No. 7 seed vs. No. 10 seed + No. 6 seed vs. No. 11 seed
- Game 3: No. 1 seed vs. No. 8/9 seed + No. 4 seed vs. No. 5/12 seed
- Game 4: No. 2 seed vs. No. 7/10 seed + No. 3 seed vs. No. 6/11 seed
The four winners of each match will advance to the championship round, which will be a continuation of the bracket. The title match will be a Race-to-Two format.
The PBA World Championship represents the culmination of each animal pattern.
The top third of the entire field across all 40 qualifying games will advance. Ten more games will determine the 16-player match play field for the PBA World Championship.
After 66 games in the PBA World Championship, the top nine players will advance to the televised championship rounds on June 13.
The June 13 semifinal and championship round will be a continuous nine-player stepladder finals.
PBA Cheetah Championship Standings | 10 Games
- Cam Crowe, 2,465 pinfall, 246.50 average
- Spencer Robarge, 2,426, 242.60
- Matt Sanders, 2,399, 239.90
- Zachary Tackett, 2,364, 236.40
- Packy Hanrahan, 2,319, 231.90
- Bill O'Neill, 2,315, 231.50
- Brandon Kreyer, 2,314, 231.40
- Brandon Bonta, 2,308, 230.80
- Kris Prather, 2,301, 230.10
- AJ Johnson, 2,298, 229.80
- Hayden Stippich, 2,289, 228.90
- Chase Nadeau, 2,287, 228.70
- (I) Joachim Karlsson, 2,284, 228.40
- Tim Foy Jr., 2,283, 228.30
- Tomas Käyhkö, 2,259, 225.90
- Jean Perez, 2,259, 225.90
- Keven Williams, 2,254, 225.40
- Nate Garcia, 2,253, 225.30
- Ryan Barnes, 2,250, 225.00
- Nick Pate, 2,250, 225.00
Complete standings are available here.
PBA Cheetah Championship Matches
Matches will air live Saturday, May 9 at 4 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network
- Brandon Bonta vs. Kris Prather + Packy Hanrahan vs. Chase Nadeau
- Brandon Kreyer vs. AJ Johnson + Bill O’Neill vs. Hayden Stippich
- Cam Crowe vs. Bonta/Prather + Z. Tackett vs. Hanrahan/Nadeau
- Robarge vs. Kreyer/Johnson + Sanders vs. O’Neill/Stippich
PBA World Series of Bowling XVII Schedule
Saturday, May 2 — Bowlero Brooklyn Park — BowlTV
11 a.m. (12 p.m. ET) — Chameleon Championship Qualifying Round 1 (5 games)
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — Chameleon Championship Qualifying Round 2 (5 games)
Top 12 players advance to televised rounds on May 10
Sunday, May 3 — Bowlero Brooklyn Park — BowlTV
11 a.m. (12 p.m. ET) — Scorpion Championship Qualifying Round 1 (5 games)
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — Scorpion Championship Qualifying Round 2 (5 games)
Top 12 players advance to televised rounds on May 11
Monday, May 4 — Bowlero Brooklyn Park — BowlTV
11 a.m. (12 p.m. ET) — Shark Championship Qualifying Round 1 (5 games)
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — Shark Championship Qualifying Round 2 (5 games)
Top 12 players advance to televised rounds on May 12
Top 1:3 of field advance in PBA World Championship
Tuesday, May 5 — Bowlero Brooklyn Park — BowlTV
9 a.m. (10 a.m. ET) — World Championship practice session
12 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) — World Championship Advancers Round 1 (5 games)
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — World Championship Advancers Round 1 (5 games)
Top 16 players advance to World Championship round-robin match play
Wednesday, May 6 — Bowlero Brooklyn Park — BowlTV
11 a.m. (12 p.m. ET) — World Championship Match Play Round 1 (8 games)
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — World Championship Match Play Round 2 (8 games)
Top nine players advance to World Championship televised rounds on June 13
Saturday, May 9 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) — PBA50 Ballard Championship finals
3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) — PBA Cheetah Championship semifinals
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA Cheetah Championship finals
Sunday, May 10 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) — PBA50 Monacelli Championship finals
3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) — PBA Chameleon Championship semifinals
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA Chameleon Championship finals
Monday, May 11 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA50 Petraglia Championship finals
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — PBA Scorpion Championship semifinals
8 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) — PBA Scorpion Championship finals
Tuesday, May 12 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA50 World Championship finals
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — PBA Shark Championship semifinals
8 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) — PBA Shark Championship finals
Saturday, June 13 — Thunderbowl Lanes — CBS and Paramount+
11 a.m. ET — PBA World Championship semifinals
1 p.m. ET — PBA World Championship finals