The Round of 24 at the PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic is complete, and only 16 bowlers are left in competition at Bowlero St. Peters in Missouri.
Winners in the Round of 24 included Thomas Larsen, Hayden Stippich, Tom Smallwood, AJ Chapman, Brandon Runk, Austin Grammar, and EJ Tackett who swept Dom Barrett 4-0 in a rematch of last year’s title match.
But the most outstanding series of the round came from Graham Fach. The Canadian swept Eric Jones 4-0 in impressive fashion, rolling games of 259, 300, 277, and 290 for +326 over four games.
After the match, Fach said it was the best bowling he has ever produced in match play. However, it did not come without pressure from Jones, who never allowed the Canadian to relax, posting strong games of 242, 288, 248, and 213.
Eight players earned a one-round bye into the Round of 16 based on their qualifying positions. Those players are the qualification leader Jason Belmonte, Zach Wilkins, Patrick Dombrowski, Justin Knowles, Matt Russo, Cameron Crowe, Packy Hanrahan, and Anthony Neuer.
The 16 remaining players will continue match play on Friday at 12 p.m. ET (11 a.m. CT).
The Round of 16 matchups:
- No. 1 Jason Belmonte vs. No. 17 Hayden Stippich
- No. 8 Anthony Neuer vs. No. 24 Austin Grammar
- No. 2 Zach Wilkins vs. No. 18 Tom Smallwood
- No. 7 Packy Hanrahan vs. No. 10 Graham Fach
- No. 4 Justin Knowles vs. No. 20 AJ Chapman
- No. 5 Matt Russo vs. No. 21 Brandon Runk
- No. 3 Patrick Dombrowski vs. No. 14 EJ Tackett
- No. 6 Cameron Crowe vs. No. 11 Thomas Larsen
The winners of those matches will return to the lanes at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) for the Round of 8.
Each of the four winners in the Round of 8 will advance to the stepladder finals on Sunday. The highest-seeded loser in the Round of 8 will also qualify as the No. 5 seed.
That means Belmonte is one match victory away from securing a spot in the televised finals.
The championship round is set for Sunday, at 3 p.m. CST on The CW.
