From left to right, the eight finalists at the 2025 USBC Masters are Nathan Stubler of Peru, Illinois; Bill O'Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania; Bailey Mavrick of Peru, Indiana; England's Dom Barrett; Canada's Graham Fach; Justin Knowles of Okemos, Michigan; Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas, and Gary Haines of Babylon, New York. 

MATCH-PLAY BRACKETS

ALLEN PARK, Michigan - The 2025 United States Bowling Congress Masters began at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan, on Monday with a sold-out field of 390 bowlers hoping to make good on their dreams of becoming this year’s Masters champion.

At the conclusion of Friday’s four rounds of matches, there are only eight athletes for whom that dream remains alive.

Two of those competitors, Gary Haines of Babylon, New York, and 2016, 2022 and 2023 Masters champion Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas, have a much shorter path to the title than their counterparts as Haines and Simonsen have already earned berths in the 2025 Masters stepladder finals, which will be contested in the famed Thunderbowl Arena on Sunday starting at noon Eastern live on FOX.

The six remaining competitors – Justin Knowles of Okemos, Michigan; Canada’s Graham Fach; Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania; Nathan Stubler of Peru, Illinois; Bailey Mavrick of Peru, Indiana, and England’s Dom Barrett – will have to successfully fight through Saturday’s Elimination Bracket finals in order to join Haines and Simonsen in Sunday’s Stepladder.

Saturday’s Elimination Bracket finals also will take place in the Thunderbowl Arena and will be broadcast live on FS1 starting at noon Eastern.

Because Haines (6-0) will enter Sunday’s stepladder as the only undefeated bowler remaining at this year’s tournament, he will have to be defeated twice in order to be denied the 2025 Masters title.

Shortly after he secured the No. 1 seed, Haines was asked what it would mean to add his name to the list of Masters champions. Not surprisingly, he was somewhat emotional when offering his response.

“It would mean everything. C’mon, this is what we’re out here for,” Haines said. “I’m 36, and this is the farthest I’ve gone. I made the cut twice before and went loss-loss both times.

“I’m rooming with Martell,” Haines said, referring to 2023 Masters runner-up Michael Martell of West Babylon, New York. “On the first day of match play, Martell said ‘if we both win, we bowl each other.’ I looked at him and said ‘if I’m bowling you, that means at least I finally had to have won a match.’ After that first win, I was ready to go. I was just enjoying it.”

Haines did win that first match, topping No. 12 seed Charles Easton of Toledo, Ohio, by a final score of 648-589 during their three-game, total-pinfall contest in Round 1 on Thursday.

But the aforementioned Round 2 matchup among roommates wasn’t meant to be as Martell lost his opener to Team USA’s Packy Hanrahan of Wichita, Kansas, by a score of 699-612.

Haines, however, had much better luck against Hanrahan, topping the talented two-handed lefty by a mark of 646-618 to run his record to 2-0 and become one of just 16 bowlers to get through Thursday’s first two rounds of match play undefeated.

At that point, Haines was guaranteed no worse than a 2-2 final record at this year’s Masters, which, based on his past history, he may have been happy to take.

But Haines wasn’t done racking up wins; he was just getting started.

He kicked off action on Friday with a thrilling 642-639 Round 3 victory over area favorite Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Michigan.

Next, Haines drew Stubler, who qualified 13th and put up scores of 710, 726 and 711 during his first three matches.

However, Haines was the only one to break 700 during their Round 4 bout, which he won by a tally of 717-670 to officially secure a berth on one of this year’s two Masters telecasts. The only question left to answer was which one it would be?

Haines answered that question one round later when he got past Fach by a final score of 606-605 to lock up a spot in Sunday’s stepladder finals and earn a shot at Simonsen for the No. 1 seed.

Earlier in the week, Simonsen mentioned that when he and Martell bowled for the top seed at the 2023 Masters at Thunderbowl, Martell remarked before the match that he was just happy to have made it that far.

Simonsen took full advantage of the opening, shooting an incredible 845 during the battle with Martell to capture the top seed. Two days later, Simonsen would best Martell again during the finals to complete a successful title defense and collect his third Masters crown. 

Haines admitted to having the same thought during his bout with Simonsen on Friday, but there were two distinct differences: he didn’t share those feelings with Simonsen, and he found a way to use it to his advantage.

“In the beginning of our match, I felt a little pressure, and I probably shouldn’t have because I felt like I had better ball reaction,” Haines said. “Towards the end when he started making a run back at me, I kind of just told myself ‘you’re already here; just throw it.’ I made a couple good shots at the end to make sure he couldn’t go around me, and here we are.”

Those shots allowed Haines to emerge with a hard-fought victory over Simonsen (599-574) and secure the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals. Simonsen will be seeded No. 2.

Haines’ ability to come through in the clutch and top one of the Professional Bowlers Association Tour’s biggest superstars may have surprised the assembled masses taking in the action at Thunderbowl Lanes on Friday; however, had they been around just two days earlier and seen what Haines had to pull off just to reach match play in the first place, they would never have doubted him.

Haines outlined the drama that unfolded during Wednesday’s final game of qualifying.

“I was just inside the match-play cut line after 14 games, and I was clean and doing okay during that last game,” Haines said. “Then, we had a long lane breakdown. When we started again, I was amped up, shouldered the next shot and left the 2-4-7-8-10. Then, the lanes broke down before I could shoot the spare.”

Had Haines failed to convert the difficult split, he would have been in jeopardy of finishing with a sub-200 game and missing the cut to match play.

But Haines did convert.

Still, the low pin count meant that unless he could manage a double during the 10th frame, he was still in danger of being left on the outside looking in.

But Haines doubled.

Thus far at this year’s Masters, Haines has risen to the occasion every time his back has been against the wall, and that tenacity has earned him two opportunities to get the job done on Sunday to secure his first PBA Tour title and major. It’s an advantage that Haines is very happy to have.

“Honestly, it might be a good thing for me to have that second game,” Haines said. “The first game is practice to get my feet under me and get comfortable being on TV. If I come out hot, that’s great, but if not, that second game might be just what I need to bring this thing home.”

Despite the cushion, Haines’ path to victory is still guaranteed to be blocked by a very formidable foe.

Barrett, Fach, O’Neill and Simonsen have won a combined 43 PBA Tour titles, including 12 majors. 

Knowles, Mavrick and Stubler have yet to reach the winner’s circle on the PBA Tour; however, all three have prior TV finals experience, so they are sure to be ready when the lights come on for the telecasts on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday’s first match will pit O’Neill against Mavrick with the winner advancing to Match 3 to face Fach. Match 2 will be Stubler versus Barrett for the opportunity to square off against Knowles during the afternoon’s fourth and final match on FS1.

The winners of Match 3 and Match 4 during Saturday’s Elimination Bracket finals will be seeded third and fourth for Sunday’s stepladder, where they will join Haines and Simonsen.

All qualifying and match-play rounds leading up to the two telecasts were broadcast live on BowlTV.

For more information on the USBC Masters, CLCK HERE.