After leading for most of the week, Anthony Simonsen eventually secured the No. 1 seed for Sunday’s stepladder finals after winning his Round of 8 match at the 2026 PBA Illinois Classic in Decatur, Illinois.
Simonsen defeated Bill O’Neill 4-1 to earn the top position for the televised show. Again.
29-year-old built an early advantage in the match and maintained control throughout, closing it in five games. The win gives Simonsen another opportunity to compete for his 17th career tour title just one week after earning a top seed and then finishing runner-up at the U.S. Open.
The most dramatic match of the round came between two Finnish bowlers - Santtu Tahvanainen and Tomas Käyhkö - who pushed their best-of-seven contest to a deciding seventh game.
Santtu trailed 1-3 before firing a 300 to turn the match around. He then won the next two games to advance to the show with a 4-3 win. With the victory, the defending champion secured the No. 2 seed and is only two wins away from his second PBA Tour title.
After missing the last two televised finals, EJ Tackett returned to the stepladder after a 4-1 victory over Boog Krol. Tackett controlled the pace of the match and advanced in five games. The three-time reigning PBA Player of the Year continues his strong season and will now wait for Sunday’s broadcast as a No. 3 seed.
Shawn Maldonado highlighted the Round of 8 matchplay with a comeback victory over Matt Ogle. Maldonado trailed 3-1 in the match and faced elimination, but responded by winning the final three games in a row to secure the 4-3 victory. The win earned him the No. 4 seed for Sunday’s stepladder finals.
Despite the loss, Ogle moved on as the highest-seeded loser in the Round of 8 and will get another shot at Maldonado when the two meet again in the opening stepladder match.
The stepladder finals of the PBA Illinois Classic will air live Sunday, March 15 at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT) on The CW.
