Squad B has completed its second eight-game block at the 2026 Groupon PBA Illinois Classic and now awaits the final results from Squad A, which begins at 6 p.m. CST.
Anthony Simonsen delivered outstanding performance and now leads the
standings.
Simonsen caught fire in the middle of the block,
stringing together 26 consecutive strikes across games three through six.
He started the block with 208 game and then fired 279, 268, 300, and 279 again. He finished the block with 1,972 pins, bringing his 16-game total to 3,877 to take over the overall lead.
EJ Tackett currently sits second with 3,791, followed by Matt Ogle in third at 3,770. Nate Purches is fourth with 3,700, while Shawn Maldonado holds fifth at 3,665.
Matt Russo stands sixth with 3,638. Tomas Kayhkö is seventh at 3,622, Kyle Troup is eighth with 3,596, Kevin McCune is ninth at 3,574, and Brad Miller rounds out the Squad B top ten with 3,551.
A squad will soon start their eight remaining qualification games on the 43-foot Carmen Salvino oil pattern.
Once qualifying concludes, only 32 playerwill 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.
