Qualifying Round 1 is complete at the 2026 Groupon PBA Illinois Classic after both squads finished their opening eight games at David Small’s Victory Lanes in Decatur, Illinois.
Scoring pace in Squad B was slightly lower than in Squad A, which means Boog Krol remains the overall leader after the first round.
Defending champion Santtu Tahvanainen remains second overall with 1,940.
Shawn Maldonado was the top performer from Squad B and now sits third overall with 1,918. 2026 U.S. Open runner-up Anthony Simonsen follows closely in fourth with 1,905.
Matt Russo holds sixth at 1,886, Matt Ogle is seventh with 1,881, and EJ Tackett is eighth with 1,875. Nate Purches is currently 13th with 1,852, Kevin McCune stands 18th with 1,817, Jason Belmonte is 22nd with 1,803, Alexander Horton is 24th with 1,794, and Brad Miller rounds out the Squad B top ten at 1,794.
The overall top 10 after Round 1
- Boog Krol – +408
- Santtu Tahvanainen – +340
- Shawn Maldonado – +318
- Anthony Simonsen – +305
- Michael Davidson – +300
- Matt Russo – +286
- Matt Ogle – +281
- EJ Tackett – +275
- Zach Wilkins – +273
- Deo Benard – +272
At the current cut line for the Advancers Round, Eric Wurmnest Jr. holds 32nd position with 1,765 total pins.
Qualifying continues Wednesday with Squad B returning for their second eight-game block at 12 p.m. ET, followed by Squad A at 7 p.m. ET.
Each player will complete 16 total qualifying games across Tuesday and Wednesday on the 43-foot Carmen Salvino oil pattern.
Once qualifying concludes, only 32 players will advance to Thursday morning’s six-game Advancers Round. Those scores will determine the 24 players who move on to elimination match play.
Match play continues Friday with two rounds scheduled. The winners of each bracket, along with the highest-seeded loser in the Round of 8, will earn spots in Sunday’s televised stepladder finals on The CW.
