Anthony Simonsen

Anthony Simonsen (born January 6, 1997) is an American professional ten-pin bowler from Little Elm, Texas and a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 2014. He became known in bowling fan circles early in the 2016 season, when he earned the distinction as the youngest player in history to win a PBA major championship. Simonsen uses the two-handed style delivery with a dominant right hand. He is a member of the Roto Grip and Vise Grips pro staffs.[1]

Anthony Simonsen
Simonsen in 2019
Born (1997-01-06) January 6, 1997
OccupationTen-pin bowler
Years active2014–present

Amateur accomplishments

As an 18-year-old, Simonsen captured a win in doubles (with partner Mark Sleeper, Jr.) at the 2015 USBC Open Championships.[2]

Simonsen first earned a spot on Team USA in 2016. He and his Team USA teammates won the 2019 Weber Cup over Team Europe. Simonsen participated in 11 of the 32 matches, going 5–1 in singles, 1–2 in doubles, and 1–1 in team.[3]

In the 2020 Weber Cup, Simonsen and Team USA again defeated Team Europe, 23–18.[4] Overall in the event, Simonsen participated in 12 of 41 matches, going 4–1 in singles, 1–4 in doubles, and 1–1 in team. In his third singles match against England's Dom Barrett, Simonsen rolled a 300 game.[5]

PBA career

Simonsen became a PBA member in 2014 at age 17. This followed some success on the PBA regional circuit, where he won two Regional tournaments as a non-member. Simonsen has won seven PBA Tour titles (with two majors) and seven PBA Regional titles. He has rolled 7 career 300 games in PBA competition (through 2019). He also has one European Bowling Tour (EBT) title to his credit, earned at the 2018 Storm Irish Open.

2015 season

Simonsen made the cash-line cut in seven of 16 tournaments on the 2015 PBA Tour, and qualified for match play five times.

2016 season
Simonsen at a 2016 tournament (age 19)

Simonsen's first PBA Tour title came on December 18, 2015 at the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship, where he teamed with Connor Pickford. (This was considered a 2016 season title.) The victory made Simonsen the second-youngest winner of a standard PBA Tour event, just two days over the all-time record of 18 years, 11 months and 12 days. The record for youngest player to win a title was set by Norm Duke, when Duke won the 1983 Cleveland Open at 17 years old.

Simonsen made history on February 14, 2016, when he won his first PBA Tour singles title and first major at the USBC Masters in Indianapolis. This win made Anthony the youngest player ever, at age 19 years and 39 days, to win a PBA major title. PBA Hall of Famer Mike Aulby had held this distinction since 1979, when he won the PBA National Championship at age 19 years, 83 days.[6] Simonsen qualified for two more televised finals in major tournaments during 2016, finishing fourth at the U.S. Open in November and fifth at the PBA World Championship in December. He appeared in the championship round (the final stage of a tournament) seven times this season.[1]

2017 season

On February 26, 2017, Simonsen won the World Bowling Tour (WBT) Men's Finals in Las Vegas, NV, cashing $20,000. The finals included the top three points earners from 2015 and 2016 WBT events. While presented by the PBA, this event does not award a PBA title.[7] Simonsen captured his third PBA title on May 29, 2017 at the PBA Xtra Frame Wilmington Open.[8]

As one of the top eight money leaders from the start of the 2015 season through the 2017 USBC Masters, Simonsen was invited to participate in the inaugural Main Event PBA Tour Finals in May, 2017. He placed eighth in the event.[9]

2018 season

Simonsen finished runner-up to Sweden's Jenny Wegner in the 2018 Brunswick Euro Challenge, held in Munich, Germany. Simonsen won a scratch victory of 213–211 in the final match, but because Wegner accepted the eight pins per game handicap offered to female competitors, Simonsen lost the match and a PBA title by an official score of 219–213.[10] On August 19, Simonsen won his fourth PBA title at the Gene Carter's Pro Shop Classic in Middletown, Delaware.[11] Simonsen gained some attention with this latest victory when he used a "backup ball" (a right-hander putting reverse rotation on the ball so it hooks like a left-hander's shot, or vice versa) during both match play and one of the finals matches after the right side of the lane had become difficult to play. While USBC and PBA rules do not allow a bowler to switch to his or her opposite hand for any sanctioned shot during a given season, Simonsen's technique was legal. He still used a dominant right hand, but rotated the ball in the opposite direction versus his conventional shot.[11]

On October 16, Simonsen won his fifth PBA Tour title at the FloBowling PBA Wolf Open in Owasso, Oklahoma. Having qualified as the #1 seed, he won his lone championship round match over Andrew Anderson.[12] With the win, Simonsen joins Jesper Svensson as the only players in history to have five PBA Tour titles by age 21.[13]

2019 season

On February 17, 2019, Simonsen won his sixth PBA Tour title and second major at the 2019 PBA Players Championship in Columbus, Ohio. As the #2 seed in the stepladder finals, he defeated Kyle Troup in the semi-final match 259–202, then upset #1 seed Jason Belmonte (going for a record 11th major) in the final match 232–212 to claim the title. Simonsen's victory made him the youngest player (22) in PBA history to win two major championships. The previous record holder, Billy Hardwick, won his second major championship at age 23.[14] With two majors and at least five titles overall, Simonsen is also the youngest player in history to become title-eligible for the PBA Hall of Fame.[15]

Simonsen qualified as the #4 seed for the inaugural PBA Tour Playoffs. He made it to the Final Four on June 1, but lost in the semifinal to eventual champion Kristopher Prather.[16]

On August 29, Simonsen won his seventh PBA Tour title in exciting fashion at the PBA Bear Open in Aurora, Illinois. After the final match against E. J. Tackett finished in a 267–267 tie, both Simonsen and Tackett recorded strikes on the first ball of sudden-death roll-off. Simonsen then struck on the second ball of sudden death, while Tackett rolled a 9-count, giving Anthony his second title of the 2019 season.[17]

Overall in 2019, Simonsen made eight championship round appearances and cashed $171,340, both career highs. Simonsen won an additional $100,000 in the Bowlero Elite Series event on September 13, 2019, which is not counted in his PBA earnings.[18]

2020 season

Simonsen qualified as the #1 seed for the finals of the 2020 U.S. Open, but lost the championship match to Jason Belmonte, 226–201.[19] In the PBA World Championship finals on March 15, he again finished runner-up to Belmonte.[20] Based on 2020 points, Simonsen qualified as the #4 seed for the season-ending PBA Tour Playoffs. He made it all the way to the championship match, only to suffer another runner-up finish, this time to Bill O'Neill.[21] Despite the 2020 season being shortened by COVID-19, Simonsen posted a new career high in earnings with $227,130.[22]

PBA Tour Titles

Major tournament titles are in bold type.

Career statistics

Statistics are through the last complete PBA season.[23]

SeasonEventsCashesMatch PlayCRA+PBA TitlesAverageEarnings ($)
2012–1310000190.040
201440000200.720
2015167500216.3626,030
201628221372221.85143,277
20172016621220.0881,534
20182119942217.87115,975
201927181282216.78171,340

+CRA = Championship Round Appearances

References
  1. "PBA Profile, Anthony Simonsen". PBA.com. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  2. Cannizzaro, Matt (November 4, 2015). "Young Simonsen Making Name for Himself". Bowl.com. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  3. Vint, Bill (June 21, 2019). "PBA Spare Shots: American PBA Stars Successfully Defend Weber Cup, Tie Series at 10-10". PBA.com. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  4. "USA CLINCH THIRD CONSECUTIVE BETVICTOR WEBER CUP". WeberCup.com. October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  5. "WEBER CUP 2020 - SCHEDULE". WeberCup.com. October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  6. Cannizzaro, Matt (February 14, 2016). "SIMONSEN MAKES HISTORY WITH WIN AT 2016 USBC MASTERS". pba.com. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  7. Vint, Bill (February 26, 2017). "Anthony Simonsen, Danielle McEwan Win World Bowling Tour Men's, Women's Finals". pba.com. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  8. Vint, Bill (May 29, 2017). "Anthony Texas Two-Hander Anthony Simonsen Wins Third Career Title in PBA Xtra Frame Wilmington Open". pba.com. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  9. Vint, Bill (June 27, 2017). "Indiana's EJ Tackett Wins Inaugural Main Event PBA Tour Finals for Third 2017 Title". pba.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  10. Vint, Bill (March 18, 2018). "Handicap Pins Help Sweden's Jenny Wegner win Brunswick Euro Challenge over Anthony Simonsen". pba.com. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  11. Vint, Bill (August 19, 2018). "Anthony Simonsen Gets Creative, Wins Fourth PBA Title in PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter's Pro Shop Classic". pba.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  12. Schneider, Jerry (October 16, 2018). "Anthony Simonsen Wins FloBowling PBA Wolf Open for Second Go Bowling! PBA Tour Title of the Season". website. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  13. Vint, Bill (August 23, 2016). "PBA Fall Swing Returns to Detroit's Historic Thunderbowl Lanes September 4–11". PBA.com. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  14. Wiseman, Lucas (February 17, 2019). "Simonsen Takes Down Belmo To Win Players Championship". FloBowling.com. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  15. Vint, Bill (September 6, 2019). "PBA Spare Shots: FloBowling Debuts Anthony Simonsen Documentary "Leave It Behind"". PBA.com. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  16. Vint, Bill (1 June 2019). "Dark Horse Kris Prather, Veteran Bill O'Neill Advance to PBA Playoffs Championship Match Sunday on FOX". pba.com. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  17. Schneider, Jerry (29 August 2019). "Simonsen Beats Tackett in Roll-off to Win PBA Bear Open For Seventh Career Go Bowling! PBA Tour Title". pba.com. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  18. Vint, Bill (13 September 2019). "Anthony Simonsen Wins $100K Top Prize in Bowlero Elite Series". bowlersjournal.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  19. Vint, Bill (23 February 2020). "Australia's Jason Belmonte Wins U.S. Open, Becomes Second Bowler to Complete PBA "Super Slam"". pba.com. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  20. Schneider, Jerry (15 March 2020). "Belmonte Beats Simonsen to Win Third Consecutive PBA World Championship Title". pba.com. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  21. "BILL O'NEILL WINS PBA PLAYOFFS FOR 13TH TITLE". pba.com. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  22. Wiseman, Lucas (20 November 2020). "Jason Belmonte Tops 2020 PBA Tour Earnings With Nearly $300k". flobowling.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  23. "Anthony Simonsen (bowler profile)". Professional Bowlers Association. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
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