Field Set for Championship Sunday in PBA Pete Weber Classic

The championship spherical discipline is ready in the PBA Pete Weber Classic, held at Bowlero St. Peters outdoors of St. Louis, Mo.

The finals will air reside Sunday, March 1 at 4 pm ET (3 pm CT) on The CW.

Justin Knowles secured the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals. The 34-year-old Michigan native certified fourth general, averaging 229.50, to earn a one-round bye in the best-of-seven-games match play rounds.

On Friday, Knowles defeated AJ Chapman and Matt Russo to safe the highest seed and place himself one recreation away from his first profession PBA Tour title.

“I’ve waited my whole life for this moment,” Knowles stated. “It’s pretty special, though, to only have to win one game for it all. I’m looking forward to it. I’m just thrilled to be here. I’m honored to be a professional bowler. This is what I wanted to do every day of my life since I was little, so I’m all about having fun right now.”

For the second week in a row, Canada’s Graham Fach secured the stepladder finals’ No. 2 seed. Fach certified tenth, then defeated Eric Jones, Packy Hanrahan and Tom Smallwood in match play.

Fach carried out at a career-high stage in 2025, but is arguably off to a good higher begin in 2026.

“I’m learning that I don’t know what my potential is,” Fach stated. “Every time I hit the lanes, I get excited about what I could have done better, what I could have gone my way. I love not knowing what I’m capable of. I love knowing what I did, knowing but what I could do — and those, in my head, never match up. There will always be a better Graham Fach in the future.”

Fach’s Round of 24 victory over Jones, in which Fach averaged north of 281 for four gamesgot here on lanes 29-30 — the identical pair of lanes that will likely be used for Sunday’s championship spherical.

“I mean, if I could average 280 I would hope that trophy is mine at the end of it,” Fach stated. “I’m pretty excited to bowl on that pair again. But, we’ve got four great bowlers, so it’s going to be a good show on Sunday.”

Denmark’s Thomas Larsen defeated EJ Tackett in a seven-game thriller to grab the No. 3 seed. Larsen summed up his response to the win in a single phrase: Surprised.

“I went into this match against EJ thinking, ‘I’m supposed to lose; he’s supposed to win,’” Larsen stated. “(I decided before the match) I’d rather try to do what I’m good at, something he can’t do, and lose 4-0 than try to play his game and not really have any chance. It worked out for me. I needed a seven-bagger every game to beat him, but it worked out.”

The battle for the No. 4 seed got here right down to a pair of tour roommates in Hayden Stippich and Anthony Neuer.

Stippich, a 25-year-old Pennsylvania native, had defeated Richie Teece and Jason Belmonte in earlier rounds of match play. Then he bested Neuer in 4 video games.

“We ran remove the gauntlet from last night to the two matches tonight,” Stippich stated. “I’m feeling a little tired right now. It’s been a long day. We made a lot of great shots and put a lot of work in to get here. This feels really good right now.”

Stippich got here into his 2025 rookie season with loads of ambition.

I’ve dominated PBA Tour Trials in Aug. 2024 and almost made a pair of reveals early in his rookie season. But a concurrence of illnesses earlier than the World Series of Bowling derailed his season.

Stippich put himself again on monitor with a stable end in the season-opening PBA Players Championship and a breakthrough efficiency this week.

“We’re going to try to get comfortable as quickly as we can,” Stippich stated. “It’s my first show and it’ll be a little overwhelming. So the quicker I can settle down and stay comfortable, the better.”

Another participant who’d prefer to overlook their 2025 season is Stippich’s first opponent: Matt Russo.

Russo completed a career-high seventh in 2024 factors, then dropped to a dismal sixty fourth a yr in the past. This season, he stated, would put future seasons into query.

“I think this was going to be the telltale season,” Russo stated, “if this is something I continue to do or something that I just do part time.”

Russo grew up in New Jersey underneath the tutelage of the dwelling legend, Parker Bohn III. Russo moved together with his spouse, Lauren, to the St. Louis space just a few years in the past to begin teaching the Maryville University ladies’s bowling workforce.

Sunday, the 29-year-old will make the 15-minute drive from house together with his spouse and his school workforce by his facet in help.

“I’ve gotten to bowl on TV in my hometown a couple times, back in New Jersey, but this one just felt different,” Russo stated. “This time, there were more people, a lot more, and it was a lot louder. I think I wanted it more for them than myself. Obviously, I had a chance to step up and get the No. 1 seed, and things just didn’t go my way. But I’m very proud of myself for how I battled this entire week.”

Although Russo fell in the Round of 8, he earned the No. 5 seed for the stepladder finals because the highest-seeded loser in the spherical.

The second PBA Championship Sunday begins at 4 pm ET (3 pm CT) on The CW.

Match Play Results

Round of 24
No. 17 Hayden Stippich def. No. 16 Richie Teece, 4-2
No. 24 Austin Grammar def. No. 9 Ryan Barnes, 4-3

No. 18 Tom Smallwood def. No. 15 Santtu Tahvanainen, 4-3
No. 10 Graham Fach def. No. 23 Eric Jones, 4-0

No. 20 AJ Chapman def. No. 13 Kris Prather, 4-1
No. 21 Brandon Runk def. No. 12 Matt Sanders, 4-1

No. 14 EJ Tackett def. No. 19 Dom Barrett, 4-0
No. 11 Thomas Larsen def. No. 22 TJ Rock, 4-3

Round of 16
No. 17 Hayden Stippich def. No. 1 Jason Belmonte, 4-2
No. 8 Anthony Neuer def. No. 24 Austin Grammar, 4-3

No. 18 Tom Smallwood def. No. 2 Zach Wilkins, 4-2
No. 10 Graham Fach def. No. 7 Packy Hanrahan, 4-2

No. 4 Justin Knowles def. No. 20 A.J. Chapman, 4-1
No. 5 Matt Russo def. No. 21 Brandon Runk, 4-2

No. 14 EJ Tackett def. No. 3 Patrick Dombrowski, 4-2
No. 11 Thomas Larsen def. No. 6 Cameron Crowe, 4-2

Round of 8
No. 4 Justin Knowles def. No. 5 Matt Russo, 4-3
No. 10 Graham Fach def. No. 18 Tom Smallwood, 4-0
No. 11 Thomas Larsen def. No. 14 E.J. Tackett4-3
No. 17 Hayden Stippich def. No. 8 Anthony Neuer, 4-0

Complete scores can be found here.

PBA Pete Weber Classic Schedule

All instances Eastern

Saturday, Feb. 28 — BowlTV
8:30 pm — PBA Junior National Championship Finals

Sunday, March 1 —The CW
4 pm — PBA Pete Weber Classic stepladder finals