E. J. Tackett

E. J. Tackett (born August 7, 1992) is an American professional ten-pin bowler from Huntington, Indiana, now residing in Bluffton, Indiana. A member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 2012, Tackett has won 13 PBA Tour titles, including two major championships. He was named PBA Player of the Year for the 2016 season,[1] and was runner-up for the award in 2017 and 2018. Tackett is right-handed and uses a cranker-style delivery. He is a pro staff member for Motiv bowling balls, Turbo Grips, and Genesis kinesiology tape.[2]

E. J. Tackett
Tackett in 2017
Personal information
Nickname(s)Squirrel
Born (1992-08-07) August 7, 1992
Huntington, Indiana
Home townBluffton, Indiana
Years active2011-present
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportTen-pin bowling
LeaguePBA
Turned pro2012
Achievements and titles
National finals13 PBA Tour (2 majors)

Amateur career

Tackett was a member of Junior Team USA in 2011 and 2013, and made Team USA in 2018. At the 2018 WBT World Men's Championships in Hong Kong (November 24–December 5), Tackett won two gold medals: Trios (with teammates Kyle Troup and Andrew Anderson) and All-Events.[3]

In the 2020 Weber Cup, Tackett was named MVP as Team USA defeated Team Europe, 23–18. After the European bowlers closed the gap to four points following an initial nine-point American lead, Tackett won his final two singles matches over Swede Jesper Svensson, including the clinching match.[4] Overall in the event, Tackett participated in 13 of 41 matches, going 3–2 in singles, 5–1 in doubles, and 1–1 in team.[5]

PBA career

Tackett made four championship round appearances over the 2012–13 and 2014 seasons, but did not win a title. He was named the PBA Rookie of the Year for the 2012–13 season. His first PBA Tour title came on June 28, 2015 at the PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Southwest Open.[6] Later in the 2015 season, Tackett qualified as the top seed for the PBA World Championship, but lost in the final match to Gary Faulkner Jr.[7]

Tackett had a highly successful 2016 season. He won his second career title on April 24 at the PBA Xtra Frame Storm Open.[8] He captured his third title (and first on U.S. television) on September 10 at the PBA Fall Swing Bear Open, also winning an additional $10,000 a day later in the non-title King of the Fall Swing event.[9] Tackett’s fourth PBA title came in the PBA Team Challenge in Las Vegas, NV on November 1. (This was the first PBA team event to award individual titles to the winning players.)[10] He then won his first PBA major and fifth title overall at the PBA World Championship, on December 11 in Reno, NV.[11] The four titles in 2016 helped E.J. earn PBA Player of the Year honors for the season. He is the third-youngest player (24) to be named Player of the Year, behind Billy Hardwick (1963) and Andrew Anderson (2018).[1][12] Tackett led the Tour in wins (4) and earnings ($168,290), and was third in Tour average (224.49).[1]

Tackett’s run of victories continued into 2017, as he won the season’s opening event on January 14 at the DHC PBA Japan Invitational. This was his sixth PBA Tour title.[13] On February 19 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Tackett won his second major and seventh PBA title overall at the Fire Lake PBA Tournament of Champions.[14] Tackett continued his 2017 success with a win in the inaugural Main Event PBA Tour Finals on May 20. This invitational tournament featured the top eight players in PBA earnings from the start of the 2015 PBA Tour season through the 2017 USBC Masters. As the #2 seed, Tackett survived the round-robin and group stepladder matches, eventually defeating #1 seed Jason Belmonte in the three-game final. This was his third victory of 2017 and eighth title overall.[15] Although he did not have a win in any of the seven Storm PBA Xtra Frame events in 2017, Tackett finished with the most points over the duration of the series, earning a $20,000 bonus and the Storm Cup.[16] On November 19, Tackett won his ninth PBA title in the PBA Scorpion Championship, part of the World Series of Bowling in Reno, NV.[17] Tackett duplicated his four titles (one major) from the previous season while making a career-high nine championship round appearances, amassing 2017 earnings of over $220,000.

Tackett won his tenth PBA title on July 2, 2018 at the PBA Xtra Frame Parkside Lanes Open in Aurora, Illinois.[18] At age 25 years, 329 days, he is the fourth-youngest player in PBA history to reach the ten title plateau (behind Pete Weber, Mike Aulby and Wayne Webb).[19] Tackett won his 11th PBA title on July 29, 2018, teaming with female professional Liz Johnson to win the Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles championship in Houston, Texas.[20] He won his 12th PBA title and third of the 2018 season at the FloBowling PBA Bear Open, held October 17–18 in Owasso, Oklahoma.[21] Tackett was announced as a finalist for the 2018 PBA Player of the Year award, but the award was given to Andrew Anderson.[12]

On January 6, 2019, Tackett won the World Bowling Tour Men's Finals, a non-title event in which the finalists are based on performance in global events throughout the previous season.[22] On July 21, 2019, Tackett won the Barbasol PBA Tour Finals for the second time in three seasons, earning his 13th PBA Tour title.[23]

Tackett qualified as the #1 seed for the finals of the 2020 PBA Players Championship, but lost the title match to Bill O'Neill by one pin, 233-232.[24]

Tackett has rolled 17 perfect 300 games in PBA competition through the 2019 season, and has over $870,000 in PBA earnings. He also owns nine PBA Regional Tour titles.[2]

Professional wins

PBA Tour wins (13)

Legend
Major championships (2)
Japan Invitational (1)
World Series of Bowling (1)
PBA Tour standard events (9)
No. Date Tournament Championship
Match
Runner(s)-up Money ($)
1 Jun 28, 2015 PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Southwestern Open[6] 256-240 Bill O'Neill 15,000
2 Apr 24, 2016 PBA Xtra Frame Storm Open[8] 217-210 Ryan Ciminelli 10,000
3 Sep 10, 2016 PBA Bear Open[9] 212-199 Jesper Svensson 10,000
4 Nov 1, 2016 PBA Team Challenge[10] w/Rhino Page, Chris Loschetter, Marshall Kent and Ronnie Russell 234-220
264-232
D.Barrett, M.Larsen,
S.Williams, O.Palermaa,
J.Svensson
30,000 (6,000 each)
5 Dec 8, 2016 PBA World Championship[11] 246-180 Tom Smallwood 60,000
6 Jan 14, 2017 PBA Japan Invitational[13] 259-216 Shota Kawazoe 42,970
7 Feb 19, 2017 PBA Tournament of Champions[14] 208-203 Tommy Jones 50,100
8 May 20, 2017 Main Event PBA Tour Finals[15] 666 [224 222 220]-
628 [225 191 212]
Jason Belmonte 30,000
9 Nov 19, 2017 WSOB Scorpion Championship[17] 245-207 Jason Belmonte 20,000
10 Jul 2, 2018 PBA Xtra Frame Parkside Lanes Open[18] 210-171 Bill O'Neill 10,000
11 Jul 29, 2018 PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles w/Liz Johnson[20] 8,797-8,763 Jason Belmonte & Diandra Asbaty 16,000 (8,000 each)
12 Oct 18, 2018 FloBowling PBA Bear Open[21] 212-197 Stuart Williams 10,000
13 July 21, 2019 Barbasol PBA Tour Finals[23] 225, 238, 45-
247, 220, 26
Jakob Butturff 30,000

Major championships

Wins (2)

YearChampionshipFinal ScoreRunners-up
2016PBA World Championship246-180 Tom Smallwood
2017PBA Tournament of Champions208-203 Tommy Jones

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order.

Tournament12-13201420152016201720182019
Players Championship Not Held 29 11 58 27 4
USBC Masters 150 2 35 T9 T9 188 83
Tournament of Champions 18 17 5 1 13 2
U.S. Open 6 NH 117 20 95 4 49
World Championship 10 21 2 1 35 NH 9
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

"T" = Tied for a place

"NH" = Not Held

World Series of Bowling

Wins (1)

YearChampionshipFinal scoreRunner-upEarnings ($)
2017 Scorpion Championship[25] 245-207 Jason Belmonte 20,000

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order.

Tournament20132014201520162017
Cheetah Championship 6 27 40 15 66
Viper Championship 8 37 25 Not Held
Chameleon Championship DNP 11 15 6 95
Scorpion Championship 53 15 7 7 1
Shark Championship Not Held 5 46
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

"T" = Tied for a place

PBA Tour career summary

SeasonEventsCashesMatch
Play
Champ.
Rounds
PBA Titles
(majors)
AverageAverage
Rank
Earnings
($)
Earnings
Rank
2012–131610520220.1727[26]42,37222[27]
2014139520221.0914[28]74,15014[29]
201521131021223.219[30]78,75810[31]
201626211654 (1)224.493[32]168,2901[33]
201721161194 (1)223.344[34]222,0082[35]
201820181053218.826[36]99,8676[37]
201929221791220.742[38]171,2456[39]
Totals146109743413 (2)---871,714
  Win
  Top 10

* As of 7 January 2018

Awards and Honors

References

  1. Vint, Bill (February 5, 2016). "Tackett Wins GEICO Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year Award; Canada's Lavoie Named Rookie of the Year". Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  2. "PBA Profile, EJ Tackett". PBA.com. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  3. Jensen, Kim Thorsgaard (December 5, 2018). "World Men Championships in Hong Kong". European Tenpin Bowling Federation. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  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. "EJ Tackett wins first PBA Tour Title in Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Southwest Open". boxscorenews.com. June 28, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  7. Vint, Bill (December 17, 2015). "Memphis' Gary Faulkner Jr. Wins First Title in Rolltech PBA World Championship". Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  8. "EJ TACKETT WINS PBA XTRA FRAME STORM OPEN". bowlingdigital.com. April 25, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  9. Schneider, Jerry (October 19, 2016). "EJ Tackett Defeats Sean Rash to Win PBA Fall King of the Swing Finale". Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  10. Vint, Bill (November 1, 2016). "'Merica Rooster Illusion Uses Closing-Game Strike Barrage to Topple BFFs for PBA Team Challenge Title". pba.com. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  11. Vint, Bill (December 11, 2015). "Indiana's E.J. Tackett Wins PBA World Championship for First , Fourth 2016 Title". Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  12. Vint, Bill (November 20, 2018). "Michigan's Andrew Anderson, Tennessee's Kamron Doyle Win PBA Player, Rookie of the Year Honors". PBA.com. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  13. Vint, Bill (January 14, 2016). "Indiana's E.J. Tackett Goes on Strike Binge to Win DHC PBA Japan Invitational to Kick Off PBA's 2017 Season". Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  14. Vint, Bill (February 19, 2017). "Unexpected Error Helps Indiana's EJ Tackett Win FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions". Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  15. Vint, Bill (June 27, 2017). "Indiana's EJ Tackett Wins Inaugural Main Event PBA Tour Finals for Third 2017 Title". Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  16. Vint, Bill (August 27, 2017). "Rhino Page Ends Title Slump with PBA Xtra Frame Kenn-Feld Classic Win; EJ Tackett Claims Storm Cup". Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  17. Vint, Bill (December 24, 2017). "Jesper Svensson, EJ Tackett Keep Youth Movement in Motion with PBA Cheetah, Scorpion Championship Wins". Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  18. Schneider, Jerry (July 2, 2018). "EJ Tackett Wins PBA Xtra Frame Parkside Lanes Open For 10th Career PBA Tour Title". Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  19. Vint, Bill (July 6, 2018). "PBA Spare Shots: EJ Tackett Joins Elite List of Young PBA Tour Winners with 10 Titles". Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  20. Vint, Bill (July 29, 2018). "EJ Tackett, Liz Johnson Win PBA-PWBA Storm Striking Against Breast Cancer Doubles in Dramatic Fashion". pba.com. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  21. Schneider, Jerry (October 18, 2018). "EJ Tackett Wins FloBowling PBA Bear Open to Become First Three-Time Winner of 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour Season". pba.com. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  22. Vint, Bill (March 10, 2019). "EJ Tackett, Liz Johnson Win World Bowling Tour Men's, Women's Finals Titles". PBA.com. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  23. Schneider, Jerry (July 21, 2019). "EJ Tackett Wins His Second Barbasol PBA Tour Finals for 13th Career Go Bowling! PBA Tour Title". PBA.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  24. Schneider, Jerry (15 February 2020). "Bill O'Neill Wins PBA Players Championship After Clutch Performance in 10th Frame of Title Match". pba.com. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  25. "Pepsi PBA Scorpion Championship presented by Go Bowling!". PBA Tour. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  26. "2012-13 Average Leaders". PBA Tour. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  27. "2012-2013 Money Leaders". PBA Tour. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  28. "2014 Average Leaders". PBA Tour. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  29. "2014 Money Leaders". PBA Tour. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  30. "2015 Average Leaders". PBA Tour. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
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  32. "2016 Average Leaders". PBA Tour. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  33. "2016 Money Leaders". PBA Tour. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
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  35. "2017 Money Leaders". PBA Tour. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  36. "2018 Average Leaders". PBA Tour. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  37. "2018 Money Leaders". PBA Tour. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  38. "Averages: 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour". PBA.com. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  39. "Earnings: 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour". PBA.com. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
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