By NOLAN HUGHES
PBA Communications
RENO, Nev. — Andrew Anderson has a penchant for revenge, and the 29-year-old executed his latest vengeance on Saturday night at the National Bowling Stadium.
The top-seeded Anderson defeated EJ Tackett, 237-181, to win the PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic pres. by Pilgrim’s title and the $30,000 top prize.
Anderson, who won his first two singles titles during his 2018 PBA Player of the Year season, netted his fifth career title on Saturday.
“I started my career hoping to win one,” Anderson said. “That’s what everybody dreams of. Then you get one… then you win two and you’re like, ‘Maybe we can do something.’ Now we’re at that time where it’s like, ‘Can we start racking some titles up to maybe have a Hall of Fame bid and be in the history books?”
“I just hope that this is the start of the second part of my career, where I can start winning again, maybe not on a normal basis, but often. EJ, what he’s doing is an unbelievable feat. It’s un-human. It’s alien. That’s hard to aspire to, but if I can steal a few titles from him here and there, I’ll take it.”
While Anderson won the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship with Kris Prather in 2021 and 2024, he had not won a singles title since his 2018 PBA Player of the Year season. He ended the 2,478-day gap since his 2018 PBA Xtra Frame Greater Jonesboro victory.
“I’ve probably thought about it at least 2,300 of them,” Anderson said. “I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s been so long. Winning those couple doubles titles with (Kris Prather), that was huge. I loved both of those. I loved winning the PBA Elite League and MVP. I’ve done a lot of winning on television. That (singles title) just kept escaping me. I haven’t been able to get over that hump. So it’s nice to get one.”
The title match marked a rematch of this season’s U.S. Open title match. Tackett dethroned the again top-seeded Anderson for the green jacket, but Anderson capitalized on his opportunity for revenge this time.
“I just wanted to bowl good for myself,” Anderson said. “In the U.S. Open show, I didn’t bowl good for myself. I did quite the opposite. I was like a scared little kid out there. And so for this one, I wanted to be aggressive. I played the lanes aggressively. I did everything I wanted.”
Anderson started with six consecutive strikes, while Tackett made two errant shots on the right lane, which led to two open frames.
Tackett said he “ran out of lane” after his historic semifinal victory over Ethan Fiore, which ended with a PBA-record seven-frame roll-off. The prolonged roll-off exhausted Tackett physically and emotionally, and caused the 39-foot Mike Aulby oil pattern to transition faster.
Tackett and Fiore, who was making his first career championship round appearance, tied with 238 in the semifinal, then both players struck every shot of the roll-off until Fiore left a 7-pin.
Fiore defeated Alec Keplinger in the second match, which also came down to the final frame. Keplinger, the 23-year-old right-hander, needed all three strikes in the 10th frame to win the match, but left a 10-pin on his first shot.
Jesper Svensson started the opening match against Keplinger with three consecutive strikes, followed by four straight spares. Meanwhile Keplinger fired eight straight strikes from the third through 10th frames to take down the Swede.
Plenty more PBA competition will take place at the National Bowling Stadium over the next week.
The championship rounds of the PBA World Series of Bowling XVI will air Sunday through Wednesday, leading up to the PBA World Championship finals next Saturday, March 22.
Championship Round Scores
Match 1: No. 4 Alec Keplinger def. No. 5 Jesper Svensson, 257-214
Match 2: No. 3 Ethan Fiore def. No. 4 Alec Keplinger, 247-226
Match 3: No. 2 EJ Tackett def. No. 3 Ethan Fiore, 238-238 (Roll off: X-X, X-X, X-X, X-X, X-X, X-X, X-9 — longest roll-off in PBA history)
Championship: No. 1 Andrew Anderson def. No. 2 EJ Tackett, 237-181