Bohn breaks own record, leads field into match play at Senior Masters
June 06, 2025
Parker Bohn III of Jackson, New Jersey, holds up the No. 1, which indicates his position in the standings after each round of qualifying at the 2025 USBC Senior Masters, his seed for match play at this year's tournament and his position on the event's all-time 15-game scoring list.
FINAL QUALIFYING STANDINGS
LAS VEGAS - Qualifying came to an end at Sam’s Town Bowling Center in Las Vegas on Thursday, and now a 2025 United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters field that started with 310 athletes is down to just the top 64.
Parker Bohn III of Jackson, New Jersey, a USBC and Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer, earned the No. 1 seed for match play after finishing atop the overall standings for the third day in a row.
The 61-year-old left-hander put up games of 256, 237, 214, 279 and 200 on the 38-foot Senior Masters oil pattern on Thursday. That gave Bohn a score of 1,186 for the day, which pushed his three-day, 15-game qualifying total to 3,725 (a 248.33 average) and set a new tournament record.
Bohn now owns the Senior Masters’ top three all-time qualifying marks for 15 games – 3,725 (2025); 3,717 (2017); and 3,712 (2016) – to go along with the 10-game qualifying record he set on Wednesday (2,539).
Also qualifying in the top five were Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Florida (3,659); Tom Adcock of Forsyth, Illinois (3,626); 2023 Senior Masters champion John Janawicz of Winter Haven, Florida (3,624); and 2000 USBC Masters champ Mika Koivuniemi of Traverse City, Michigan (3,565), who, like Bohn, is enshrined in both the USBC and PBA Halls of Fame.
Brian Waugh of Phoenix didn’t finish inside the top five; however, he did finish off a 300 game, which he rolled during Game 2 of A Squad’s final block on Thursday afternoon. The perfect game helped propel Waugh to 10th place in the final qualifying standings with 3,481.
John Marsala of St. Louis also achieved perfection during Round 3. He did so by throwing 12 in row during Game 3 of B Squad qualifying Thursday night; unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to push the 2023 USBC Super Senior Classic champion through to match play as he finished tied for 125th place, causing him to miss the cut.
The last three bowlers to make match play were Dave Paffumi of Crossville, Alabama (3,285); Jodey Rees of Renton, Washington (3,277); and reigning Senior Masters champ Jon Rakoski of Estero, Florida (3,163).
Rees earned his spot in exciting fashion, defeating Darryl Bower of Middletown, Pennsylvania, 217-183, in a one-game roll-off after the pair tied for 63rd place.
Rakoski landed outside the cut line in a tie for 137th place; however, as defending champion, he was guaranteed a spot in the tournament’s match-play bracket and is now seeded No. 64. As such, he will face Bohn in the opening round of match play at Sam’s Town on Friday.
Despite enjoying unprecedented success during the first three days of this year’s tournament, Bohn has more than enough Masters and Senior Masters experience to know that it will all be for naught if he isn’t able to avoid the pitfalls of the event’s treacherous double-elimination bracket.
“It feels really cool to have set the records this year and to have the top three qualifying scores in tournament history because it puts you at the top of the leaderboard, but let’s face facts; after tonight, basically, 64 guys are even,” Bohn said. “I know that, and everybody else knows that too.”
But Bohn also knows how to survive and advance.
The PBA legend has five top five USBC Masters finishes on his resume, including a title in 2001 and runner-up performances in 1998 and 1999.
As the aforementioned scoring records indicate, Bohn has had more than his fair share of success during Senior Masters competition as well; however, he has yet to reach the winner’s circle.
Even though two days of competition and several rounds of potential matches stand between him and the opportunity to change that fact, Bohn believes that he has the potential to make another deep run this year.
“Knowing what I have and seeing the lanes the way that I am, if I can get an opportunity to see the lanes like that during the rest of the event, I don’t care who I’m bowling; they’ll have their hands full,” Bohn said. “That doesn’t mean that I can’t lose because anybody can lose and anybody can win, especially in this format. But at the end of the day, I’m definitely feeling confident going in.”
Four rounds of matches will be conducted at Sam’s Town on Friday – two in the Winners Bracket and two in the Elimination Bracket – with action kicking off at noon Eastern.
Competition will resume on Saturday at noon Eastern with three-game total-pinfall bracket matches continuing until the field is cut to the top five for the stepladder finals, which will start Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern and be streamed live on BowlTV.
Since the stepladder will be broadcast on BowlTV, the top seed will have to be defeated twice in the tournament’s true double-elimination format. The winner of the 2025 USBC Senior Masters will take home a major championship on the PBA50 schedule and the first-place prize of $20,000.
For scores and information about the 2025 USBC Senior Masters, CLICK HERE.
FINAL QUALIFYING STANDINGS
LAS VEGAS - Qualifying came to an end at Sam’s Town Bowling Center in Las Vegas on Thursday, and now a 2025 United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters field that started with 310 athletes is down to just the top 64.
Parker Bohn III of Jackson, New Jersey, a USBC and Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer, earned the No. 1 seed for match play after finishing atop the overall standings for the third day in a row.
The 61-year-old left-hander put up games of 256, 237, 214, 279 and 200 on the 38-foot Senior Masters oil pattern on Thursday. That gave Bohn a score of 1,186 for the day, which pushed his three-day, 15-game qualifying total to 3,725 (a 248.33 average) and set a new tournament record.
Bohn now owns the Senior Masters’ top three all-time qualifying marks for 15 games – 3,725 (2025); 3,717 (2017); and 3,712 (2016) – to go along with the 10-game qualifying record he set on Wednesday (2,539).
Also qualifying in the top five were Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Florida (3,659); Tom Adcock of Forsyth, Illinois (3,626); 2023 Senior Masters champion John Janawicz of Winter Haven, Florida (3,624); and 2000 USBC Masters champ Mika Koivuniemi of Traverse City, Michigan (3,565), who, like Bohn, is enshrined in both the USBC and PBA Halls of Fame.
Brian Waugh of Phoenix didn’t finish inside the top five; however, he did finish off a 300 game, which he rolled during Game 2 of A Squad’s final block on Thursday afternoon. The perfect game helped propel Waugh to 10th place in the final qualifying standings with 3,481.
John Marsala of St. Louis also achieved perfection during Round 3. He did so by throwing 12 in row during Game 3 of B Squad qualifying Thursday night; unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to push the 2023 USBC Super Senior Classic champion through to match play as he finished tied for 125th place, causing him to miss the cut.
The last three bowlers to make match play were Dave Paffumi of Crossville, Alabama (3,285); Jodey Rees of Renton, Washington (3,277); and reigning Senior Masters champ Jon Rakoski of Estero, Florida (3,163).
Rees earned his spot in exciting fashion, defeating Darryl Bower of Middletown, Pennsylvania, 217-183, in a one-game roll-off after the pair tied for 63rd place.
Rakoski landed outside the cut line in a tie for 137th place; however, as defending champion, he was guaranteed a spot in the tournament’s match-play bracket and is now seeded No. 64. As such, he will face Bohn in the opening round of match play at Sam’s Town on Friday.
Despite enjoying unprecedented success during the first three days of this year’s tournament, Bohn has more than enough Masters and Senior Masters experience to know that it will all be for naught if he isn’t able to avoid the pitfalls of the event’s treacherous double-elimination bracket.
“It feels really cool to have set the records this year and to have the top three qualifying scores in tournament history because it puts you at the top of the leaderboard, but let’s face facts; after tonight, basically, 64 guys are even,” Bohn said. “I know that, and everybody else knows that too.”
But Bohn also knows how to survive and advance.
The PBA legend has five top five USBC Masters finishes on his resume, including a title in 2001 and runner-up performances in 1998 and 1999.
As the aforementioned scoring records indicate, Bohn has had more than his fair share of success during Senior Masters competition as well; however, he has yet to reach the winner’s circle.
Even though two days of competition and several rounds of potential matches stand between him and the opportunity to change that fact, Bohn believes that he has the potential to make another deep run this year.
“Knowing what I have and seeing the lanes the way that I am, if I can get an opportunity to see the lanes like that during the rest of the event, I don’t care who I’m bowling; they’ll have their hands full,” Bohn said. “That doesn’t mean that I can’t lose because anybody can lose and anybody can win, especially in this format. But at the end of the day, I’m definitely feeling confident going in.”
Four rounds of matches will be conducted at Sam’s Town on Friday – two in the Winners Bracket and two in the Elimination Bracket – with action kicking off at noon Eastern.
Competition will resume on Saturday at noon Eastern with three-game total-pinfall bracket matches continuing until the field is cut to the top five for the stepladder finals, which will start Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern and be streamed live on BowlTV.
Since the stepladder will be broadcast on BowlTV, the top seed will have to be defeated twice in the tournament’s true double-elimination format. The winner of the 2025 USBC Senior Masters will take home a major championship on the PBA50 schedule and the first-place prize of $20,000.
For scores and information about the 2025 USBC Senior Masters, CLICK HERE.