In the second tournament of the FloBowling PBA Fall Swing at The Lanes at Coffee Creek in Owasso, Okla., Tackett successfully defended his Bear Open title from 2016 by beating top qualifier Stuart Williams of England, 212-197, in the title match for the 12th win of his career.

Despite an open in the 10th frame, Tackett (featured photo) had struck in the seventh, eighth and ninth frames which gave him enough of a lead to clinch the win. Williams, who was trying for his second career tour title, opened in the seventh frame when he left the 2-4-8-10 split and was unable to close the gap.

“You hate to win a match with an open in the 10th frame,” said Tackett (right), the 2016 PBA Player of the Year. “I was fortunate that the strikes in the seventh, eighth and ninth gave me enough of a cushion and set me up to be in good position for the win even though it wasn’t pretty at the end.”

As the season’s only three-time winner, Tackett becomes a top contender for PBA Player of the Year honors with just the FloBowling PBA Tulsa Open and U.S. Open left in the season.

“I’m the first to win three but you can’t be sure of anything at this point especially with two big tournaments left,” Tackett said. “I’ve been doing a good job of giving myself the best chances to succeed all year and I’m going to have to continue to do that down the stretch.”

Tackett, the No. 2 qualifier for the finals, advanced to the title match by winning the semifinal against Kris Prather (left) of Plainfield, Ill., winning a one-ball roll-off 9-8 after a 245-245 tie.

Prather was coming off a season’s best third-place finish in the Wolf Open which concluded Tuesday.

Prather, the No. 3 qualifier, beat Wolf Open runner-up Andrew Anderson (right) of Holly, Mich., a two-time winner this season that includes the USBC Masters, 199-194, in the second stepladder match to advance to the semifinal.

In the opening match, Anderson, the No. 4 qualifier, beat No. 5 qualifier one-time tour winner Richie Teece (left) of England, 202-178, to advance to the second match against Prather.

The finals were conducted on PBA’s Bear 39-foot lane condition pattern.

Top 18 advance to FloBowling Tulsa Open match play

After the combined 24-game qualifying totals from the Wolf and Bear events, Prather leads the field of 18 players who advanced to Tulsa Open match play with a 5,476 24-game pinfall total (228 average). All five Bear Open finalists made the cut to match play with Anderson finishing qualifying in second with 5,470, followed by Tackett in third with 5,457 and Williams fourth with 5,419. Teece advanced by finishing in a tie for 11th with 5,223.

Wolf Open winner Anthony Simonsen earned the 18th and final qualifying position with a 5,172 pinfall.

The first of two six-game round robin match play rounds begins Friday at 9 a.m. CT with the second round at 2:30 p.m. The final match play round gets underway Saturday morning 9 a.m. which will determine the top five players for the Tulsa Open stepladder finals at 12:30 p.m.

The 18 players who advanced to match play and the five who advance to the stepladder finals will have the added challenge of bowling on the Bear 39-foot lane condition on the left lane and the Wolf 33-foot lane condition on the right lane in each match.

The entire Fall Swing is streamed live on Xtra Frame on FloBowling which is providing multi-stream coverage of every lane of competition. For subscription and schedule information click here. Lanetalk is providing Fall Swing tournament statistics which can be accessed by visiting the Lanetalk link on the pba.com homepage.

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2018 PBA Tour Schedule & Champions

FloBowling PBA Fall Swing Bear Open – Stepladder Finals

The Lanes at Coffee Creek in Owasso, Okla., USA (Oct. 17-18, 2018)

Championship Round:
1, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 457 (2 games), $10,000
2, Stuart Williams, England, 197 (1 game), $6,000
3, Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 444 (2 games), $4,000
4, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 396 (2 games), $3,500
5, Richie Teece, England, 178 (1 game), $3,000

Playoff Results:
First Match: No. 4 Anderson def. No. 5 Teece, 202-178
Second Match: No. 3 Prather def. Anderson, 199-194
Semifinal Match: No. 2 Tackett def. Prather in a one-ball roll-off, 9-8, after a 245-245 tie
Championship Match: Tackett def. No. 1 Williams, 212-197.

FloBowling PBA Fall Swing Bear Open – Second Round Qualifying Results

Players with position, hometown and 12-game total. Top five advance to stepladder finals.

1, Stuart Williams, England, 2,814
2, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 2,736
3, Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 2,713
4, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 2,707
5, Richie Teece, England, 2,675

Missed Cut:
6, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 2,659, $2,000
7, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 2,649, $1,500
8, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 2,643, $1,000
9, Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 2,640, $950
10, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 2,630, $900
11, Michael Tang, San Francisco, 2,610, $850
12, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 2,595, $800
13, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 2,592, $790
14, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 2,582, $780
15, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 2,577, $770
16, Darren Tang, San Francisco, 2,558, $760
17, Kurt Pilon, Warren, Mich., 2,556, $750
18, (tie) Dom Barrett, England and
Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 2,549
20, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,546
21, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,545
22, Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 2,542
23, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 2,541
24, Matt Kuba, Chicago Ridge, Ill., 2,531
25, (tie) Arturo Quintero, Mexico, and
Francois Lavoie, Canada, 2,524
27, JR Raymond, Clinton Twp., Mich., 2,522
28, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 2,517
29, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 2,508
30, Zach Doty, Campbellsville, Ky., 2,496
31, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2,495
32, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 2,494
33, Ryan Ciminelli, Clarence, N.Y., 2,489
34, Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 2,488
35, DJ Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 2,485
36, Sam Cooley, Australia, 2,465
37, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 2,448
38, (tie) Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., and
Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, 2,446
40, Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, 2,440
41, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 2,438
42, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 2,436
43, Matt O’Grady, Rahway, N.J., 2,423
44, (tie) Christopher Sloan, Ireland, and
Humberto Vazquez, Mexico, 2,413
46, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 2,409
47, Russ Oviatt, Chandler, Ariz., 2,407
48, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 2,405
49, Daniel Fransson, Sweden, 2,400
50, Zachery Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 2,395
51, David Krol, Nixa, Mo., 2,385
52, Julio Cesar Blancas, Mexico, 2,382
53, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 2,374
54, Matt Sanders, Indianapolis, 2,370
55, Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, 2,369
56, Nicholas Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 2,368
57, Francois Louw, South Africa, 2,360
58, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,359
59, John Furey, Howell, N.J., 2,357
60, Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., 2,354
61, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 2,351
62, (tie) Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., and
Charlie Brown Jr, Grandville, Mich., 2,350
64, (tie) Stephen Pavlinko Jr., Sewell, N.J., and
Rhino Page, Orlando, 2,343
66, Kim Bolleby, Thailand, 2,336
67, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 2,335
68, Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 2,334
69, Jim Pratt, Avondale, Ariz., 2,332
70, Kenneth Ryan, Morganville, N.J., 2,326
71, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 2,313
72, AJ Chapman, St Paul, Minn., 2,311
73, Trey Ford III, Bartlesville, Okla., 2,310
74, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 2,298
75, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 2,296
76, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 2,295
77, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 2,288
78, Dakota Vostry, Chicago, Ill., 2,283
79, Graham Fach, Canada, 2,282
80, Pontus Andersson, Sweden, 2,276
81, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 2,272
82, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 2,271
83, Andrew Silverman, Akron, Ohio, 2,264
84, Nate Garcia, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 2,263
84, Rocio Restrepo, Colombia, 2,263
86, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 2,254
87, Markus Jansson, Sweden, 2,227
88, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 2,208
89, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 2,187
90, Keven Williams, Springfield, Mo., 2,174
91, James Sitters, Australia, 2,145
92, Stephen Hahn, Sterling, Va., 2,139
93, George Duke, Vidor, Texas, 2,131
94, Matt Wozney, Clayton, Del., 2,121
95, Kenneth Bland Jr., San Antonio, Texas, 2,078
96, Steve Britton, Grand Prairie, Texas, 2,016
97, Michael Duran, Banning, Calif., 1,966
98, Michael Foster, Tulsa, Okla., 1,801
99, Kyle King, Glendale, Ariz., 1,209

FloBowling PBA Fall Swing Tulsa Open – Final Qualifying Standings

Standings after 24 games of qualifying from Wolf and
Bear Open events. Top 18 advance to Friday’s first round of match play

1, Kristopher Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 5,476
2, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 5,470
3, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 5,457
4, Stuart Williams, England, 5,419
5, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 5,336
6, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 5,317
7, Darren Tang, San Francisco, 5,297
8, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 5,278
9, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 5,253
10, Michael Tang, San Francisco, 5,229
11, Dom Barrett, England, 5,223
11, Richie Teece, England, 5,223
13, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 5,217
14, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 5,205
15, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 5,190
16, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 5,189
17, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 5,174
18, Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, 5,172

Missed Cut:
19, Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 5,157, $2,200
20, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 5,150, $2,300
21, JR Raymond, Clinton Twp., Mich., 5,140, $2,000
22, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 5,138, $1,900
23, Kurt Pilon, Warren, Mich., 5,130, $1,850
24, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 5,122, $1,800
25, Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 5,121, $1,750
26, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 5,109, $1,700
27, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 5,103
28, Matt Sanders, Indianapolis, 5,100
29, Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 5,096
30, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 5,091
31, Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 5,070
32, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 5,066
33, Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., 5,064
34, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 5,058
35, Rhino Page, Orlando, 5,053
36, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 5,040
37, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 5,027
38, Ryan Ciminelli, Clarence, N.Y., 5,025
39, DJ Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 5,016
40, Graham Fach, Canada, 5,003
41, Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, 5,002
42, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 4,997
43, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 4,967
44, Sam Cooley, Australia, 4,959
45, Matt Kuba, Chicago Ridge, Ill., 4,958
46, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 4,943
47, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 4,932
48, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 4,930
49, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 4,929
50, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 4,925
51, Christopher Sloan, Ireland, 4,910
52, Zach Doty, Campbellsville, Ky., 4,906
53, Matt O’Grady, Rahway, N.J., 4,901
54, AJ Chapman, St Paul, Minn., 4,900
55, Francois Louw, South Africa, 4,898
56, Zachery Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 4,885
57, Markus Jansson, Sweden, 4,882
58, Charlie Brown Jr, Grandville, Mich., 4,874
59, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 4,873
60, Kim Bolleby, Thailand, 4,863
61, (tie) Daniel Fransson, Sweden, and
Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 4,857
63, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 4,856
64, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 4,855
65, Keven Williams, Springfield, Mo.,, 4,837
66, Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, 4,833
67, Humberto Vazquez, Mexico, 4,829
68, (tie) Julio Cesar Blancas, Mexico, and
Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 4,818
70, John Furey, Howell, N.J., 4,816
71, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 4,800
72, Jim Pratt, Avondale, Ariz., 4,781
73, (tie) Pontus Andersson, Sweden, and
Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 4,757
75, Nicholas Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 4,743
76, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 4,739
77, David Krol, Nixa, Mo., 4,733
78, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 4,727
79, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 4,720
80, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 4,705
81, Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 4,683
82, Stephen Pavlinko Jr., Sewell, N.J., 4,657
83, Russ Oviatt, Chandler, Ariz., 4,651
84, Trey Ford III, Bartlesville, Okla., 4,650
85, Dakota Vostry, Chicago, Ill., 4,627
86, Nate Garcia, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 4,612
87, Rocio Restrepo, Colombia, 4,609
88, Kenneth Ryan, Morganville, N.J., 4,597
89, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 4,505
90, George Duke, Vidor, Texas, 4,389
91, Matt Wozney, Clayton, Del., 4,326
92, Stephen Hahn, Sterling, Va., 4,310
93, Andrew Silverman, Akron, Ohio, 4,278
94, Kenneth Bland Jr., San Antonio, Texas, 4,263
95, Michael Duran, Banning, Calif., 4,094
96, Steve Britton, Grand Prairie, Texas, 4,008
97, James Sitters, Australia, 3,940
98, Michael Foster, Tulsa, Okla., 3,406
99, Kyle King, Glendale, Ariz., 3,527