On The Gutter
A bowling podcast where we bring on guests such as professional bowlers and people within the industry to talk all things bowling. We will be covering current events in the bowling world along with any trending topics.
On The Gutter
HISTORY at the PWBA Tour Championships! Ep197
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A HISTORY MAKING week just occurred at the 2026 PWBA Tour Championships. Not only did we see the first back to back Player of the Year for the first time in almost 7 years but we also saw the YOUNGEST Triple Crown winner of ALL-TIME for the PWBA Tour.
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What's poppin' everybody? Welcome back to another episode of On the Gutter brought to you guys by Motive Bowling. I hinted towards it last week, but uh we have something very new, very amazing coming out. Uh, me specifically, and very excited about this bowling ball, and I hope that a lot of you kind of follow suit. Of course, if you guys have not done so recently, make sure you head on over to motivebowling.com. Uh, we just announced three new t-shirts. So we have a Venom Club t-shirt, a Motive Echo t-shirt, and the Crush uh t-shirt, along with a Motive Revolution t-shirt. So um just some new t-shirts be added. We have a new Motive Grip Disc as well, uh, with the covert color, so it's like a monochrome color. It looks pretty sick. Um, but we're constantly adding new things, new apparel, new accessories, and whatnot. So make sure you guys head on over to motivebowling.com. While you're at it, you might as well order your brand new Jackal Ghost V2. I know I've been a huge fan of it. I think JMO has been as well. And of course, that is worldwide available. So make sure you guys head on over to motivebowling.com or visit your local pro shop and order your Jackal Ghost V2. Of course, this is DJ Beck with co-host extraordinaire, Mr. Jameson Payton. Jameson, how are we doing today?
SPEAKER_01Living my best life, DJ, how are you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'll sure, I'll go with that. That that sounds like a fair response. How is your week in Ohio?
SPEAKER_01Uh well, it it's Ohio, so we've got that going for us. But you know, I always love watching some bowling. That's that's one of my absolute favorite things to do. Um, besides maybe throwing a bowling, but you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, I was very surprised you actually posted a video on Facebook of you bowling slash practicing, and then it's not something we get to see every day. So, what's it like been for you uh getting back into bowling and actually practicing and registering for some PBA elite regional tour events? What's that all been like?
SPEAKER_01Well, uh, you know, there's one thing to tell you is there's there's been a lot of I've had a lot of clarity as of late, you know, and uh I think I'm doing a much better job kind of separating this from that, that from this, you know. Um there's been a lot of separation as well mentally for me that has kind of put me in a position where I feel like I can actually be successful. Um I don't remember if I mentioned this on the podcast, but I did in fact work with Dr. Dean while I was in Reno, and that helped a lot. Yeah, being able to kind of put those things into everything. Um I mean, bro, honestly, it is I feel like I'm a brand new person. I feel like I can run through a wall.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um incredible.
SPEAKER_01You know, I we bowled on uh I don't remember what we bowled on. It was 42 feet, some PBA shot. Um but last time I bowled on it, I didn't shoot over 200. And uh you know, we were bowling pots on it this past week and we bowled eight games. I had one game under 200, I averaged over 220 and I won five of the games. So I love that. You know, I'm I'm feeling it, dude. Like I uh I changed some stuff, I I changed grips. Um I went from uh I went I went to like a baby vacuue, you know, not the one in one thirty second, but I'm doing an inch vacuum just just a little. Um and uh I also went down a size and I went to clear grips for a little bit more tackiness. So my ball roll is a lot more forward, which also means that well, uh it's just way better on sport. Yeah, more importantly, my rev rate's up at least 50.
SPEAKER_00Nice. That's crazy as a two-hander. So that's I mean, obviously, pretty much always a benefit. If you can hit any sort of area uh and increase your rev rate, you're gonna be in a pretty good position.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And you know, spok uh speaking about Dr. Dean Hinnitz, if you guys have not done so, make sure you guys go back through our catalog of uh episodes. We I sat down, we did an episode with Dr. Dean Hinnitz, uh, just spoke about the mental game, things that he tends to see from athletes, more specifically bowlers. We talked about his books a little bit. So make sure you guys you guys go back and listen to that because um he's very, very intelligent when it comes to just overall mental game. So uh yeah, that's awesome to hear, J-Mo. Before we get into the main subject, which is the PWBA championship week, I just want to give a huge shout out to H5G Brands.com. Uh, H5G has done an incredible job with jerseys. If you guys are looking for your own fully custom jersey, make sure you head on over to h5g brands.com. Um, you guys can get yourself set up with uh any sort of design, many different colors. And if you guys want your own personal design, make sure you guys reach out to me. I can help you work on a design, get a mock-up, and get you all set. So make sure you guys head on over to h5g brands.com. Use code onTheGutter20, it will save you 20% off. Uh, so JMO, you know, we spoke about you being in Ohio. Obviously, this was the PWBA championship week, and wow, did we have some storylines? You were firsthand uh getting to watch a lot of that bowling. So, what was it like from your perspective watching the women bowl all week and seeing the patterns?
SPEAKER_01Well, so first of all, um, as you know, I have uh I've repped a few stops out there, and this this week I was a husband, which uh um that's that's a whole different host of problems or difficulties.
SPEAKER_00Shannon is a lovely lady, and there's no way she gives you any issues. That's true, you're right.
SPEAKER_01Anyways, um, like you know, it's it's just a totally different environment uh to to be out there as somebody who is used to looking for certain things. You know, like I'm noticing a bunch of stuff. I'm still having players come up to me and ask me stuff, and obviously I'm not gonna be like, no, I'm a husband in the week. Go talk to your actual rep. You know what I mean? Yeah, like you know, when the girls know you, the girls know you. So you know, and that's just how it works. But yeah, um long story short, uh you know, it was it was a really good time. Uh I did find myself being extremely bored. Um, there just wasn't nearly enough for me to do because I'm used to going up and down marking lines and doing all this other stuff. So like it was super, at least for the first event, it was extremely jarring to to just sit there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh I've I never had my phone die during a day of reping. And I think my phone died like before the end of the first block. It was actually wild.
SPEAKER_00And you know, I think that's the difference between you and I. It's like you're so used to being hands-on as a tour rep, right? You're so used to being like walking, like you said, up and down, doing a whole bunch of activities. I'm used to spectating, like I am fully so used to watching bowling for hours and hours on end. So, like when I was with a bowler uh in the past when I was dating bowlers, um, I was so used to watching them bowl all the time that like I was rarely ever on my phone because I was so engaged in watching bowling. So it's cool that you have like a different perspective knowing that you went from doing one thing to kind of taking off that hat to being putting on your husband hat. But um, yeah, I mean it's it's great that you saw the rapport with women uh or with the women, even though you weren't repping. Um, I'm sure there's quite a few women who appreciate being able to have somebody to talk to. Uh, and as we've heard many stories from many power couples throughout the PBA, PWBA, and just in general local areas, sometimes it can be really tough to be the significant other of somebody competing because you you have to learn how to deal with their emotions and and be there for the competition.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, absolutely. You know, I mean, thankfully, you I mean you're exactly right. Shann is pretty, pretty uh easy when it comes to all of that stuff. But uh you know, like all things considered, I I will say this. She asked me a lot of questions, and like in in in like ball rep questions, and I was able to answer them, you know, easily because you know, obviously I like yeah, you know, but like but it in in past times when I've been out there with the husband hat, okay, before I was a tour rep, it was like, I don't know. Yeah, yeah. You know, so but now she she listens, which is usually good. So um you'll you'll find that if you go back and look at her first blocks versus her second blocks, the the one where we go back and be like, okay, let's let's possibly use a different strategy because I cannot express to you how much that one wasn't working. Yeah, you know, like it you can see it's a it's a crazy, crazy, crazy big difference.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think that's kind of the the telltale sign of this week for the PWBA, is that there is a lot of times where women would start off their first blocks, shoot like maybe 160, 180, and then the next block that they would bowl, you'd see them shoot 20, 210. And it's like, okay, they definitely made some changes. And it was all just about adjusting and making your changes for the beginning of each block and how each block was going to end up playing. Because again, once you lay down the patterns consistently and over and over again, you start to see the lanes develop in a different way. So that's kind of why tour reps are out there. But uh, like I said, that's kind of the story of the week. So let's get into some results. So this week kicked off with the 2026 PWA Cleveland Open that was won by Shane Shana Ung, uh, taking home another title. She is fantastic. Uh, she beat Jordan Snodgrass in the um championship match. Third was our girl Felicia Wong from Canada. Fourth was Nue Fen, um, definitely helping herself out for the week. And then Maria Jose Bor. It was it was a great step ladder there. You had Rossi over Strepro in sixth, and then Jillian Martin in seventh, which will also come into play a little bit later. So what was your take on the Cleveland Open watching Shana Ung walk away with another title?
SPEAKER_01Uh well, I mean, she bowled really well. Um you know, so it wasn't like overly surprising to me in any way, shape, or form. Yeah. Um you know, that that pattern was uh that pattern was a little weird. Um they hooked a ton, and this was the event, if I'm not mistaken, where they bowled the burn squad. Yeah. And uh that in itself is a totally different like way of tackling things, right? Yeah. Um you know, it's you know, hey, you don't have it on the fresh, maybe I'll have it on the burn, right? And I think we saw a lot of that this week. Um, Shana had it pretty good on the fresh and the burn, as did the vast majority of those in the you know, top ten, realistically. Yeah. Um you know, all in all, it was I my only my one and only critique is I I don't quite understand, you know, it it seems like I don't have an issue with the the concept of the burn squads, but I do not quite understand why the why the burn squads go in the buildings the hot ton. Yeah, it seems like if we had some real fresh panels, that would make a little bit more sense. But I do really enjoy kind of the way they shake it up a little bit.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think like we've talked about it in nauseum uh with the PWBA tour, is that championship week is always, or even in uh any of their like weeklong events, like series that they have, it's always different formats with different patterns and and so on and so forth. So they take the advantage of having multiple events over the span of a single week and changing it up and doing different things. So it may not always play out to be like, hey, this center is going to be perfect for this week-long event. Like, hey, we we have this center for a week, like let's make the most of it, kind of thing. So again, I'm not in obviously in the discussions for that, but I think that's kind of where that uh plays out. So um yeah, Shana, like I said, walks away with another title. And then we move on to the PWBA Pepsi Open, who we saw a first-time winner, uh, which was really cool in Alexis Runk. Um, she bowled incredible. This was a very intriguing tournament to me based on bowling ball selection. Um, we saw some things that we don't typically see from the women's tour this uh at this event, which was, like I said, quite intriguing. But Alexis takes home the win there. Uh she beat Stephanie Zavala uh in the championship match, which came down to the 10th frame. I think Stephanie did strike nine or double to win, and she was not able to do so. Uh we saw Diana Zaviallova uh finish third. She's you know, she's been battling through a lot of things, so it's great to see DZ up there. Uh Hope Gramley uh also tied, I guess, for third or fourth, because this was like the bracket match play where it's like you know, the top two move on kind of thing. Um, and then again, we saw New Way Finn finish fifth, uh, followed by Miranda Pattison, Sidney Brummit, and Nori Johansen. Uh so a pretty stacked uh top eight there. J-Mo, I mentioned about the bowling ball selection. We saw some polyester bowling balls go down the lane with a lot of surface on it, tip uh similar to what we saw at the USB C Masters. So, what's your take on seeing the women do that uh over seeing the men do it kind of a couple times last this past year?
SPEAKER_01You know, there there's a lot to be said for this whole uh you know the whole like no uurathane on this tour thing. Yeah. Um so I mean it makes perfect sense, you know. You okay, so none of the resin is gonna work, it's all too quick off the end of the pattern, right? So okay, so what's your other option? You you sandblast a plastic ball, right? Yeah. I mean, uh this those balls hooked i in the 80s. So, you know, you it's not like this is just something that's just never been done before, you know. But I mean, you're exactly right. It's it's different to see the ladies doing it. They have a tendency to have a little bit lower rev rates and whatnot.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, but now, you know, you're seeing a bunch of platinum mixes go down the lane, you're seeing uh snipers go down the lane from time to time from our girls, and then uh um you know, axes of horse have been sure the the low-end ball of choice for the for the hang girls and whatnot. Yeah. Um and the hammer guys at this point too. You know, I mean, that's just you know, I said it before, I'll say it again. If the goal is to remove the overpowered urethane balls, but keep the the idea of like the shape that you think a urethane ball should have, yeah. Well, the mission accomplished, this is clearly how you do it. You're not trying to just eliminate something, you're you're you're trying to eliminate an advantageous something, right? Yeah. So, you know, uh take that how you want it, right? Um, it's it's everybody wants to complain about purple hammers to complain about purple axes. I you know, like I I give up.
SPEAKER_00It would have been insane. Um, and I don't think it happened this year, uh, as far as I'm aware at least, is that if Steph Zavala, who was throwing uh a sanded axe, if she had won a PWBA title and Boo Kroll won the Masters throwing the same ball, it's like, okay, people, so now we have sub-100 bowling balls winning a hundred and uh ten grand, hundred and twenty grand, whatever it may be. And it's like, where do we come up with this situation now? Because it's like somebody would be complaining, somebody would be going off the rails if a sub-100 bowling ball was all of a sudden making that much money. And like I mentioned it when Boog won the Masters, it is literally only a matter of time until we start to see league bowlers with sanded axes doing what these tour bowlers are doing because they think that's the solution.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so I can tell you right now, um good friend of mine, Nathan Rayborn, um, throwing a bunch of snipers on house for the last five years. And he was called a lot of things. I don't and some of them were rightfully so. Yeah. But you know I probably would have been saying something. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. But I mean, he had a 22 bagger with an Arctic sniper.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, but I mean the thing is, is you know, oh, you know, he's an idiot, he's dumb because why are you throwing plastic on house? Because he has a 22 bagger, you ding dong. Like, yeah, you know, the thing is is bowling is about getting the highest score you possibly can. And when there's a max score, that means that usually something close to that is good. Yeah, so yeah, I mean it's it's the thing is if you were putting holes in one, nobody would argue with it, right? You know? Yeah. Um, so I I'm a firm believer, you know, there are certain things that certain people I think have known for a long time, and it just hasn't come into play in the public eye. You know, I mean I mean, gosh, do you it really wasn't that long ago that like your average bowler didn't know you could sand a pearl, I swear. Like, dude, yeah what I'm talking about. Yeah, you know, and all of a sudden it's like, oh, well, so and so sanded a pearl, and like old guy's head explodes, you know, it's like it's just the there's such a ridiculous amount of misinformation equipment-wise in our sport as a whole. And when the people who do it for a living do something that you know, like Simo throwing plastic almost every single year at one event, whether it's the Masters or the US Open for what, the last five years, right? You know, and here's what it is everybody loses their absolute minds when somebody does it on like a local tournament.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And but Simo's doing it, so it's okay. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, it doesn't matter that kid won the local tournament during a sniper. Yeah. You know, but everybody's up in arms about it.
SPEAKER_00It's just no pleasing us, right?
SPEAKER_01Bowling, well, I I am a firm believer. See, bowlers love to complain. And I know this because I'm a bowler who loves to complain, okay? I'm complaining about it right now. Um, but but what we really see out of this is you know, if if bowlers are not happy if they're complaining. Yeah. And if you make them happy, they're gonna complain that they have nothing to complain about.
SPEAKER_00And it's too yeah, it's too easy. You made it too soft now. Yeah, it's it's a lose-lose situation. But the one thing like I did take away from this event with the PWBA at least was that Alexis Rumpf, the one who won, was throwing a reactive bowling ball, where we also saw a concept and an axe go down the same pair of lanes for the same event in the same championship kind of rounds. So it's like, hey, listen, like, yeah, we get it, like, not the most ideal situation, but at least we saw variety. Whereas, like, a lot of the times with the men's tour, because the rev rates are higher than like there's a less of a gap between like the highest rev rate and the lowest rev rate on tour, we see a lot of the same bowling balls, and a lot of those end up being the polyesters or urethanes or whatever may be on the men's tour. Whereas with the women's tour, I would say that we get to see a larger gap, a larger difference in the equipment being used because of the larger gap of rev rates from the lowest to the highest, or just average, I guess I should say.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I mean, like it makes perfect sense. You know, this is something that we do a lot of the time on tour as well, is we're gonna throw something that stretches the pattern a little bit, and then we're gonna get in resin because if we start with resin, it hooks a million, then you move in, and you throw it to the right, it can't get up the hill, and if you throw it to the left, it goes past the headpin on the left side. Yeah, so you know, this is you stretch the pattern, you make everything mellow out, and then you strike a billion with resin. Like that's that's that's that's something that we've done for absolute ever. But I I do want to interject real quick and just say that I got to hang out with my hero um for uh at least the second block because Shannon was bowling pretty close to uh his girlfriend. I didn't see that. And okay, get out of here. So, anyways, Tim Foy. Um Tim makes a comment as we're like the girls don't even quite have their shoes on yet, okay? So and he's just like he's he's got this like, I don't know, like the over the over the body like fanny pack manbeg type thing. And uh he goes, You know the girl's gonna have a real good tournament? Alexis Ronk. Okay, she can play the twig. And I was like, Yeah, yeah, I can't argue with that. And then she goes and freaking wins the thing. You know, like but I think I think that really goes to show you um first of all, the the the eye of some of the some of the best players on the planet to be able to pick out a player that they think is going to have a crazy good week just because of what they think the pattern is going to necessitate. Yeah. Dude, that you know, Tim, Tim Foy, uh genuinely one of the best bowlers on the planet.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, non-negotiable. Yeah, it's no disrespect to Alexis either, because it's like she hasn't she hadn't won a title before this. So to pick out like the winner who was gonna win her first title for him to pick that out is like really sick. Because like obviously there's a lot of women who are great at playing the twig, but for Tim to pick out the exact person who hadn't won a title yet, like that's awesome. So um, shout out to Tim Boyd.
SPEAKER_01It's it's yeah, dude, it's not like me saying, who do you think is gonna win? I think it's going to be EJ. Yeah. You know, exactly the best bowler in the world.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the left side looks pretty good this week. I think Shannon Bluehousey has a chance. He's like, Yeah, no kidding. Um, so no, that's odd, that's incredible. So beyond that, like I said, the Pepsi Championship added some a little bit of drama, a little bit of differentiation from what we see from a lot of the women's tour events. And then that brought us to the 20 2026 PWBA Tour Championship, where we saw the young phenom being the first person since the relaunch of the PWBA to win the triple crown, Miss Gillian Martin, Gillian Bold, and Insanely well all week. Um, just made an absolute tear throughout the championship um match play that they had. And then she comes away with a win over Birgit Norwich, um, where she throws two huge shots in the 10th frame to walk away with it. I'm a little upset it wasn't on CBS because it would have been really sick to see it, but I I understand you know this situation or scenario, whatever you want to phrase it. Um, but Jillian just just insanely, insanely talented. So, like I said, she beat Bjirgit Norwich in the championship match. Third place was Lauren Russo making a bit of a climb up the stepladder. Fourth, we had Diana Zavialova again, and then fifth was Miss Stephanie Johnson, where I step bullet really well all week as well. Um, you know, she's just a phenomenal talent. So, J Mo, uh seeing Jillian walk away with that event, that championship, the major, third major, um, and insane. What's your take on that?
SPEAKER_01Uh, I mean, we've been saying for I don't know how long that you know there are there are just so many just absolute stars up and coming, right? Between like Gianna, Gillian, um, Caitlin Stall. Um, I'm definitely forgetting about 40.
SPEAKER_00But like Annalise O'Brien, like Danielle Henderson, it's just one, yeah. All of Jack State, like bait, like there, it's insane. There's so many coming up. Miranda Pattinson's another one. Sydney Bone will be another one. Like, there's so many.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I mean, like, this is this is the thing, right? You know, these are these kids are hard to beat. Yeah. You know, I I don't want to say, I don't want to say like we were expecting Jillian to win the triple crown, you know, but like to say that be like, yeah, I mean she definitely would be one of the ones to do it, you know. She she's without any question one of the best out there. And I mean, no disrespect, but she's a literal child. You know, you know what I mean? Yeah, like like that's crazy, dude. I wouldn't I you know, I I aspire bowling bulpon. I aspire to be you know one of the people that everybody around me doesn't want to have to bowl against. Okay. But you know what? Gillian Martin is that for me, okay? I don't want to have to bowl against her. Ever. She yeah, I mean, she's you know, she's she's on another level. Yeah. She's just on another level. I don't is there another way to put it? I don't think there is.
SPEAKER_00You know, so let me just let me mention this real quick before I get into my next point. So uh Gillian also became the youngest uh woman ever to win the PWBA Triple Crown at 22 years old and 20 or 22 years, 24 days old. Um, it was previously held by PWBA Hall of Famers, Wendy McPherson, who is 22 years, nine months, and 20 days, and Alita Sill, who is 22 years, eight months, and two days, respectively. So, you know, I my my PWBA knowledge is decent. It's not fantastic by any means, but it's it's pretty decent. And I've been trying to think of any sort of comparison. Now, again, we have Liz Johnson who is insanely talented, Shannon O'Keefe, who is an amazing talent, um, you know, Wendy, Michelle Feldman, Kelly Kulik, uh, Carolyn Dorn Ballard, like there's Alita Sil. Like, there's so many great female bowlers. I don't know if there's anybody that we can compare Jillian to, truthfully. I do. Who would you pick? Simo. No, women's tour. Women's tour.
SPEAKER_01Well, we're I'm you said anyone. Oh, okay. I would compare it to Simo. Simo's doing the same thing, except Jillian probably is going to have a little bit more longevity just because she's not using her back.
SPEAKER_00You know what I mean? Like fair. It it's just it's in so insane to think that as a 22-year-old who missed some of these missed some of the season for college to finish college, now has five total titles and three majors. And it's it's not even her first full year on tour. Like, she missed events because she was still in college. So I it it's just it's amazing to see what she's been able to do. And by all means, her physical game is not like the the picturesque physical game that you typically see from a lot of bowlers. Like her physical game is exactly how Jillian Martin throws a bowling ball, and that is just efficient and successful as all can be. And that's the weird and crazy thing about bowling is that we can see somebody like her who's like, okay, like, you know, she her physical game isn't necessarily what a lot of people would teach, but she's so good at doing her like her own thing, and it's just been insanely successful to this point.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, you know, the the thing is this physical game evolves, right? And you know, you look 40 years in the past, they don't want you to drop your shoulder. Yeah, which is like really funny because like everybody good still dropped their shoulder. But like, you know what I'm saying? Like the things that are taught, you know, I'll I'll be the first to tell you. I wouldn't have taught anybody to bowl like Belmo. Yeah, if I'm going to pick a two-handed game, I'm going to pick somebody like Kyle Troop. Uh Ryan Barnes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Barnes. Um, Simo, if you're vertically challenged.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, like but but those are the games that are like really clean, really, really good, and like very few moving parts, right? But like what Jillian does, you know, and again, this isn't this isn't a dipper in any way, shape, or form. She's arguably you could make the argument the best female bowler on the planet at this point. I genuinely believe that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, she's gotta be she's top three at least. Um you know, but what she does is just what she does. Yeah, she has certain aspects. I really like the way she comes kind of around the ball, the way her swing is so sweet, it's so pure, the hit at the bottom is so freaking good. Yeah, it's uh it's it's I mean, honestly, she throws it like a power player dude. Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00And it's yeah, it's perfect that you mentioned that because if you if if somebody said, Hey DJ, you know what? We need you to pick the perfect physical game, like create a bowler with the physical game that you you can have. Like you just take a single bowler and say, Listen, if you were to teach somebody or if you could teach everybody you teach how to throw a bowling ball like that, I'm not picking Belmo, I'm not picking EJ, I'm not picking Jillian. I'm like I the all the best bowlers in the world, I'm probably not picking their physical games. They are just so good at owning their own craft and being as good as they are. And like that's why I said, like, Jillian, it's not just a physical game, it's intelligence, it's the maturity, it's the understanding of ball motion, it's the the being able to stay composed and huge shots. Like I said, she needed a double to win or a strike nine spare to win, and she did exactly like that. Like, it is incredible to see what she's done. Now, J-Mo, that being said, you did just mention like you think that she's the best bowler in the world. Well, this week we crowned a new player of the year, or another player of the year, I should say, on the PWBA tour, and that was one by New Way Fen. Uh, and she bowled incredible all year round. And again, you know, we we mentioned how Jillian missed a couple events due to college and whatnot. And then after college, she came out. I think the first couple events that she got out on the tour from college didn't go as great as she was hoping for. But um, New Wei Fenn, not to take anything away from her, she led a ton of categories. So she was fourth in earnings. Uh, she was obviously first in points, uh, basically 10,000 points over Jordan Snoggrass. Then Lee Jane Sin, Jillian Martin, and Shannon Bluehouse rounded out the top five. New way Fen averaged 217.52. The next highest was Jordan Snoggrass at 216.04, so about a pin higher, pin and a half. Uh, championship round appearances, New Way Fenn led the way at six finals. Jordan had five, Shannon Bluehouski four, Lee Jane Sin three, and uh Diana Zee had three as well. Uh match play appearances, Jordan actually led that, or it was a tie between Jordan and New Way for seven match play appearances. Top 12 appearances, New Way Fen led that. Uh so truthfully, like taking a look at this season, consistency won New Way this title, won her the player of the year. Um, she believed I like I said, she also had the highest average. Uh again, you know, the wins this year, Gillian Martin had two, but New Way Fen had one. Um, so just an incredible season, and this is like this is the EJ Tackett season, right? Like EJ Tackett's season this year for 2026 is exactly comparable to New Way Fans. It's like, hey, they only won one title, but they led pretty much everything in anything, and they they were on TV or on step ladders almost every single event, it felt like. And that's an incredible feat for New Way Fan.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. I mean, genuinely, man. Like, it's so it's so crazy. Yeah. Everything about it is just so crazy, you know. Um we we don't have this kind of dominance in most sports. We just don't, you know, and bowling is so cool that you can you can have that, and the next year it might be someone else. Yeah, you know, like it's it's unbelievable how all of this can how all of this can go down. Um genuinely. Now I I will say this. So you said Jillian didn't bowl all the events this year, right?
SPEAKER_00I think she missed two, if I'm correct.
SPEAKER_01So Jillian missed two events and was only 25,000 points.
SPEAKER_00Right. But that's what I that's what I mean. It's like it's not her first full year on tour.
SPEAKER_01Right. And you know, I'm I'm not gonna say that she's gonna come out here and she's gonna win two majors a year for the rest of her career, right? But I mean you know, I I stand by that. I genuinely believe she's the best female bowler on the planet right now. Yeah, and again, there's at least, you know, like just she's the she's she's going out there, she's just always present, and I the attitude is unbelievable, genuinely unbelievable.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and you know that's what I'm saying. Like, it is it is absolutely incredible um to see what Jillian's done. But again, that's nothing to take away from New Wave and like back-to-back player of the year awards. Like, obviously, she's been incredible. Uh, she's had insane seasons on the PWBA tour, just you know, making it very clear that she is one of, if not the best bowler in the world, and it's just it's as simple as that, right? Like when you can go out there and you can dominate for you know back-to-back years, basically, just be consistent beyond belief, make as many TV shows as possible, like lead the tour on average, like lead the tour in points. Like, it is one of those things where you're literally bowling against the best women bowlers in the world, and you can just kind of continue that momentum. And again, this one was uh pretty close. Like, if Jordan Snotgrass had won, I think, uh the championship, I think Jordan may have jumped new way fan. I could be wrong with that, but like Jordan, you had Jordan in the running, you have Jillian in the running. Like, there was a lot of people still at play, and new way fan like had an insanely great week, like a couple top or a few top 10 finishes, I think, at each uh uh all three events. So, like, she did exactly what she needed to do in order to win player of the year again this week, and that's just shows grit.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think I think it's phenomenal. This this season has been phenomenal, just the the the sheer number of things that has happened this season, I think is it's just it's really good. There's always something to talk about with the ladies, and I think again, that's that's just awesome. With the guys, we talked about why hasn't EJ won yet, and they're complaining about Erethane.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know, and that was the cool thing about this year with the PWA tour, kind of like you just mentioned, is that we didn't have a repeat winner this year until the very last event of the year where it was won by Jillian Martin for two two tournament wins this year. If she hadn't won, there was a chance for no repeat winners. Um, so it was an insanely cool season on the PWA tour this year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, a lot of fun. I'm really glad I was able to be there for what, four events? Yeah, four events. I mean, you know, like I I'm I'm a firm believer. If if you guys like bowling and you like watching bowling, don't don't go to the show, go to the qualifying, genuinely. It is the the experience is unlike any other. It's you know, it's raw, it's unfiltered. You're not gonna see people on best behavior, you're gonna see what it actually looks like to be out there, you know. And there's again, there's absolutely nothing like it, but I couldn't recommend it more. I genuinely couldn't.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and of course, we also have to give a shout out. Uh so the 2026 PWBA rookie of the year was Cio Yon Ryu. I think she goes by Sienna when she's in the States.
SPEAKER_01She does go by Sienna, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So we're just gonna stick with that because I can't pronounce uh anything, but yeah, uh she won Rookie of the Year by over 19,645 points, which is insane. Very dominant season for her first year out on tour. And again, we we continue to see players from overseas come over here and have just great success. Um, and I think that's that's one of the cooler things, right? Is like again, we had Belmo for so many years on the men's tour, but a lot of the time we see American-born, um, you know, AJ Johnson, Symo, EJ Tackett, Boo Kroll, those guys, right? So um to see some overseas players come over here and make a huge splash on the women's tour has been phenomenal. So, J Mo, uh, is there anything that you like to sum up or you know, kind of conclude with for the PWBA tour season?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I do want to make just one quick mention. Um, you know, while we're looking at the points, Sienna finished 18th on the entire tour. Rookie aside. I mean, you know, she's she beat out ridiculous talents like Crystal Elliott, uh Maria Jose Bohr. You know, like it it's actually you know, she's 5,000 points away from being in the top 10. Yeah. That's how close it is. Like, dude, genuinely, just hats off to her. She bowled so well this season, and you know, rookie of the year is uh it's it's coveted, okay? And you get one shot at it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I don't there was no question. There was zero question.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And again, that just speaks to the consistency of her performances, right? It's like she was just so good the entire season long that she racked up that many points and that she led rookie of the year by that many points, like just consistently making match plays and and consistently growing and being better basically each tournament. So I can only imagine what her her season is gonna look like next year if she continues this this progress and this growth. Yeah, exactly. It's like who does that, you know? Yeah, exactly. So um, yeah, what a great season for the PWBA tour. Um, again, if you guys are following along, you guys can catch up with all of our episodes. Um, basically, we we recap everything. We have the Lucky Larsons coming up. Um, that's always a very intriguing tournament to talk about. You never know who's gonna walk away with that one, or if the person winning it is actually gonna be able to throw a bowling ball with any sort of reverie. Shout out to Sean Rash. So um, yeah, of course, uh, we don't have an interview this week, but if you guys are interested in some uh amazing coaching, you guys can head on over to TurboTech in Chesterfield, Michigan. They can set you up with a lesson to figure out exactly what you need to do. We have the brand new next gen switch grip. Um, it is phenomenal. It feels so immensely uh impressive in a bowl and ball. So make sure you guys head on over to turbogrips.com and check out all their accessories. Uh, and as always, stick around next week for another episode of On the Gutter. Thanks, JMO. Thanks, DJ.