Brett Lloyd, from North Liberty, Iowa, came from out of nowhere to survive, and win Sunday’s Bowlerstore.com Classic in Coldwater. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
An obscure name with one prior PBA win as a non-member, Brett Lloyd, rose from out of nowhere Sunday to capture the 17th annual Coldwater PBA tournament.
Coldwater, OH – Brett Lloyd, from North Liberty, Iowa, shook his head over the accomplishment.
Sunday afternoon, in Coldwater, at one of the PBA’s toughest venues, he rose like a Phoenix from the ashes to climb through the qualifying rounds, the round of 16, round of 8, and on to the stepladder championship round to knock out four-time regional winner Zac Tackett and take the Bowlerstore.com Classic at Pla-Mor Lanes.
“I’m as surprised as anyone,” he said, moments after knocking out Tackett, 198 to 184, to capture his first PBA title as a member of the PBA. He had previously won a regional event as a non-member – as a college bowler.
“I’m as surprise as anyone. I’ve been going through some rough times with my game. I had to stay positive and in the moment.” – Brett Lloyd
“I just finished up my college career (at Mount Mercy), I’m working on my MBA, and I had a couple of weeks off before I start back to college again. This is so much different than college. I’ve been working hard on my game for the last few months, I’ve been going through some hard times with my game, and to win with some of these names in the field is a real honor.”
He started from the bottom in Saturday’s qualifying round to make Sunday’s championship flight of 32, advanced from there to the quarter final round of sixteen, advanced from there to the round of eight…and suddenly he was there. He was one of the final four bowlers in the stepladder championship round.
As the fourth seed he beat another obscure name, Ric McCormick, from Cincinnati, 216 to 183.
In the semi-final game against yet another obscure name, Trae Henrichsmeyer, from Wisconsin, he won again in a lackluster game that neither seemed willing to win…172 to 170.
That set him up to face the #1 seed, Zac Tackett, from Decatur, Indiana, and the brother of world #1-ranked EJ Tackett, who missed this weekend event because of a prior commitment to be in Australia.
Tackett had been the most consistent bowler of the tournament, averaging 217, and gained the #1 seed by a margin of 110 pins.
But the legend of Pla-Mor finally caught up with him, when leading by twenty pins, he opened in the 9th frame of the final match. Lloyd, who was having his own misadventures with splits and ball changes, stepped up at just the right time to throw a pair of strikes and capture the $10,000 winner purse, winning 198 to 184.
Bowlerstore.com, of Versailles, is the presenting sponsor of high school bowling on Press Pros Magazine.com.
It was literally there for the taking for Tackett, who owned four previous regional titles, but somehow, Lloyd found a way to beat the mystique of Coldwater with a bit of his own.
“I had to make the ball change in the fifth frame,” he explained of the rare move in a championship match. “I was nowhere. I was not going to win if I didn’t. This place is tough, it’s intimidating from what you hear about it because everyone talks about getting ‘Coldwatered’. I was just ready to bowl my best and see what happens.
“I had some rough times, a 160 yesterday, and I just had to stay positive and in the moment. I had a 220 and a 230 along the way that helped me make up ground, and suddenly there I was in the championship match…and I knew I had to make the ball change. My window was really small and Zac was having better ball reaction. It was a Hail Mary move.
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“I had been using that ball during the weekend, but it was a big guess. It worked out. I made some really good shots with the pair of strikes, and I got lucky in the ninth. I’m really happy to say that I came here and won.”
The Coldwater Classic sponsored by Bowlerstore.com, presented by Moxy’s Xtra Pair, in Versailles, and once again the Hartings family (pictured below), attracted an appreciative crowd from the surrounding area with outstanding presentation of the world’s best bowlers.
And no one was more impressed than Brett Lloyd, who bested several of the tour’s best – AJ Johnson, Kris Prather, Patrick Dombroski, Zac Tackett- and another young gun, Ethan Fiore, who won last week at Minster.
“I can tell people I won at Coldwater,” he beamed.
Many wish they could say the same.
Host of the tournament, the Hartings family, along with Doug, Lori, Michael and Erika Davidson of Bowlerstore.com, present the winner’s check to 2025 tournament winner Brett Lloyd.
Pla-Mor lanes proudly sponsors coverage of bowling on Press Pros Magazine.com.