PWBA Hall of Fame Class of 2026 Announced
January 28, 2026
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Professional Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Fame will induct two players in the Performance category and one in the Meritorious Service/Builder category during tournament week for the United States Bowling Congress Queens in May.
Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey, and Australia’s Cara Honeychurch will be the latest to join the Hall of Fame in the Performance category after stellar careers on tour, while Leila Wagner of Annapolis, Maryland, will be inducted for her off-the-lanes accomplishments.
All three women will be inducted during the 2026 PWBA Hall of Fame ceremony May 13 at Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, in conjunction with the USBC Queens, which runs May 13-19.
Kulick, 48, enjoyed a successful collegiate career at Morehead State, earning National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association (NCBCA) first-team All-American and MVP honors from 1996-1999 as well as an Intercollegiate Team Championships title in 1998 before joining the PWBA Tour in 2001.
Her rookie year saw the then 24-year-old place second during the Queens before going on to finish in the top 10 in 14 events, cashing in 19 and earning PWBA Rookie of the Year honors. She finished the 2001 season eighth in earnings ($65,057) and ninth in the points race (11,645).
In 2003, Kulick earned her first career title at the U.S. Women’s Open after climbing a star-studded ladder that featured Leanne Hulsenberg, Wendy Macpherson, Michelle Feldman and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard. But, just as her career was starting to take off, the tour folded during the 2003 season.
That didn’t stop Kulick, however. She won the Queens in 2007 and 2010 and then added two more U.S. Women’s Open titles in 2010 and 2012 for five total majors. But there was still one more title to earn in 2010, one that would be history-making for women’s bowling.
At the Professional Bowlers Association Tournament of Champions, Kulick became the first woman to win a PBA Tour title, defeating Chris Barnes in the title match, 265-195. Only Kulick and 2025 PWBA Hall of Fame inductee Liz Johnson (2017 PBA Chameleon Championship) have accomplished that feat, and Kulick’s win was a major championship on the PBA Tour.
After the PWBA Tour returned in 2015, Kulick added two more titles to her resume, winning the 2017 PWBA Fountain Valley Open and 2021 PWBA Albany Open.
Outside the PWBA, Kulick was a 17-time Team USA member (1998-2001, 2008, 2010-2021) and earned 22 gold medals in international competition. She also won Diamond All-Events at the USBC Women’s Championships in 2019 and 2025. She currently serves as the head coach of Junior Team USA and was inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame in 2019.
Honeychurch, 53, joined the PWBA Tour in the fall of 1999 after placing third in the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open as an amateur. She had already won the 1996 AMF World Cup and earned three gold medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games for her home country of Australia.
On the PWBA Tour, she bowled the second televised PWBA 300 game at the 1999 AMF Gold Cup and won her first major title at the Brunswick Women’s World Open that same year.
She was still considered a rookie in 2000 and made the most of that distinction, earning two additional titles (Brunswick Women’s World Open and Greater Orlando Open) while cashing in 21 of 22 events to the tune of $121,650 for the year and led the PWBA in average (215.18 over 774 games) on her way to PWBA Rookie of the Year honors.
The following year, Honeychurch cashed 21 times, made 13 TV finals appearances and won four titles at the Greater San Diego Open, Sport Bowling Challenge, Clabber Girl Greater Terre Haute Open and North Myrtle Beach Classic. She was the runner-up to Carolyn Dorin-Ballard for Player of the Year while earning the fourth-most on the tour ($92,500) and averaging the third-highest (212.41 over 929 games).
Honeychurch didn’t have as much success in 2002 as she did in 2001, but she was still a top-20 player on tour. She earned her eighth and final title at the Greater Harrisburg Open, had the seventh-highest average with 212.48 over 481 games and was honored with the Robby Award, given to the player that best exemplifies the virtues of a professional women’s bowler on and off the lanes. She also earned the Classic All-Events title at that year’s USBC Women’s Championships with a then-record score of 2,150 for nine games.
After the tour folded, Honeychurch returned to Australia and was the CEO of Tenpin Bowling Australia from 2010-2020. She is a member of Sport Australia’s Hall of Fame for her contributions to the sport.
Wagner, 65, joined the professional ranks at 18 years old and quickly became one of the tour’s most consistent competitors, making 23 career TV finals appearances and winning two career titles (1986 Hammer Western Open and 1989 Metroplex Open).
However, it was her contributions off the lanes that propelled her to the PWBA Hall of Fame.
She was a lead announcer/color commentator on telecasts of the PWBA, then known as the Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour (LPBT), from 1985-1997, which aired on ESPN, Prime Network and SportsChannel America. It was during this time that Wagner became the face and voice of the women’s pro tour to its fans across the country, making her synonymous with the tour’s telecasts.
Wagner used the fame and familiarity garnered from her role as the tour’s TV announcer as she traveled across the United States, Europe, Japan, South America and Australia to promote the sport of bowling exhibitions, clinics and grand openings for bowling centers and military bases.
She also appeared in a number of national campaigns, including Coors Light and Eveready Battery, in promotion of bowling.
Throughout the 1980s and 90s, she could be seen in just about every bowling publication and was featured in Sports Illustrated in 1987. Prior to that, she was featured prominently in the 1981 LPBT program book, sitting as Miss Washington 1981.
A week after competing in the U.S. Women’s Open, Wagner competed for Miss USA 1981 in Biloxi, Mississippi. Due to Wagner's professional bowling status, the televised pageant featured a segment with all the contestants paired with servicemen from the local military base for a tournament, marking the first, and thus far only, time bowling has been part of a national pageant.
Additionally, Wagner was named to the Women’s International Bowling Congress Speakers Bureau, traveling to promote women in the sport of bowling, and was on the AMF Staff of Champions from 1986-1996 in a role that included more exhibitions and grand openings.
Outside the professional ranks, she became the youngest (18 years and 10 months) to win a title at the 1979 USBC Women’s Championship, winning the Classic Team Event as part of the Alpine Lanes team.
Wagner was inducted into the Greater Seattle USBC Hall of Fame for Superior Performance in 2013.
With the upcoming induction of the Class of 2026, there will be 54 members of the PWBA Hall of Fame – 33 in Performance, 10 in Pioneer, 10 in Meritorious Service/Builder and one in Ambassador.
For more information on the PWBA Hall of Fame, click here.
Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey, and Australia’s Cara Honeychurch will be the latest to join the Hall of Fame in the Performance category after stellar careers on tour, while Leila Wagner of Annapolis, Maryland, will be inducted for her off-the-lanes accomplishments.
All three women will be inducted during the 2026 PWBA Hall of Fame ceremony May 13 at Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, in conjunction with the USBC Queens, which runs May 13-19.
Kulick, 48, enjoyed a successful collegiate career at Morehead State, earning National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association (NCBCA) first-team All-American and MVP honors from 1996-1999 as well as an Intercollegiate Team Championships title in 1998 before joining the PWBA Tour in 2001.
Her rookie year saw the then 24-year-old place second during the Queens before going on to finish in the top 10 in 14 events, cashing in 19 and earning PWBA Rookie of the Year honors. She finished the 2001 season eighth in earnings ($65,057) and ninth in the points race (11,645).
In 2003, Kulick earned her first career title at the U.S. Women’s Open after climbing a star-studded ladder that featured Leanne Hulsenberg, Wendy Macpherson, Michelle Feldman and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard. But, just as her career was starting to take off, the tour folded during the 2003 season.
That didn’t stop Kulick, however. She won the Queens in 2007 and 2010 and then added two more U.S. Women’s Open titles in 2010 and 2012 for five total majors. But there was still one more title to earn in 2010, one that would be history-making for women’s bowling.
At the Professional Bowlers Association Tournament of Champions, Kulick became the first woman to win a PBA Tour title, defeating Chris Barnes in the title match, 265-195. Only Kulick and 2025 PWBA Hall of Fame inductee Liz Johnson (2017 PBA Chameleon Championship) have accomplished that feat, and Kulick’s win was a major championship on the PBA Tour.
After the PWBA Tour returned in 2015, Kulick added two more titles to her resume, winning the 2017 PWBA Fountain Valley Open and 2021 PWBA Albany Open.
Outside the PWBA, Kulick was a 17-time Team USA member (1998-2001, 2008, 2010-2021) and earned 22 gold medals in international competition. She also won Diamond All-Events at the USBC Women’s Championships in 2019 and 2025. She currently serves as the head coach of Junior Team USA and was inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame in 2019.
Honeychurch, 53, joined the PWBA Tour in the fall of 1999 after placing third in the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open as an amateur. She had already won the 1996 AMF World Cup and earned three gold medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games for her home country of Australia.
On the PWBA Tour, she bowled the second televised PWBA 300 game at the 1999 AMF Gold Cup and won her first major title at the Brunswick Women’s World Open that same year.
She was still considered a rookie in 2000 and made the most of that distinction, earning two additional titles (Brunswick Women’s World Open and Greater Orlando Open) while cashing in 21 of 22 events to the tune of $121,650 for the year and led the PWBA in average (215.18 over 774 games) on her way to PWBA Rookie of the Year honors.
The following year, Honeychurch cashed 21 times, made 13 TV finals appearances and won four titles at the Greater San Diego Open, Sport Bowling Challenge, Clabber Girl Greater Terre Haute Open and North Myrtle Beach Classic. She was the runner-up to Carolyn Dorin-Ballard for Player of the Year while earning the fourth-most on the tour ($92,500) and averaging the third-highest (212.41 over 929 games).
Honeychurch didn’t have as much success in 2002 as she did in 2001, but she was still a top-20 player on tour. She earned her eighth and final title at the Greater Harrisburg Open, had the seventh-highest average with 212.48 over 481 games and was honored with the Robby Award, given to the player that best exemplifies the virtues of a professional women’s bowler on and off the lanes. She also earned the Classic All-Events title at that year’s USBC Women’s Championships with a then-record score of 2,150 for nine games.
After the tour folded, Honeychurch returned to Australia and was the CEO of Tenpin Bowling Australia from 2010-2020. She is a member of Sport Australia’s Hall of Fame for her contributions to the sport.
Wagner, 65, joined the professional ranks at 18 years old and quickly became one of the tour’s most consistent competitors, making 23 career TV finals appearances and winning two career titles (1986 Hammer Western Open and 1989 Metroplex Open).
However, it was her contributions off the lanes that propelled her to the PWBA Hall of Fame.
She was a lead announcer/color commentator on telecasts of the PWBA, then known as the Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour (LPBT), from 1985-1997, which aired on ESPN, Prime Network and SportsChannel America. It was during this time that Wagner became the face and voice of the women’s pro tour to its fans across the country, making her synonymous with the tour’s telecasts.
Wagner used the fame and familiarity garnered from her role as the tour’s TV announcer as she traveled across the United States, Europe, Japan, South America and Australia to promote the sport of bowling exhibitions, clinics and grand openings for bowling centers and military bases.
She also appeared in a number of national campaigns, including Coors Light and Eveready Battery, in promotion of bowling.
Throughout the 1980s and 90s, she could be seen in just about every bowling publication and was featured in Sports Illustrated in 1987. Prior to that, she was featured prominently in the 1981 LPBT program book, sitting as Miss Washington 1981.
A week after competing in the U.S. Women’s Open, Wagner competed for Miss USA 1981 in Biloxi, Mississippi. Due to Wagner's professional bowling status, the televised pageant featured a segment with all the contestants paired with servicemen from the local military base for a tournament, marking the first, and thus far only, time bowling has been part of a national pageant.
Additionally, Wagner was named to the Women’s International Bowling Congress Speakers Bureau, traveling to promote women in the sport of bowling, and was on the AMF Staff of Champions from 1986-1996 in a role that included more exhibitions and grand openings.
Outside the professional ranks, she became the youngest (18 years and 10 months) to win a title at the 1979 USBC Women’s Championship, winning the Classic Team Event as part of the Alpine Lanes team.
Wagner was inducted into the Greater Seattle USBC Hall of Fame for Superior Performance in 2013.
With the upcoming induction of the Class of 2026, there will be 54 members of the PWBA Hall of Fame – 33 in Performance, 10 in Pioneer, 10 in Meritorious Service/Builder and one in Ambassador.
For more information on the PWBA Hall of Fame, click here.