From wire reports
HOUSTON – After 23 games in two days, Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Ariz., and Chris Via of Springfield, Ohio, won the 2025 Professional Bowlers Association/Professional Women’s Bowling Association Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles event in Houston.
The duo, bowling their fifth year together, finished qualifying in 22nd place before jumping to third after the four-game semifinal round thanks to Coté staying steady and Via shooting 1,058, which included a 300 game.
After bouncing between first and second the first few games of match play, Coté and Via never relinquished the lead after Game 3 of match play and stayed at least 150 pins ahead of second during the second block of matches.
Through 46 combined games, including 24 total of round-robin match play, Via and Coté tallied a total pinfall of 10,416 (+1,216). They entered the position round with a 260-pin margin over second place.
Kyle Troup and Liz Johnson (+1,042) finished in second place, followed by Darren Tang and Li Jane Sin (+839).
Andrew Anderson and Erin McCarthy (+752) and Tommy Jones and Shannon Pluhowsky (+718) rounded out the top five finishing teams.
“It’s awesome to win here,” said Via. “It’s a special one as this event is so hard to win because you have to have both bowlers bowling really well at the same time. Bryanna did phenomenal, she never wants to back down from anything so it’s really easy to give her an idea, she’ll commit to it and make the best shot possible.”
This marks Via’s second career PBA title (2021 U.S. Open) and Coté’s sixth PWBA title, her first win since 2023 at the U.S. Women’s Open.
“(Chris and I) have said so many times that bowling and winning this event is great, but what we’re really here for is the breast cancer cause,” Coté said. “That’s really why we all show up and shoe up every year. To now be able to say we won this tournament together and have a banner is pretty cool.”
“Relief would come to mind first,” Via said. “You never want to be the one-hit wonder. I feel like I’ve gotten close a lot. To be able to finally put it together — especially a doubles tournament, I feel like they’re even harder to win because you have to have both people going at the same time — is really special. Being able to say I’m a multi-time PBA titleist is pretty sweet.”
Via’s two perfect games during the event earned him two $300 checks, which he immediately gave back to tournament director Donna Conners to put towards the cause, demonstrating just how important it was for him to continue giving to a worthy cause.
The friendship between Via and Coté originally started through bowling on Team USA together and competing on the international stage, and this win is near the top through all their accolades and awards.
“The talent in the field is just astronomical,” Coté said. “It’s a hard tournament to win and one of the few where it is just total pinfall wins.”
Via added, “It’s hard to say it ever tops anything bowling for your country, but this one’s pretty darn close because it’s the best of the best bowling and for a good cause.”
Next year’s Beauties and Beasts competition is set after qualifying was completed, as the top five individual scores from the men and women will compete in a pre-tournament competition. On the men’s side, Keven Williams (1,718), Alec Keplinger (1,701), Justin Knowles (1,687), Nick Pate (1,686) and Deo Benard (1,661) will compete, while the women’s side includes Erin McCarthy (1,598), Jordan Snodgrass (1,552), Josie Barnes (1,543), Diana Zavjalova (1,537) and Sin Li Jane (1,525).
Two-time defending champions Anthony Simonsen and Danielle McEwan finished in 22nd place.
EJ Tackett came up short in his attempt to set the PBA’s single-season average record. His final season average of 228.92 average for 381 games left him just shy of breaking Jason Belmonte’s 2017 record of 229.39.
The 2025 PWBA Tour season will conclude August 5 through 12 for PWBA Tour Championship Week in Rochester, N.Y., at ABC Gates Bowl for the PWBA Rochester Open, PWBA Pepsi Open and the season-ending PWBA Tour Championship major event.
The final PBA Tour title event of the season, the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters, will take place Aug. 22 through 31 in Helsingborg, Sweden.
For Coté, a win in Houston is a big boost heading into the final tour stop of the season.
“This really helps my confidence a lot,” she said. “I think I’ve been bowling really well this year but my scores haven’t reflected that, so coming into the Luci and just grinding games and making good shots…I’ve been telling myself that things will fall into place.”
See semifinal results here:
See final results here: