September 28, 2026 Jill Winters

On top of having an unbelievable rookie campaign on the 2026 PBA Tour, Brandon Bonta’s year keeps getting better. After learning he was selected as this year’s Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year on Saturday, the 23-year-old won his first-ever regional title. He fought his way to the title inside FireLake Bowling Center, during the PBA ELITE Regional Tour’s Southwest Region 1.

In Shawnee, OK, Bonta started off quickly with a 300 in game two of qualifying and finished qualifying behind Shawn Maldonado in second place. In the final game on Sunday against Maldonado, who was still leading the tournament, Bonta overcame an 80-pin deficit shooting 268 for the win and 30 bonus pins, plus $10,000.

Maldonado needed a double and 5 pins for the win. He got the first strike then left the 4-9 split. He made the spare to come up just short of his fifth win in that bowling center.

“I went to that pair, got lined up and probably threw the 10 best shots of the tournament. Luckily, Shawn didn’t double in the 10th and came out with the win,” Bonta said, during a BowlTV interview. “This is my first regional title. Check it off the list.”

Being named Rookie of the Year has yet to sink in for Bonta.

“It is a pretty awesome accomplishment with all of the great rookies we had out on Tour this year. To have my name be at the top of that list is pretty special to me. Hopefully, I can just keep the momentum going into next season,” he said. “The biggest word that comes to my mind is fearless. I thought all of us, even though we were bowling against the best in the world, we had that mindset that we could win every week. So I think that really helped us this year. I don’t think that we just came into the year expecting to just figure the Tour out. I think we expected to come into the season and win. I think that mindset that all of us had really helped throughout the year.”

 

 

He believes a lot of that comes from the experience they all gained in youth and collegiate bowling.

“Having youth tournaments on TV, being under the bright lights before. I think we are used to that moment, and we are ready to chase it,” he said.  

Behind Bonta and Maldonado in the standard division was Zachary Leshikar in third, Boog Krol in fourth and AJ Chapman was fifth. On the senior side of the bracket, it was Dino Castillo who earned a meaningful win to qualify for the RPI in December. He described it as a pretty emotional win for multiple reasons.

“Usually when my mom calls, she always asks me how I bowled and I have to give her the update. My mom passed away in July, so I don’t get the call. There is more meaning to this win than anything,” Castillo said. “When Jakob (Butturff) passed away, I really wanted to win for him. This being my first single’s regional, this goes out to Jakob and all of the bowling world really because they are my motivation. Dave Johnson on the senior tour also passing away today. One of the greatest people on the senior tour. The bowling world has taken a beating these last couple of months.”

For Castillo, he has also personally been fighting through a gout issue and a cyst in his wrist. During Friday’s practice session, Castillo pushed through the pain and always feels confident when the conditions are tough. He stayed focused, wanting to win for his friends and bowling family.

“I feel very confident when I bowl at FireLake. I have three titles in this bowling center and several wins in amateur events,” Castillo said. “It’s been almost 20 years when I bowled the RPI in 2007. I love the idea of the ELITE Regional Tour and I hope it gets bigger from here.”

Castillo posted a 6-2 match play record on the way to winning $4,700. Robert Lawrence finished in second followed by Ricky Schissler, Brett Cooper was fourth and Tony Lanning was fifth. Here are the final standings for Southwest Regional 1.

WEST

Wesley Low Jr. and Michael Bogue are the first-ever ELITE Regional Tour winners in the West Region. They battled a 43-foot oil pattern at Buena Lanes in Ventura, CA.

Low Jr., a California native, shot 279, 247, 234, 228, 248, 248 and 264 for qualifying. He added 215, 176, 246 and 263 in the advancers round. From there, he never shot a game under 200 and posted a nearly perfect match play record of 7-1 to claim the $10,000 prize in a field of 82 players.

He was ahead of Tim Cagle II in second place by 211 pins. Ben Robinson was third followed by Anthony Simonsen in fourth and Northwest Region 1 champion Dallas Leong in fifth. Low Jr. was excited about winning his ninth regional title but even happier because he got to celebrate the moment with one of his biggest fans.

“Honestly, I had no expectation coming here. I just wanted to have fun, and I wanted my mom to see me bowl again. To win one in front of her was awesome, because her and my dad are my biggest supporters,” Low Jr. said. “Another reason why it is special because I stopped bowling on the PBA Tour in 2025, because I needed a mental break and a reset.”

The two-handed lefty won two regionals last year and he is having so much fun bowling again. He went overseas and just won the 2026 KPBA Andong Cup International Open.

“Wins are cool but just to come out and smile are more important to me than the wins. That leads to why I feel like I am bowling so much better,” he said. “I started really dialing my game in back in March. The PBA ELITE Regional Tour came out, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to do what I want to do.”

He can’t wait to continue adamantly practicing and enjoying the sport again ahead of the RPI in a few months.

“Continue loving bowling the way I have been loving it. Enjoying the family of bowlers I get to see every weekend. The great people that surround me at all times,” he said. “I think that is the way to continue the momentum. Continue just bowling tournaments and staying as sharp as I can for the rest of the year. Hopefully, good hard work and enjoying myself will be enough to be at the RPI and be happy about it all.”

In the senior division, Michael Bogue also had a 7-1 record. This was his second regional title and a victory he was surprised to get.

“It feels great. I can’t believe it happened. It is one of the best days of my life in my bowling career,” Bogue said. “To me, this was very prestigious with all of the best (senior) bowlers in the West were there and I came out on top.”

He tried a new ball Sunday morning and had a decent look. He resurfaced his ball a bit prior to match play, moved in and the lanes opened up for him. He capitalized on miss room on the lanes, good carry, and watched everything fall into place in match play to win $5,000. He hopes come December, he will be able to carry some of this positive momentum into the RPI.

“The way I am throwing it now, if I can keep it up, I think I can do pretty well,” Bogue said. “This Tour felt like the next stop to compete at the next level.”

Bogue was in 12th place after qualifying then moved up to seventh after the advancers round. In the final game, he faced tournament leader Michael Haugen Jr. Finishing the match first, he needed to get nine to shut out Haugen. He left the 8-10.

“I was pretty certain I could get one more. I was obviously bummed out because I thought I threw it good enough for nine. At least I had one easy pin (8) to shoot at. I had already missed one 10-pin,” Bogue said. “I didn’t really think I could make it to first and I did, so never give up.”

Haugen Jr. finished in second followed by David Leverage, Rick Meneley and Jim Pratt was fifth. For the overall standings at the West Regional 1, click 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 Invitational in December. At that prestigious tournament, three priority status positions on the 2027 PBA Tour will be rewarded.

Coming up next for the PBA ELITE Regional Tour is the Central Regional 1 and West Regional 2 Oct. 3 & 4 in Bluffton, IN., and Tuolumne, CA. For more details on this tour, click here.