EJ Tackett Survives Travel, Lack Of Sleep, And Competitive Field To Claim Kremer Roofing Minster Classic

The world’s best bowler, EJ Tackett, survived sleep deprivation, overnight travel, lack of practice time, and a competitive field on Sunday to claim the 6th Annual Kremer Roofing Minster Classic.

Minster, OH – World’s #1 – ranked EJ Tackett beat up-and-coming phenom Ethan Fiore Sunday, 227 to 195 in. the title game, to claim the 6th Annual Kremer Roofing Minster Classic PBA tournament at Community Lanes.

And, he could have justly requested hazard pay on top of the $4,000 winner’s check for outlasting the field.

Tackett was a late arrival for the tournament because he spent all day Friday in New York conducting a sponsor’s clinic.  So of course, arriving late he missed the Friday Pro-Am and valuable practice time at Doug and Lori Davidson’s Community Lanes.

Arriving early Saturday after driving all night, he was in no shape physically to compete in either of the A or B qualifying rounds, and instead did his best to catch a few hours sleep.

Then, bowling in the C qualifying flight at 7 pm Saturday, he promptly bowled his way to the top of the qualifiers for Sunday’s top 32 bowlers in the field, averaging 233, along with Cleveland’s Dean Vargo and Urbana’s Graham Fach.

So feeling like he’d just survived the worst-case scenario, Tackett faced Sunday’s elimination rounds to the final four bowlers believing he’d already been through the worst.  Community Lanes had been humbling on Saturday to some very good bowlers.  “And it’s not the easiest place to bowl a good score, anyway,”  said Tackett.

But think again.  Sunday dawned like a ‘strikefest’ through the round of 32, with 21-year-old Ethan Fiore, of Tampa, igniting with early scores of 236, 236, and 246 in the round of 16, followed by a 279 in the round of 8.  Fiore would finish with 45 strikes in the round of 16 and 8.  And he wasn’t alone.

Urbana’s Graham Fach was keeping pace, eventually finishing as the 4-seed in the stepladder finish.  And collegiate Riley Speer (Southern Nazarene University) pushed past Fach to finish as the #3 seed.

The competition forced Tackett, who maintained his 233 average through tournament’s end, to keep pace.  Put up, or shut up.  Deal with the pressure.

“It doesn’t take much to motivate me,”  he smiled, afterwards.  “And I hate to lose.  I just hate to lose.  So it doesn’t take much, and sometimes when you don’t have the time to practice it can be an advantage because you don’t have pre-conceived ideas about what’s possible and what’s not.  Not always, but I was able to do it this weekend, and it worked out.”

In the round of 8 to decide the final four, Tackett found himself pitted against Fiore, losing the first of two games, 290 to 237…and then reversing course to beat Fiore by 36 pins in the second game, 259 to 223.

Then forced to wait and watch as the #2 seed, he observed Graham Fach, the #4, beat Riley Speer, the #3, 248 to 232.

That put Tackett in the semi-final game against Fach, a three-time national titleist with a reputation as one of the coolest competitors on the PBA tour.  Fach came out strong, matched Tackett through five, but suddenly fell prey to solid hits and solid 7 and 10 pin leaves.  It was the opening that Tackett needed, who went on to close him out, 244 to 217.

“I was just trying to stay clean, no open frames, and give myself a chance to bowl a good score,”  he added.

And then Ethan Fiore, seeking to defend his own 2025 Kremer Roofing Classic title.

Fiore had been on an envious run of accuracy and cleanliness of his own…all day.  But in the opening frame of the final game – on his first ball – he shocked the audience by throwing an open frame after a 2-8-10 split.  To a professional like Tackett, it was like blood in the water with sharks.

“It’s not something you expect from Ethan because he’s won a major, and he has other titles,”  said Tackett.  “And I didn’t automatically think to myself that I had it won.  I just focused on staying clean, getting at least 9 with my first ball, and making my spares.  I wanted a solid score with no opens.”

He did that, but put added pressure on Fiore with a string of five strikes in a row through the sixth frame.  And in the fifth frame, Fiore slipped again, leaving a 2-10 split, his second open of the game.

In fact, before it was determined, Fiore would open three times and Tackett coolly rolled his clean game, winning 227 to 195.

Clearly, he’s the world’s best bowler at this point, validating PBA tournament manager Bobby Jakal’s introduction of the championship matchup.

“He’s won 28 National titles, 8 Major titles, including two US Open Titles, and is the four-time consecutive PBA World Championship winner this past June.  Well, he’s just the world’s best bowler, I guess,”  said Jakal.

And yet, Tackett is the consummate professional for the fact of his awareness of what his image, his professionalism, and his courtesy to the public means to the PBA tour.  The gracious EJ Tackett that you see on the weekend PBA broadcasts on FOX is the same EJ Tackett that you get face to face, in person.

“I came in and just bowled…tried to figure things out,”  he reiterated during the post-competition interviews.  “I didn’t practice, and that’s not what I normally do because I don’t want to deny myself a chance to be competitive and win.  Whether it’s for $4,000 or $100,000 at a major championship, I don’t like to lose, regardless of the circumstances.  It’s the worst feeling in the world.  It doesn’t take much for me to get the mindset going to be the best I can be.”

And living in nearby Bluffton, Indiana, a small town just 45 minutes west of Coldwater, he’s equally sensitive to the virtues of small communities and their values.  Not content to survive on tournament checks along, Tackett purchased his own bowling center a few years ago and operates it like any other well-run retail establishment.  He takes nothing for granted.

Which is why he’ll bowl in the mid-week event in Delphos on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and compete for the umpteenth time in Coldwater next weekend, seeking his second title at Pla-Mor Lanes.  He previously won there in 2014.

“You just never know,” he said to the audience upon being presented the Kremer Roofing Classic trophy for the second time in four years.  “Minster has been my version of Ricky Bobby.  I either win here (2023 and 2026) or I don’t make the cut.  It’s been feast or famine.”

But it’s always a pleasure to watch someone compete who hates to lose, but knows how to do it graciously.

And just as pleasurable to see someone overcome obstacles to win, because it’s important to be the best you possibly can.  Trust it, it meant a lot to EJ Tackett to go home a winner Sunday.

And who can’t learn from an example like that?