O'Neill leads qualifying at 2025 USBC Masters; match play begins Thursday
March 27, 2025
Bill O'Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, finished qualifying as the overall leader at the 2025 USBC Masters, which is being contested at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan. As such, O'Neill will be the No. 1 seed when match play kicks off Thursday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern.
FULL RESULTS
ALLEN PARK, Michigan – Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, earned the top seed for the 64-player double-elimination bracket at the 2025 United States Bowling Congress Masters, which is being contested at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan.
The 43-year-old right-hander rolled games of 195, 205, 239, 191 and 194 on Wednesday to finish atop the standings in the 390-player field with a three-day, 15-game qualifying total of 3,331 (a 222.07 average).
Three-time Masters champion Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas, who won the event in 2016, 2022 and 2023, qualified second at 3,322.
The remaining spots in the top five were secured by Jean Perez of Indianapolis (3,311), Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington (3,303), and Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Michigan (3,290).
O’Neill didn’t approach Wednesday’s round with designs on maintaining the overall lead he’d captured the night before; instead, he was just looking to continue throwing quality shots.
“There weren’t a lot of strikes out there for me today,” O’Neill said. “I probably could have changed to some other balls and tried some more drastic options, but I really didn’t need to do that due to the nature of this format. I knew I didn’t have to be leading the tournament.
“I felt okay today. Whenever things get squirrely with ball reaction, you can start throwing bad shots while trying to get your ball to strike. That’s the one thing I didn’t want to do today. I just wanted to stay in my comfort zone and make sure my hand was in the spot it’s going to need to be in starting tomorrow.”
One bowler who had almost no difficulty getting his ball to strike during Round 3 was Alec Keplinger of Quincy, Michigan. The former Wichita State standout connected for 12 strikes in a row during Game 3 of A Squad qualifying Wednesday afternoon.
Not only did that earn Keplinger the distinction of becoming just the third competitor to roll a perfect game at the 2025 Masters – Sweden’s Rasmus Edvall (Round 1) and Finland’s Santtu Tahvanainen (Round 2) rolled the first two – but it also propelled him to a Round 3 score of 1,118, which vaulted him up the leaderboard and allowed him to make the cut in 43rd place with a three-game mark of 3,136.
The top 63 players, based on total pinfall, advanced to match play, which kicks off Thursday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern at Thunderbowl Lanes.
The 63rd spot from qualifying went to Chad Roberts of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Roberts finished with a 3,096 total (a 206.40 average) and will face Simonsen in Thursday’s opening round.
DeeRonn Booker of Albuquerque, New Mexico, didn’t need to finish inside the top 64 as he had already locked up a spot in the bracket as the defending Masters champion.
Although Booker was guaranteed no worse than the 64th seed for match play, he had the opportunity to improve his position through qualifying.
That didn’t end up being the case, however, as Booker finished in a tie for 96th place with a 3,032 total. As such, he will be the No. 64 seed and will draw O’Neill to start match play.
Despite the difference in their seeds, O’Neill definitely won’t be taking Booker lightly during their opening-round battle.
“I have to keep bowling like I did the first two days on the fresh,” O’Neill said. “If I keep physically bowling that way, the rest will take care of itself. In this tournament, the guy you’re against can go out there and shoot 780, and then that’s it. I just have to keep bowling like I have the first few days and hope to get some good draws.”
There will be plenty of tough draws to be had during match play as this year’s bracket features a plethora of PBA Tour superstars, accomplished international players and collegiate standouts.
Qualifying and match play at the 2025 Masters remained consistent with previous editions of the event prior to the introduction of TV on March 29. The double-elimination bracket was retained, and all matches leading up to the final eight competitors will feature three-game total-pinfall contests.
However, once the Elimination Bracket is down to the final six, television matches will start with four single-game matches replacing the final three-game head-to-head round and four-player shootout to determine the finalists for the stepladder. These matches will be broadcast live on FS1.
These TV matches will implement a knockout-style format with the winners of the first two games advancing to the finals of the Elimination Bracket. The advancers then will take on players who lost in the semifinals of the Winners Bracket with each winner earning a spot in the opening match of the stepladder on March 30.
The two players who emerge victorious from the semifinals of the Winners Bracket will earn automatic spots on the March 30 broadcast with a three-game total-pinfall match determining the top seed. This match will be broadcast at BowlTV.com.
With only four players advancing to the stepladder, the top seed will need to be defeated twice on FOX to be denied the title.
The stepladder at the 2025 event will be March 30 at noon Eastern on FOX, with the champion taking home a spot in the tournament’s storied history, a major title on the PBA Tour and the $100,000 top prize.
For more information on the USBC Masters, CLICK HERE.
FULL RESULTS
ALLEN PARK, Michigan – Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, earned the top seed for the 64-player double-elimination bracket at the 2025 United States Bowling Congress Masters, which is being contested at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan.
The 43-year-old right-hander rolled games of 195, 205, 239, 191 and 194 on Wednesday to finish atop the standings in the 390-player field with a three-day, 15-game qualifying total of 3,331 (a 222.07 average).
Three-time Masters champion Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas, who won the event in 2016, 2022 and 2023, qualified second at 3,322.
The remaining spots in the top five were secured by Jean Perez of Indianapolis (3,311), Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington (3,303), and Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Michigan (3,290).
O’Neill didn’t approach Wednesday’s round with designs on maintaining the overall lead he’d captured the night before; instead, he was just looking to continue throwing quality shots.
“There weren’t a lot of strikes out there for me today,” O’Neill said. “I probably could have changed to some other balls and tried some more drastic options, but I really didn’t need to do that due to the nature of this format. I knew I didn’t have to be leading the tournament.
“I felt okay today. Whenever things get squirrely with ball reaction, you can start throwing bad shots while trying to get your ball to strike. That’s the one thing I didn’t want to do today. I just wanted to stay in my comfort zone and make sure my hand was in the spot it’s going to need to be in starting tomorrow.”
One bowler who had almost no difficulty getting his ball to strike during Round 3 was Alec Keplinger of Quincy, Michigan. The former Wichita State standout connected for 12 strikes in a row during Game 3 of A Squad qualifying Wednesday afternoon.
Not only did that earn Keplinger the distinction of becoming just the third competitor to roll a perfect game at the 2025 Masters – Sweden’s Rasmus Edvall (Round 1) and Finland’s Santtu Tahvanainen (Round 2) rolled the first two – but it also propelled him to a Round 3 score of 1,118, which vaulted him up the leaderboard and allowed him to make the cut in 43rd place with a three-game mark of 3,136.
The top 63 players, based on total pinfall, advanced to match play, which kicks off Thursday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern at Thunderbowl Lanes.
The 63rd spot from qualifying went to Chad Roberts of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Roberts finished with a 3,096 total (a 206.40 average) and will face Simonsen in Thursday’s opening round.
DeeRonn Booker of Albuquerque, New Mexico, didn’t need to finish inside the top 64 as he had already locked up a spot in the bracket as the defending Masters champion.
Although Booker was guaranteed no worse than the 64th seed for match play, he had the opportunity to improve his position through qualifying.
That didn’t end up being the case, however, as Booker finished in a tie for 96th place with a 3,032 total. As such, he will be the No. 64 seed and will draw O’Neill to start match play.
Despite the difference in their seeds, O’Neill definitely won’t be taking Booker lightly during their opening-round battle.
“I have to keep bowling like I did the first two days on the fresh,” O’Neill said. “If I keep physically bowling that way, the rest will take care of itself. In this tournament, the guy you’re against can go out there and shoot 780, and then that’s it. I just have to keep bowling like I have the first few days and hope to get some good draws.”
There will be plenty of tough draws to be had during match play as this year’s bracket features a plethora of PBA Tour superstars, accomplished international players and collegiate standouts.
Qualifying and match play at the 2025 Masters remained consistent with previous editions of the event prior to the introduction of TV on March 29. The double-elimination bracket was retained, and all matches leading up to the final eight competitors will feature three-game total-pinfall contests.
However, once the Elimination Bracket is down to the final six, television matches will start with four single-game matches replacing the final three-game head-to-head round and four-player shootout to determine the finalists for the stepladder. These matches will be broadcast live on FS1.
These TV matches will implement a knockout-style format with the winners of the first two games advancing to the finals of the Elimination Bracket. The advancers then will take on players who lost in the semifinals of the Winners Bracket with each winner earning a spot in the opening match of the stepladder on March 30.
The two players who emerge victorious from the semifinals of the Winners Bracket will earn automatic spots on the March 30 broadcast with a three-game total-pinfall match determining the top seed. This match will be broadcast at BowlTV.com.
With only four players advancing to the stepladder, the top seed will need to be defeated twice on FOX to be denied the title.
The stepladder at the 2025 event will be March 30 at noon Eastern on FOX, with the champion taking home a spot in the tournament’s storied history, a major title on the PBA Tour and the $100,000 top prize.
For more information on the USBC Masters, CLICK HERE.