Scoring records fall on final day of qualifying at 2026 USBC Senior Masters
June 05, 2026
Michael Machuga of Erie, Pennsylvania (left), and Anthony Crews of Sebring, Florida, authored memorable performances at the 2026 USBC Senior Masters at Sam's Town Bowling Center in Las Vegas on Thursday. Machuga set a new 15-game qualifying record with a score of 3,742 while Crews established a new Senior Masters record and tied the fourth-highest five-game series in USBC history with 1,414 (a 282.8 average).
FINAL QUALIFYING STANDINGS
BRACKETS
LAS VEGAS – Multiple scoring records were broken during Thursday’s final round of qualifying at the 2026 United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters, which is being contested at Sam’s Town Bowling Center in Las Vegas.
Anthony Crews of Sebring, Florida, set a new Senior Masters record and tied the fourth-highest five-game series in USBC history with 1,414 (a 282.8 average) during Round 3, which came via scores of 279, 278, 300, 279 and 278. For the day, Crews struck on 56 of 60 deliveries and did not incur an open frame – he converted a 6-8 split during his only non-strike in Game 5.
Thursday’s performance allowed Crews to best the previous Senior Masters five-game record – 1,347 by Don Hargraves of Flint, Michigan, in 1997 – by 67 pins and finish second in the overall qualifying standings with a three-day, 15-game total of 3,729.
That score would’ve set a record as well had Michael Machuga of Erie, Pennsylvania, not posted a final qualifying tally of 3,742 (a 249.5 average) just a few hours earlier.
Machuga set the new bar thanks to a five-game score of 1,252 during opening-round action on Tuesday, 1,234 in Round 2 on Wednesday and 1,256 for Thursday’s final qualifying block, which included games of 226, 266, 248, 269 and 247.
Chris Warren of Plano, Texas – who rolled a perfect game on Day 2 and an 806 series for his first three games (279, 248, 279) during Round 3, qualified third with 3,679.
Opening-round leader Andy Neuer of Milton, Pennsylvania, who was runner-up at last week’s Super Senior Classic at Sam’s Town, qualified fourth with 3,672, which left the final place in the top five for Don Smith of Fontana, California, who came in with a three-day mark of 3,657.
Josh Hale of Billings, Montana, was seventh with 3,633 and achieved perfection on Thursday, rolling 12 strikes in a row for 300 during Game 4 of C Squad’s final qualifying block. Bruce Falcon of Essexville, Michigan, matched the feat with a perfect game of his own just a few lanes away during that same game.
Robert Smith of Houston, Ken Gibson of Greenville, South Carolina, and Nicholas Paredes of Phoenix, Arizona, joined the club not long after when each connected for 12 in a row during the final blocks for A Squad and B Squad.
Defending Senior Masters champ Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Florida, didn’t roll any honor scores on Thursday, but what he did was bag a top 20 spot in the overall standings.
The 51-year-old right-hander got off to a bit of a slow start at this year’s event, placing 91st on Day 1 with a five-game score of 1,117. The reigning champion recovered nicely during the final two five-game blocks, however, putting up 1,231 in Round 2 and 1,123 during third-round action on Thursday to qualify 20th with a three-day total of 3,471.
Since Daugherty didn’t need the guaranteed match-play berth afforded to the tournament’s defending champion, the cut line after qualifying was 64th place in the overall standings.
At day’s end, that position was held by Kevin Jenkins of Anthem, Arizona, who secured the final ticket to match play at this year’s Senior Masters with a 15-game total of 3,357 (a 223.8 average).
As the No. 64 seed, Jenkins will take on top seed Machuga when bracket action begins at Sam’s Town on Friday at noon Eastern.
Machuga enjoys match play a great deal, especially the format used at the Senior Masters.
“I absolutely love going head-to-head, especially with the three-game totals,” Machuga said. “I actually like the Senior Masters format of the bracket more than I like best-of-seven matches.”
Machuga also enjoys being this year’s top seed. He didn’t initially come to Sam’s Town on Thursday looking to retain the top spot, but once competition began, he couldn’t help himself.
“I kind of bailed on experimenting because I wanted the lead,” Machuga said. “Once we started, I kind of got the itch of wanting to get to a 250 average. I needed the first hit in the tenth the last game, but I left a 10-pin.”
Despite falling short in his bid to average 250, Machuga was pleased to have set the new qualifying scoring record.
“I have two records on the kids’ tour,” Machuga said, referencing the Professional Bowlers Association records he set for highest 32- and 40-game tournament totals with 8,166 and 10,411, respectively. “It’s great that I now have one that’s not only USBC but PBA50 as well. I was unaware of what the numbers were for the record here, so to hear I got to that mark is pretty cool.”
Crews had a bit tougher time putting his own record-setting performance into words.
“Right now, it’s overwhelming; everybody’s congratulating me and I’m getting pulled in a hundred different directions, so I’m a little out of sorts,” Crews said. “How do I even put today into words? I was just unconscious. I just kept trying to do what I do, and it happened.”
Crews’ first inkling that something special was happening occurred to him after he shot 300 – his second perfect game of this year’s tournament – to close out an 857 series for his first three games of Round 3.
“I kind of started to get that feeling after Game 3,” Crews said. “Once I got through Game 4, then it sort of felt like I could do no wrong”
Another feeling Crews experienced on Thursday was pride, pride at having moved his name above those of bowling legends like Parker Bohn III and Pete Weber in the Senior Masters record book.
“Those are guys that I’ve watched and looked up to, guys that I try to learn from every chance I get,” Crews said. “To have my name in the record book with them, it’s unbelievable; that part hasn’t really even hit me yet.”
But Crews won’t have much time to relish the moment; after all, he has to be ready for match play on Friday.
Four rounds of matches will be conducted at Sam’s Town on Friday, two in the Winners Bracket and two in the Elimination Bracket.
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 2026 USBC Senior Masters will take home a major championship on the PBA50 schedule and the first-place prize of $20,000.
CLICK HERE for scores and information about the 2026 USBC Senior Masters.
FINAL QUALIFYING STANDINGS
BRACKETS
LAS VEGAS – Multiple scoring records were broken during Thursday’s final round of qualifying at the 2026 United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters, which is being contested at Sam’s Town Bowling Center in Las Vegas.
Anthony Crews of Sebring, Florida, set a new Senior Masters record and tied the fourth-highest five-game series in USBC history with 1,414 (a 282.8 average) during Round 3, which came via scores of 279, 278, 300, 279 and 278. For the day, Crews struck on 56 of 60 deliveries and did not incur an open frame – he converted a 6-8 split during his only non-strike in Game 5.
Thursday’s performance allowed Crews to best the previous Senior Masters five-game record – 1,347 by Don Hargraves of Flint, Michigan, in 1997 – by 67 pins and finish second in the overall qualifying standings with a three-day, 15-game total of 3,729.
That score would’ve set a record as well had Michael Machuga of Erie, Pennsylvania, not posted a final qualifying tally of 3,742 (a 249.5 average) just a few hours earlier.
Machuga set the new bar thanks to a five-game score of 1,252 during opening-round action on Tuesday, 1,234 in Round 2 on Wednesday and 1,256 for Thursday’s final qualifying block, which included games of 226, 266, 248, 269 and 247.
Chris Warren of Plano, Texas – who rolled a perfect game on Day 2 and an 806 series for his first three games (279, 248, 279) during Round 3, qualified third with 3,679.
Opening-round leader Andy Neuer of Milton, Pennsylvania, who was runner-up at last week’s Super Senior Classic at Sam’s Town, qualified fourth with 3,672, which left the final place in the top five for Don Smith of Fontana, California, who came in with a three-day mark of 3,657.
Josh Hale of Billings, Montana, was seventh with 3,633 and achieved perfection on Thursday, rolling 12 strikes in a row for 300 during Game 4 of C Squad’s final qualifying block. Bruce Falcon of Essexville, Michigan, matched the feat with a perfect game of his own just a few lanes away during that same game.
Robert Smith of Houston, Ken Gibson of Greenville, South Carolina, and Nicholas Paredes of Phoenix, Arizona, joined the club not long after when each connected for 12 in a row during the final blocks for A Squad and B Squad.
Defending Senior Masters champ Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Florida, didn’t roll any honor scores on Thursday, but what he did was bag a top 20 spot in the overall standings.
The 51-year-old right-hander got off to a bit of a slow start at this year’s event, placing 91st on Day 1 with a five-game score of 1,117. The reigning champion recovered nicely during the final two five-game blocks, however, putting up 1,231 in Round 2 and 1,123 during third-round action on Thursday to qualify 20th with a three-day total of 3,471.
Since Daugherty didn’t need the guaranteed match-play berth afforded to the tournament’s defending champion, the cut line after qualifying was 64th place in the overall standings.
At day’s end, that position was held by Kevin Jenkins of Anthem, Arizona, who secured the final ticket to match play at this year’s Senior Masters with a 15-game total of 3,357 (a 223.8 average).
As the No. 64 seed, Jenkins will take on top seed Machuga when bracket action begins at Sam’s Town on Friday at noon Eastern.
Machuga enjoys match play a great deal, especially the format used at the Senior Masters.
“I absolutely love going head-to-head, especially with the three-game totals,” Machuga said. “I actually like the Senior Masters format of the bracket more than I like best-of-seven matches.”
Machuga also enjoys being this year’s top seed. He didn’t initially come to Sam’s Town on Thursday looking to retain the top spot, but once competition began, he couldn’t help himself.
“I kind of bailed on experimenting because I wanted the lead,” Machuga said. “Once we started, I kind of got the itch of wanting to get to a 250 average. I needed the first hit in the tenth the last game, but I left a 10-pin.”
Despite falling short in his bid to average 250, Machuga was pleased to have set the new qualifying scoring record.
“I have two records on the kids’ tour,” Machuga said, referencing the Professional Bowlers Association records he set for highest 32- and 40-game tournament totals with 8,166 and 10,411, respectively. “It’s great that I now have one that’s not only USBC but PBA50 as well. I was unaware of what the numbers were for the record here, so to hear I got to that mark is pretty cool.”
Crews had a bit tougher time putting his own record-setting performance into words.
“Right now, it’s overwhelming; everybody’s congratulating me and I’m getting pulled in a hundred different directions, so I’m a little out of sorts,” Crews said. “How do I even put today into words? I was just unconscious. I just kept trying to do what I do, and it happened.”
Crews’ first inkling that something special was happening occurred to him after he shot 300 – his second perfect game of this year’s tournament – to close out an 857 series for his first three games of Round 3.
“I kind of started to get that feeling after Game 3,” Crews said. “Once I got through Game 4, then it sort of felt like I could do no wrong”
Another feeling Crews experienced on Thursday was pride, pride at having moved his name above those of bowling legends like Parker Bohn III and Pete Weber in the Senior Masters record book.
“Those are guys that I’ve watched and looked up to, guys that I try to learn from every chance I get,” Crews said. “To have my name in the record book with them, it’s unbelievable; that part hasn’t really even hit me yet.”
But Crews won’t have much time to relish the moment; after all, he has to be ready for match play on Friday.
Four rounds of matches will be conducted at Sam’s Town on Friday, two in the Winners Bracket and two in the Elimination Bracket.
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 2026 USBC Senior Masters will take home a major championship on the PBA50 schedule and the first-place prize of $20,000.
CLICK HERE for scores and information about the 2026 USBC Senior Masters.