October 1, 2026 Jill Winters

EJ Tackett made PBA history this season, becoming the first bowler to ever win four consecutive Player of the Year awards. For his next trick, he is going to try to win a regional title while hosting the tournament at the same time.

EJ and his brother, Zac, are ready for double-duty as they compete in and host the first-ever PBA ELITE Regional Tour on string pins. Central Regional 1 will be held inside the Tackett’s EZ Bowl in Bluffton, IN, while West Regional 2 plays out at Black Oak Lanes in Tuolumne, CA.

The standard division roster in the Central includes EJ’s fellow 2026 PBA Player of the Year nominees Graham Fach, Patrick Dombrowski and close friend Marshall Kent. The strength of this field keeps rising with AJ Johnson, Kyle Troup, Sean Rash, Ethan Fiore, Kevin McCune, Justin Knowles, Michael Davidson, Zach Weidman, and Rookie of the Year nominee, Austin Grammar. Rising stars you will likely get familiar with are Andrew Halvorson, Hayden Hale, Brett Lloyd, RJ Golisano, Kody Horan, Christian Mouton and collegiate players Luke Switalski and Alex Roland.

Journeymen many are familiar with are Jean Perez, Steve Novak and Aaron Lorincz. In the senior division, Major Mika Koivuniemi is ready to compete, along with U.S. Air Force veteran Ron Hurt, Dan Higgins Jr., Randy Weiss, Bill Watson, Dave Wodka and 2023 Central Region Senior Player of the Year Larry Verble.

There are three qualifying squads starting at 8 a.m., 1:30 and 7 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. After seven games, there will be a cut to the top third of the field in standard and senior division. Those bowlers will return to the lanes at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday for four games in the advancers round. From there, the top 8 in each division bowl round-robin match play, scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Overall, the bowler with the highest pinfall total will win their division. There is no stepladder final. The pattern for this tournament is 48 feet, and you can watch it play out on Bowling TV, a free, ad-supported channel. Additional details and standings for the first regional in the Central, can be found here.

WEST

In the West Regional 2, PBA ELITE Regional Tour winners already Dallas Leong, Wesley Low Jr. and Michael Bogue are back in hopes to win again. Jake Peters, Tim Cagle II, PJ Haggerty, Robert Smith, David Leverage and Michael Haugen Jr. are all returning after competing last weekend in Ventura, CA.

Haugen Jr., who has nearly 30 career regional titles, and West Region points leader Nickolaus Freiberg are both seeking a bit of redemption after both came up just shy of wins in their first ELITE Regional attempts. Gregory Thompson Jr. and this year’s West Region senior points leader Rich Corwin could be strong contenders.  

There are two squads with seven qualifying games starting at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET before cutting to the top third in the field. Those bowlers will return at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday for four games in the advancers round. The top 8 in the standard and senior division will bowl round-robin match play to determine a winner for each division beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. You can watch this region on BowlTV.

The oil pattern will also be 48 feet. For more information and to follow along visit here.

The top 5 non-PBA Tour priority finishers in every PBA ELITE Regional Tour event earn an automatic berth into the PBA Regional Players Invitations held in December. At that prestigious tournament, three priority status positions on the 2027 PBA Tour will be rewarded.

To follow the continuous coverage of the PBA ELITE Regional Tour, click here.