From wire reports
HOUSTON — The annual reunion of the PBA and PWBA Tours starts Friday with the Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles at Copperfield Bowl.
More than 150 teams will compete in the national title event.
The tournament is more commonly called “The Luci” in honor of Luci Bonneau, a long-time PWBA Tour player and close friend of SABC founder Donna Conners.
Since the first event in 2000, the X Out Breast Cancer Foundation has raised more than $1 million dollars in the fight against breast cancer.
Chris Via and Bryanna Coté won the tournament a year ago, , but the duo won’t be able to defend their title. Coté said she had surgery on her left eye for glaucoma in June and will miss the remainder of the PWBA Tour season.
Though Via would have preferred to bowl with Coté, his longtime friend and Team USA teammate, Via’s new partner is the winningest player in tournament history: Dayton left-hander Shannon Pluhowsky.
Pluhowsky is a seven-time PWBA Tour champion in addition to four Luci titles. She won the Luci with Tommy Jones four times between 2007 and 2011.
Danielle Urbano (McEwan) and Shannon O’Keefe each rank second with three titles apiece.
Urbano and Anthony Simonsen will look for their third title in four years. The duo went back-to-back in 2023 and 2024. Urbano won the Luci with EJ Tackett in 2021.
Several other Ohio players are participating in the 160-team event. Teams include Wooster’s Abbie Leiendecker and Keegan Alexander; Cuyahoga Falls’ Bryce Oliver and Tallmadge’s Kirsten Moore; Kent’s Rocio Restrepo and Deo Benard; Fairport Harbor’s Casey Cohagan and Painsville’s Marissa Allison; Jodi Woessner and Chad Roberts; Parma’s Patrick Dombrowski and Kara Mangiola.
The event kicked off Thursday with the Beauties vs. Beasts event,, with Diana Zavjalova and Deo Benard topping that event and earning $875 each, plus a $300 gift card.
Others participating in that event included: Beauties — Erin McCarthy, Jordan Snodgrass, Josie Barnes, Diana Zavjalova and Malaysia’s Sin Li Jane; and Beasts Keven Williams, Alec Keplinger, Justin Knowles and Shawn Maldonado. The pairings were McCarthy/Williams, Snodgrass/Keplinger, Barnes/Knowles, Zavjalova/Benard and Sin/Maldonado.
FORMAT
All players will bowl seven games of qualifying on the 40-foot oil pattern. After all four squads compete, the top 40 teams will advance to Sunday’s semifinals.
Teams will bowl four more games Sunday morning with the top 12 teams advancing to round-robin match play. The team with the highest pinfall after match play wins. There is no stepladder finals.
Across all rounds, players will bowl singles games with combined scores comprising the team total. There are no baker doubles games.
All rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV.
Tournament Schedule
All times Eastern
Thursday, July 30 — BowlTV
10a — A/B-squad practice session
2p — C/D-squad practice session
5p — Beauties vs. Beasts match (top five men and women from 2025 qualifying)
Friday, July 31 — BowlTV
9a — A-squad Qualifying (seven games)
3p — B-squad Qualifying (seven games)
9p — Pro-Am
Saturday, Aug. 1 — BowlTV
9a — C-squad Qualifying (seven games)
3p — D-squad Qualifying (seven games)
9p — Pro-Am
Sunday, Aug. 2 — BowlTV
9a — Semifinals (4 games)
12:30p — Match Play Round 1 (six games, round-robin)
4:30p — Match Play Round 1 (six games, round-robin)
Past Champions
2025 — Chris Via and Bryanna Coté
2024 — Anthony Simonsen and Danielle McEwan
2023 — Anthony Simonsen and Danielle McEwan
2022 — EJ Tackett and Diandra Asbaty
2021 — EJ Tackett and Danielle McEwan
2019 — Kyle Sherman and Amanda Greene
2018 — EJ Tackett and Liz Johnson
2017 — Jason Sterner and Birgit Poppler
2016 — Bill O’Neill and Shannon O’Keefe
2015 — Bill O’Neill and Shannon O’Keefe
2014 — Scott Norton and Missy Parkin
2013 — Bill O’Neill and Shannon O’Keefe
2012 — Bryan O’Keefe and Shannon O’Keefe
2011 — Tommy Jones and Shannon Pluhowsky
2010 — Tommy Jones and Shannon Pluhowsky
2009 — Parker Bohn III and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard
2008 — Tommy Jones and Shannon Pluhowsky
2007 — Tommy Jones and Shannon Pluhowsky
2006 — Marc Laracuente and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard
2005 — Paul Fleming and Rachel Perez
2004 — Russell Wilson and Kristal Scott
2003 — Wes Malott and Genie Franklin
2002 — Dino Castillo and Diandra Hyman
2001 — Chris Barnes and Amy Dillon
2000 — Mark Scroggins and Donna Conners