Nine Players Advance to Stepladder Finals in AMF PBA World Championship
The nine-player stepladder finals field in the AMF PBA World Championship, the major championship finale of the PBA World Series of Bowling XVII, is now set.
EJ Tackett earned the top seed, leading the field through 66 games at Bowlero Brooklyn Park in Minneapolis.
He averaged more than 227 across five different oil patterns to stave off an onslaught from major champions.
Chris Via, Bill O’Neill and Kris Prather secured the second through fourth seeds and clinched a berth in the championship round, airing live June 13 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.
Jason Belmonte, Brandon Bonta, Zach Wilkins, Jason Sterner and Darren Tang qualified fifth through ninth. They will compete in the semifinals of the stepladder finals June 13 at 11 a.m. ET on CBS Sports Network. The winner of the stepladder will advance to the championship round.
The stepladder finals will take place at Strobl Arena inside Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.
Complete standings in the World Championship are available here.
As the top seed, Tackett has positioned himself one game from achieving a historic fourth consecutive World Championship title.
No player has ever won a PBA Tour event, let alone a major, in four consecutive years.
Furthermore, Tackett leads the tour in points, earnings, and average. He led the Players Championship and USBC Masters, but lost each title match to finish runner-up.
A title in the World Championship would make him the front-runner for a fourth consecutive Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year award, another feat that no player has achieved in PBA history.
“This is what you strive for,” Tackett said. “Giving yourself the guaranteed opportunity to win a championship is where I always want to be. It's great that I have the opportunity, and I've given myself that, but the job's not finished.”
The World Championship includes qualifying games from each of the four animal pattern championships.
Tackett seized the World Championship lead during Scorpion Championship qualifying, the third animal pattern championship.
He never relinquished the lead for the subsequent 36 games, though a pair of players pushed Tackett to his limit during the final round of match play.
Belmonte, who finished runner-up to Tackett in the 2023 and 2025 World Championships, fired 300 and 267 in Games 4-5 on Wednesday night. He moved within 34 pins of Tackett with three games to go, but was unable to
“I went into a bit of a flow state there for a few games,” Belmonte said. “The way I felt this whole World Series, though, was when my ball wasn't quite right, (the pins) really punished me. I left a lot of splits. That’s what really took the wind out of my sails. But ultimately, I think it was this morning's block that cost me that run at the top seed.”
While Tackett led for more than 36 games, Chris Via never sat lower than third place and often within 100 pins of Tackett.
Heading into the final game, Via moved within 36 pins of Tackett, setting himself up to steal the top seed with a win over Tackett in the position round.
Via finished 11 pins shy of Tackett, falling 237-226 in the position round, and ultimately secured the No. 2 seed.
“It felt like EJ kind of dominated the whole week, but I felt like I've done a really good job of keeping myself within striking distance,” Via said. “I just bowled a great game on that pair, so I felt like I really knew what was going on. I knew if I executed that I was going to at least give myself a chance to win the game. I bowled really well. The pins just didn't quite cooperate for me there towards the end, but I’m happy with the two seed for sure.”
Bill O’Neill climbed into the third seed partially on the backs of a stellar match play record. His field-best 14-2 record netted him 120 bonus pins on the field.
The three-time major champion slipped outside of the top five during the final round of match play, but charged back up to third place with closing games of 246, 228, 259, 210, and 248, plus two wins over Belmonte.
“I trusted myself,” O’Neill said. “I knew I had good ball reaction. I knew where I had to throw the ball. This is a really tricky bowling center pair-to-pair, but we've been here a long time, so I had a lot of information on the lanes and a pretty good idea on what I should be doing. It was about executing and making good shots. I was just trying to win every game I was bowling, and if I kept winning matches I was going to be in a good spot.”
“Physically, I'm exhausted,” O’Neill added. “This is one of the longest weeks of my life, a lot of games, a lot of time in the bowling center. My legs are jello, but I got the job done. I bowled really well tonight, except for whenever I shot the 3-6-10.”
Kris Prather also made a late charge up the standings after spending most of the days in fifth or sixth place. His final games of 258 and 257, each match victories, allowed him to usurp Belmonte for the final automatic berth in the championship round.
“My entire goal was to make this second show because I didn't even want to have to worry about the other stepladder. I just wanted to focus on whoever the three people are ahead of me,” Prather said. “(Late in the round), I told myself if I’m going to make any kind of charge here, I have to take it to the next level and be as focused as possible. At one point, I was exerting so much energy that I got a little dizzy in about the seventh or eighth frame, and had to regroup and reset. In the position round, lanes 15-16 had been nasty. I said I have to throw elite-level shots here and hope the pins fall over for me, and they cooperated.”
Belmonte slipped to fifth during the final three games, but he is not unfamiliar with winning a major from a similar position.
He won the 2023 Tournament of Champions as the No. 6 seed in an elongated stepladder finals, winning six straight matches including a title match victory over Tackett.
Next month, he will begin another climb of the stepladder, this time in pursuit of a record-extending 16th career major title.
Brandon Bonta, in the midst of the greatest rookie season in PBA history, would love nothing more than to earn some redemption against Belmonte after losing to him in the opening match of that stepladder.
Zach Wilkins remains as hot as any player not named Tackett. He finished runner-up in last week’s Tournament of Champions, which came a week after winning his first career title.
Jason Sterner had steadily been dropping in the standings throughout the advancer and match play rounds of the World Championship. But the veteran would not be denied an opportunity to avenge his 2022 runner-up finish in this event.
Sterner found a way to win a pair of close, low-scoring matches in Games 6-7, then stamped his semifinals ticket with eight consecutive strikes in the position round.
Entering the position round, Mitch Hupé held the No. 9 seed with three-pin advantage over Patrick Dombrowski, four-pin lead over Darren Tang and 40-pin cushion over Ryan Barnes.
Tang stepped up in the 10th frame against Barnes needing a double to shut out Hupé and Dombrowski, who were battling each other a pair to Tang’s left.
Tang, who has only been bowling two-handed since last tour season, struck twice to advance.
Dombrowski finished 10th and 17 pins behind Tang, followed by Hupé, Barnes, Thomas Larsen, Packy Hanrahan, Hayden Stippich and Deo Benard.
The PBA WSOB XVII continues with the animal pattern championship finals May 9-12 in Minneapolis.
Each animal pattern championship finals will air live on CBS Sports Network. The full television schedule is available here.
AMF PBA World Championship Standings | 66 Games
- EJ Tackett, 15,301 pinfall, 227.29 average, 10-6 match play record
- Chris Via, 15,224, 226.58, 9-7
- Bill O'Neill, 15,203, 223.98, 14-2
- Kris Prather, 15,112, 224.42, 10-6
- Jason Belmonte, 15,075, 224.32, 9-7
- Brandon Bonta, 15,012, 223.82, 8-8
- Zach Wilkins, 14,832, 221.55, 7-9
- Jason Sterner, 14,788, 219.52, 10-6
- Darren Tang, 14,720, 220.76, 5-11
- Patrick Dombrowski, 14,703, 219.14, 8-8
- Mitch Hupé, 14,656, 217.97, 9-7
- Ryan Barnes, 14,615, 217.80, 8-8
- Thomas Larsen, 14,565, 217.05, 8-8
- Packy Hanrahan, 14,472, 216.55, 6-10
- Hayden Stippich, 14,398, 216.33, 4-12
- Deo Benard, 14,294, 215.21, 3-13
Complete standings are available here.
PBA World Series of Bowling XVII Schedule
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 — AMF PBA World Championship semifinals
1 p.m. ET — AMF PBA World Championship finals