History Made During The PBA USBC Masters Tournament

The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) tour is in full swing. The season starts in February and ends in December. There are four majors. They are the USBC Masters, PBA World Championship, the Tournament of Champions, and the U.S. Open. ESPN has the television rights and professional bowling can be viewed every Sunday.

This past weekend, history was made. Anthony Simesen of Princeton, Texas won the 2016 USBC Masters on Sunday. Simensen was the top qualifier in the field. He earned that by beating number 2 seed Dan Maclelland 683 to 636. By being the number 1 seed, he would have to wait four matches to bowl for the championship.   The format was a stepladder. The #5 bowler would face #4 with the winner heading to bowl the #3 seed. The semifinal would be the winner of match two and the #2 seed. The top seed would bowl the winner of the semifinal. #1 seed Anthony Simesen had to wait.

Tom Daugherty lost to Wes Malott in match number #1, 258-189. In match #2, Malott topped Chris Loschetter 258-201. In the semifinal Dan Maclelland knocked off Malott 216-213 meaning the #2 seed Dan Maclelland and #1 Anthony Simesen would compete in the final. Anthony Simesen was hoping to become the youngest bowler ever to win a PBA Major title at 19 years and 39 days. Anthony Simesen held off Dan Maclelland 245-207.

According to PBA.com Simesen said, “I made the decision at a young age to come on out, and it was about getting out here and getting experience, which really is starting to pay off. This is my first full year out on Tour, and I bowled a majority of the major events that were possible. To have success is awesome, but a title doesn’t define you. You have to keep coming out and trying to perform week in and week out, and see where it takes you.”

It was amazing to watch Simensen win the tournament. He uses a two- handed style and the ball kept rolling into the pocket. Simesen didn’t seem to let the pressure of bowling in a Major affect him. He won’t have much time to soak the win because the Barbasol PBA Players Championship is this week in Columbus, Ohio, the third major of the PBA Tour. The finals are on Sunday. Check out the PBA tour the remainder of the season on ESPN and see if Simesen can win any more tournaments.

What do you think of Anthony Simesen becoming the youngest bowler to win a PBA tournament?