Two days after celebrating his 34th birthday, EJ Tackett gave himself one more reason to celebrate. After defeating Ethan Fiore 227-195 in Sunday’s final, Tackett raised the 2026 PBA Kremer Roofing Central Classic trophy at Community Lanes in Minster, Ohio.
The PBA Central Region event attracted a strong field that included several familiar names from the PBA Tour, among them Graham Fach, Ryan Barnes, Alec Keplinger, Jason Sterner and Patrick Dombrowski.
Tackett was already at the top of the standings after the opening eight games of qualifying. He dropped to third after the four-game Advancers Round, but moved back into second through the Round of 16 and remained there after the Round of 8.
Tackett entered the finals as the No. 2 seed and defeated Graham Fach with a 244-217 win. Earlier in the stepladder final opener, Fach defeated Riley Speer 248-232.
Waiting at the top was Ethan Fiore, who had won the same tournament in 2025 and was looking to defend his title.
The final, however, belonged to Tackett.
Fiore struggled to stay clean, leaving the 2-8-10 split in the first frame, while Tackett remained in control and put together five consecutive strikes during the middle of the game. Tackett eventually closed out a 227-195 victory.
The win was also Tackett’s second at the Kremer Roofing Central Classic in four years. He previously won the event in 2023, when he defeated Zach Weidman 236-226 in the title match.
The title also came with a $4,000 first-place prize check.
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