EJ Tackett and Jason Belmonte continue to battle for control of the PBA World Championship the major title event set to conclude the PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) XVI who have won six of the last eight PBA World Championship titles since the fourth round of qualifying at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno The two-time defending champion Tackett entered Friday’s Advancer Round 2 — which included the top 50 players based on their qualifying pinfalls across the PBA Scorpion Chameleon and Shark Championships — with a 112-pin advantage over Belmonte Then Belmonte started the eight-game round with games of 289 and 278 “It was something for me to set the tone for the day,” Belmonte said “(But) EJ had the front-nine in the first game When I’m trying to find a way to catch him you can’t have him throw more strikes than you Today’s job was to try and catch a few more pins on EJ and separate myself a few more pins from third place Tackett leads the field with a total pinfall of 15,139 (+2,339) Belmonte (+2,274) ranks second through 64 games BJ Moore and Boog Krol round out the top five of the major championship Ethan Fiore and Zach Wilkins each qualified for the next round of the PBA World Championship Fiore qualified for his first championship round appearance in the PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic presented by Pilgrim’s finals in February Eastern) time at the National Bowling Stadium my confidence was working at an all-time high,” Fiore said so I kind of dropped the ego and went back to what I did when I was at Coconut Bowl I stuck to the basics and put up scores to make this cut.” Round-robin match play for the major championship will take place Thursday The top five players will then advance to the championship round on Saturday Elimination match play and championship rounds for the animal pattern championships will take place March 16-19 All rounds of PBA WSOB XVI qualifying and match play will be livestreamed on BowlTV Full standings are available here National Championships - Meet and Greet4 p.m Saturday, March 159 a.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Match Play12:30 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Stepladder Finals (MIXED, U18 Boys and U18 Girls)3 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic pres. by Pilgrim’s - Finals7 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championship - Finals tapingFree Tickets — PBA Scorpion Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)11:30 a.m — PBA Scorpion Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games) Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Scorpion Championship Finals 5 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Scorpion Championship - FinalsFree Tickets — PBA Viper Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)11:30 a.m — PBA Viper Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games) Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Viper Championship Finals 4 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Viper Championship - FinalsFree Tickets — PBA Chameleon Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)11:30 a.m — PBA Chameleon Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games) Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Chameleon Championship stepladder finals 4 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Chameleon Championship - FinalsFree Tickets — PBA Shark Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)11:30 a.m — PBA Shark Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games) Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Shark Championship stepladder finals 4 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Shark Championship - FinalsFree Tickets — PBA World Championship - Round-Robin Match Play Round 1 (eight games)5 p.m — PBA World Championship - Round-Robin Match Play Round 2 (eight games) Top five players advance to PBA World Championship stepladder finals Saturday, March 2212 p.m. on FOX — PBA World Championship FinalsFree Tickets More information on the PBA World Series of Bowling XVI is available here © 2023 PBA. All Rights Reserved  by | Apr 24 and may wine on the water be saved by the powers that be.” It was a striking quote on a Facebook Group that I follow called the US Wine Trade Alliance I initially encountered this group at the beginning of the first Trump administration during their first dalliance with threats of tariffs as economic vengeance I used the group as a resource when I wrote for this paper about the potential impact of tariffs on our local purveyors it’s time to whine about the wine tariffs once again The initial rumored threats of tariffs to be applied to alcohol from the EU were as high as 200% those threats seem unlikely to come to fruition The number the Trump administration landed on after his Rose Garden speech on Liberation Day was around 20% on most of the more popular foreign alcoholic beverage producing nations I am writing this as close to my Advocate-imposed deadline as possible I have reached out to some of the same folks I talked to about tariffs during that first month of the first Trump administration to gauge how these new tariffs will affect their work and our world I was tasting with my friends at State Street Fruit Store Deli Wines & Spirits in Northampton on the day that the 200% tariffs were proposed One of the employees there (who is also my friend and a newlywed) told me that she had never had so many requests in one day for Calvados Alcohol consumers were concerned enough to start stockpiling booze from the EU The beverage buyer at State Street (who is also my friend and an oldlywed) Wesley DeSantis between the campaign rhetoric and the promises (threats?) since Inauguration Day and wholesalers have been steadily beefing up their inventories on their imported goods.” Well that’s good news Perhaps that means we are unlikely to see impacts from the recently imposed tariffs “What it does mean is that the impact will be mitigated and drawn out over time I don’t expect to be raising prices on tequilas Sharon Swihart from Hadley’s Four Seasons Wine and Liquors writes regular email subscriber updates on all things wine in the store we would be screaming at you ‘hurry in and stock up!!!’ Nope.” She too thinks it will be a long time before we see any significant price increases from the tariffs “Most of the reasons are unique to our store,” she noted “The rest involve policies being developed by importers and the wholesale companies we work with.” She says Four Seasons has a deep inventory of European wines that they can rely on and that they aren’t going to price-gouge on what they already have in stock “I’m told that for the most part there is zero need for panic restocking,” she wrote “Months of inventory remain at the wholesale level meaning that many more months of Four Seasons tariff-free inventory will be available.” Swihart says that larger wholesalers are unlikely to raise prices and these initial tariffs will be absorbed But she noted that “smaller wholesalers don’t have the latitude to absorb higher costs in this way [and] there is discussion by some of increasing all prices by 10% as opposed to inordinate wine-by-wine price hikes.” She says that makes a lot of sense for smaller companies but what about the really small companies who represent the really small family wineries here in the U.S. I talked with my childhood friend John Coco A direct quote about Coco from that column: “He is a sommelier and the former beverage buyer at The Kennedy Center (where Trump fears to tread).” Welp Turns out Trump’s in charge of that place now Coco is the Maryland State Manager for the Roanoke Valley Wine Co and their portfolio deals almost exclusively with small boutique producers from around the world Coco spelled out for me the effect the tariffs will have on the small farm-family wineries in the U.S He told me if the really small companies are getting a large percentage of their portfolio tariffed and can’t absorb those costs like the big companies can they may be forced to shutter their business Some of these small companies are the only ones distributing wines from the small family farms here in the U.S While Trump claims the tariffs are a boon for U.S it could force small operators out of existence Given the impact of the DOGE cuts on small farms here in the Valley it may be part of Trump’s overall strategy Both the cuts and the tariffs mostly favor the big guys will suffer from the virtual taxes these tariffs impose All of these tariffs will eventually trickle down to us “In an already uncertain world of wine consumption the prospect of increased prices due to tariffs is an unsettling thought,” Rob Swan The reasoning behind creating these tariffs is to get Americans to buy more American made products We make lots of wine and other alcoholic beverages in the United States Shouldn’t we just stop whining and drink pinot noir from Oregon or sparkling wine from Napa or Tempranillo from Virginia “You can’t just replace wines produced internationally with a domestic equivalent,” Swan says but for those of us who have made a life of representing the world of wine it’s certainly a brave new world.” Or maybe 1984 While the tumult of tariffs may currently be in the apocalyptic rather than the post-apocalyptic phase “The first wave that will likely be impacted will be this year’s rosé wines,” says State Street’s Wes Desantis “Costs will be passed down through these layers from importer to supplier to wholesaler to retailer Coming off one of the worst quarters I’ve seen in 25 years in the alcohol industry no one needs this.” Wes’ expertise is in the world of alcoholic beverages but he says “I suspect every segment of the retail world has a similar story to share.” Sharon Swihart from Four Seasons seems to agree “There is no question that a few wines will be more expensive Some of our foreign whites and rosés will cost more when the new vintages arrive account for a tiny fraction of our inventory: less than 5% if a retail store tells you that they’ve had to raise all of their prices … well It’s filled with comments like “There’s no winery in Europe that can make discounts enough to fight against those crazy tariffs.” And “literally praying to the wine gods.” There is still hope that there will be a “zero for zero” tariff resolution between the U.S I’m submitting this column as close to the Advocate deadline as possible… now it’s 11 hours past my deadline and after sending the world into economic chaos we’ll have a clearer picture of who is getting a tariff and who is not Not everyone can say they found their calling in life Belmonte has worked for the village of Hillside as special events coordinator and administrative assistant to Mayor Joseph Tamburino “Working for the mayor has been such an amazing experience with new ideas all the time and meeting our residents The daughter of William and Marie Terese (Zaccardi) Innocenti Belmonte grew up in Chicago with two very different sides to her extended Italian family: Her maternal grandparents were from Naples while her paternal grandparents hailed from Pisa Her mother was born in Chicago; her father immigrated to the United States at age 4 The two sides had very different traditions and dialects so much so that Belmonte took Italian in college but dropped it after a semester “because each (of my parents) said I wasn’t pronouncing the words correctly,” she recalls Belmonte’s childhood was marked by large Sunday dinners featuring homemade wine and “the biggest meatballs ever,” a tradition that her mother carried on from her grandparents However the Innocentis never spoke Italian at home “My dad felt that he was in America and only spoke English in the household when they didn’t want us to know what gifts we were getting,” she recalls Belmonte graduated from Chicago’s Kelvyn Park High School then got a job as assistant to the marketing manager at the Chicago Tribune in 1967 Belmonte also served as social director for the 850-member Oak Park Ski Club and planned events at every company she worked for After she got married in 1968 and became a stay-at-home mother “I knew I had a calling for event planning,” she says Belmonte went back to work in the 1980s designing jewelry for a large wholesale company and a few years later embarked on the continuing adventure of serving the village of Hillside when Mayor Tamburino — who has held the position since 1981 — asked her to take a seat the village’s planning commission as I loved my village and the people,” she recalls Belmonte was appointed to the village’s community events commission took a full-time position working as his executive assistant and planning all events for the village two veteran-related events hold a special place in her heart she says: the annual parade honoring veterans on Nov an event launched 22 years ago at the mayor’s request “It makes me proud to see everyone come out for our veterans,” she says Another special event for her is Summer Nights in Hillside which takes place on Tuesday nights over five weeks in summer it has grown to more than 90 market vendors 23 participating restaurants and two musical acts and is attended by 7,000 to 8,000 people each week “When I see everyone’s smiles on their faces it gives my such a great feeling of accomplishment,” she says Belmonte and her “terrific and supportive” husband of 56 years have three children and five grandchildren Belmonte also devoted energy to help others she ran fundraisers for the Elmhurst Speech and Language Center at a time when there were fewer resources for people with autism and other special needs “Special education is near and dear to my heart and my family’s hearts,” she says One of her sons struggled “with labeling and restrictions,” she explains and persevered to go onto being inducted into the National Honor Society graduating from college and having a successful career Taking care of her parents when they became ill also gave her a new perspective about how seniors should be treated with dignity “I have a passion for finding avenues that provide information they need during this stressful time in their lives,” she says “My plan for the future is to keep doing what I am doing — and enjoying every minute of it.” Tags One of the select few to qualify for and successfully complete Navy SEAL training Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Click here for details The two greatest players in PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) history continued their brilliance in this year’s PBA WSOB XVI who owns a PBA-record nine career WSOB titles earned the top seed for the PBA World Championship finals who won his eighth career WSOB title on Wednesday night Tackett and Belmonte have won a combined six of the last eight PBA World Championships including the last two contested at the National Bowling Stadium in 2016 and 2017 Boog Krol and BJ Moore round out the top five for stepladder finals in the season’s second major championship The five players qualified for the championship round after 48 games across the WSOB’s four animal pattern championships, 16 games of advancer rounds and 16 games of round-robin match play. Full standings are available here The PBA World Championship finals will air live at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET) on FOX and the FOX Sports app. International viewers can watch via BowlTV. Belmonte won the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship with Bill O’Neill earlier this season, but will look to win his first singles title since the 2023 PBA Tournament of Champions, which was two years and three days prior to Saturday’s championship round. This is the largest gap between singles titles since his first and second career titles in 2009 and 2011, respectively. The gap coincides with Tackett’s rise to prominence over the past two-plus seasons. Belmonte spoke about how he has taken time to accept no longer being “the best player in the world.” “For so long — I don't know how to say this without sounding a bit funny — that was probably my spot,” Belmonte said. “In the last couple of years, EJ has definitely taken that spot. That's the part where I think I've gotten my head around it. Before it was like, ‘Am I still number one? Can I still be number one? I think I'm still number one?’ Then the realization that I’m not — but I can get it back.” Belmonte, however, has greater ambitions than that. “I don't want to be the best in the world anymore. I want to be the best of all time,” Belmonte continued. “That's my motivation. That's my determination. That's why I leave my family (for the tour season).” Belmonte’s success with the two-handed style, ranking seventh all time with 32 career PBA Tour titles, revolutionized the sport. A win on Saturday would extend his record of major championship victories to 16, having long surpassed the previous record of 10. Tackett has now made seven consecutive singles championship rounds. He also broke the PBA record for consecutive championship round appearances with six, as the PBA officially chronologizes championship rounds by the air date of the final round. “It's one of those things where, as players, I don't know if we ever thought it could be broken,” Tackett said. “Six consecutive top-fives is pretty hard to come by. Any top five is hard to come by. To do it that many times in a row is pretty special. I know last year I was on the cusp and came up just short at the Masters. I felt like last year was, to me, more impressive because it was in five, almost six, different bowling centers.” By making the PBA World Championship finals, Tackett became the first player since Sean Rash in 2011’s WSOB III at the to make the championship round of each WSOB event in a single season. Coincidentally, the WSOB III, held at the South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas, was the only other WSOB to include the Scorpion, Viper, Chameleon and Shark oil patterns. “I bowled really, really well this whole World Series,” Tackett said. “I've always matched up pretty well here at the stadium. I was just able to take advantage of it and take advantage of some breaks and get on all the TV shows.” As the two-time defending PBA World Champion, Tackett will look to achieve the sixth three-peat of a PBA major championship. Earl Anthony twice won the PBA National Championship three consecutive years: 1973-75 and 1981-83. The PBA World Championship, as the tournament is now named, bears Anthony’s name on the trophy. Jason Couch won the PBA Tournament of Champions in 1999, 2000 and 2002. No event was held in 2001. Belmonte achieved the other two three-peats. He won the USBC Masters in 2013-2015, defeating Tackett in the 2014 title match, and the PBA World Championship in 2017, 2019 and 2020. (No event was held in 2018.) Tackett defeated Belmonte in 2023’s epic PBA World Championship title match, then climbed the stepladder finals in 2024. The 32-year-old will have to slay Belmonte once again to win his third straight PBA World Championship title on Saturday. His first appearance came as an alternate in the PBA Players Championship East Region finals after Bill O’Neill withdrew with an illness and the second came in last season’s PBA Delaware Classic Foy has made five of 11 championship rounds This marks his first career championship round appearance in a major “Making the show in Delaware last year was awesome because I did it in front of home,” Foy has said in the past he felt like a minor leaguer playing in the majors It’s going to light even more every week.” who also began his emergence on the PBA Tour in last season’s PBA Delaware Classic has yet to lose a championship round match then went 4-0 en route to winning the PBA Playoffs last season Saturday will also mark his first career major championship round appearance “I’m not really sure what to feel,” Krol said. “That was the goal this year, just to make a major cut and major telecast. We did it, and it feels amazing, but nothing will beat Delaware. Nothing will beat the Playoffs. Last year was just something special.” Krol made match play in three of four animal pattern championships in the WSOB “I got beat down so much this week at the World Series,” Krol said “It beat me down so much where it's like ‘I’m making this TV show.’ All of the hate that I saw through the BowlTV chat fueled this fire in me and whenever I start feeling that I just knew I had to make this show for myself.” In the opening match of Saturday’s stepladder finals In the position round, Moore needed to strike twice and get nine pins on his fill ball to stave off Jesper Svensson for the No. 5 seed. He struck all three shots “I try not to let those moments consume me,” Moore said “I still have to throw one shot; I just happen to have to throw three of them because I feel like you can really get lost in what's going on around you I think that that becomes a little easier the more you get to that point but I've at least experienced that before and I've experienced it both ways Climbing the stepladder to win a major in the National Bowling Stadium “That's what we're out here for,” Moore said but the majors are the ones that you're always after (a major title) is the pinnacle of it all.” The PBA World Championship finals will air live at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET) on FOX and the FOX Sports app. International viewers can watch via BowlTV The full upcoming PBA television schedule is available here The accredited duo of Jason Belmonte and Bill O’Neill has returned to the top of the PBA Tour The doubles tandem notched their second career PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship title defeating DJ Archer and Shawn Maldonado in the title match Belmonte and O’Neill earned the top seed, leading the field through 36 games of qualifying — the combined total of their 18 individual PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic qualifying games — and 16 games of round-robin match play on dual oil patterns. “We've been in this position so many times that this is the expectation to get to this point,” O’Neill said. “Leading the tournament, I think, was the biggest key for us. Getting to where, for me, the right lane could transition to a point where I felt really comfortable. If we don't lead the tournament, and we end up third or fourth, it probably doesn't end the same.” Belmonte said the difficulty of winning the doubles event lies in the team component, needing both players to be at their best for the entire tournament. “Throughout our career, we've had our ups and downs,” Belmonte said. “There were weeks where I've had it and Bill hasn't, and then there were weeks where Bill's had it and I hadn't. To win it, you have to have two guys that are rolling it great at the same time for the whole week. Then to finish it off, you both have to execute really well on TV. It's not easy to find that combo all week.” Belmonte claimed his 32nd career PBA Tour title while O’Neill secured his 15th career title The finals were taped Feb. 8 at Bowlero Vernon Hills in Vernon Hills, Ill. — one week after O’Neill learned he was elected to the PBA Hall of Fame as a member of the 2025 class “Getting inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame is pretty surreal,” O’Neill said “I thought about it at the beginning of my career but I never thought I'd be in this position I never thought I'd be able to bowl doubles with like the greatest bowler of all time and do it for a decade So to be able to win a tournament in the same week I was [elected] to the Hall of Fame It’s been an awesome bowl with (Jason) all these years and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” had the same kind of week when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame,” Belmonte said It really meant something to me that I wanted him to also feel that and I was able to just chime in here and there to just boost our scores up I'm really thrilled to be able to do it this week.” The fifth-seeded Matt Ogle and Sean Rash won the first matches of the stepladder finals The former doubles champions took down Tim Foy Jr then bested Patrick Dombrowski and Bailey Mavrick in the second match Rash also learned of his election to the PBA Hall of Fame earlier in February in Illinois where he said he has lived for the past 14 years His bid for a perfect capstone to the week came up short as he and Ogle fell in the semifinal match to DJ Archer and Shawn Maldonado making their fifth career televised doubles championship round notched their first career match victory in their 221-215 win The Texas natives ran out of steam in the title match as Belmonte and O’Neill who finished runners-up in the event last year Belmonte and O’Neill cruised to a 210-169 victory The PBA Tour continues with the PBA World Series of Bowling XVI at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno All qualifying and match play rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV More information on the PBA WSOB is available here More information on the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship is available here The second annual PBA All-Star Weekend is set to commence its festivities this weekend at Foxx View Lanes in Waukesha, Wis. The PBA All-Star Weekend Powered by QubicaAMF’s EDGE String pinspotter features a baker battle between one-handed and two-handed teams on Saturday, followed by a high-flying strike derby on Sunday afternoon. This event marks the first televised PBA event to utilize string pinspotting technology – the USBC-approved and PBA-approved EDGE String pinspotter from QubicaAMF. Saturday, April 5 | 11am Central (12pm Eastern) on FS1 For generations, long before Don Carter and Dick Weber built the foundation of the PBA Tour,  bowling stars played the game one way. While an internal war between righties and lefties waged for decades, a revolution was bubbling under the surface. In back alleys around the globe, children too weak to hold a bowling ball began to thrust the ball down the lanes using every ounce of strength they could muster. It didn’t matter how the ball was thrown — only how many pins fell over. The homogeneity of the game came to a screeching halt in November 2011 when two international bowlers, each born in 1983 — the same year Earl Anthony won his last PBA Player of the Year award, changed the game forever. Australia’s Jason Belmonte captured three titles and Finland’s Osku Palermaa brought home the PBA World Championship crown during the World Series of Bowling III. Bowling would never be the same again. But the overnight transformation had little to do with the dominance of international players — and everything to do with how Belmonte and Palermaa threw the ball. The clash of styles that has defined the modern game and divided bowling fandom takes center stage on Saturday perhaps the last vestige of bowling’s heritage leads a team of traditional one-handed players against two-handed trailblazer Belmonte and his squad of revolutionaries The five-player teams will compete in a Race-to-Three match Teams were selected based on competition points earned during the 2025 PBA Tour through the PBA World Series of Bowling XVI The anchor will bowl the fifth and 10th frames each team will select three players to each throw a single shot The highest combined total will win; a one-ball roll-off will be used to break any ties April 6 | 11:30am Central (12:30pm Eastern) on FS1 The Strike Derby represents competitive bowling in its purest form: Players have two minutes to throw as many strikes as possible and the player with the most strikes moves on Competitors were selected via a fan vote, which ran from March 24-28. Fans were invited to vote for one player from each team in the PBA Elite League: Battle of the Brands. Jesper Svensson qualified as the defending champion. Play-in RoundTommy Jones (Ebonite) vs. Jesper Svensson (defending champion) QuarterfinalsPacky Hanrahan (Brunswick) vs. Boog Krol (Hammer)Jason Belmonte (Storm) vs. Keven Williams (DV8) Ryan Barnes (900 Global) vs. Kris Prather (Roto Grip)EJ Tackett (Motiv) vs. winner of Jones/Svensson SemifinalsHanrahan/Krol vs. Belmonte/WilliamsTackett/Jones/Svensson vs. Barnes/Prather FinalsHanrahan/Krol/Belmonte/Williams vs. Tackett/Jones/Svensson/Barnes/Prather The major championship finale of the PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) XVI is winding down at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno Jason Belmonte seized the PBA World Championship lead after the first round of round-robin match play on Thursday Belmonte tallied a 6-2 record to bring his total pinfall to 17,252 (+2,852) through 72 games Belmonte entered the day trailing then-tournament leader EJ Tackett by 65 pins The Australian is far from content with that margin “EJ is the type of player that whatever I just did he can equally do that as well,” Belmonte said I felt like if I could manipulate my ball speed and consistently create the shape that I wanted to it really helped me get the ball going through the pocket right.” Belmonte made match play in all four animal pattern championships — Scorpion but lost to Tackett in his lone championship round appearance.  They grow your title count,” Belmonte said who made all four animal pattern championship rounds won last night’s PBA Shark Championship and remains in second place in the PBA World Championship Boog Krol (+2,339) and Jesper Svensson rounding out the top five Chris Via and BJ Moore resided within 50 pins of Svensson Open at the National Bowling Stadium in 2021 climbed from 10th into sixth through the first half of round-robin match play “I feel like I have a little bit more patience not having the one-and-done type deal,” said Via who lost in the Round of 16 in the PBA Chameleon and Shark Championships “I’m focusing on my game and at the end of the game I feel like if I just keep on bowling good games I'm gonna give myself a good chance (to make the show).” Match play concludes Thursday night at 5 p.m The top five players after Thursday’s final match play round will advance to Saturday’s stepladder finals The winningest player in PBA World Series of Bowling history is off to yet another strong start in the PBA Scorpion Championship, the first title event of the PBA World Series of Bowling XVI. Jason Belmonte led the 201-player field with a 1,511 (+311) total pinfall for his six games on the 44-foot Scorpion oil pattern. Tim Foy Jr., two-time defending PBA World Championship winner EJ Tackett, BJ Moore and Chris Via round out the top five at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev. Belmonte averaged more than 251 to pace the WSOB field which includes players from 19 countries.  The Australian star first blossomed on the PBA stage in the WSOB III Belmonte said he loves to see the incredible talent from across the globe come together in the WSOB “Being able to see those bowlers from Asia and Europe take the step and come here that's the part that's cool,” Belmonte said and now they're making their way here (to the PBA) We aren't asking them to come over for one event or one PTQ This tournament really does give bowlers an opportunity to get a crack at four tournaments and the World Championship.” The PBA World Championship includes qualifying games from the PBA Scorpion Championship and upcoming PBA Viper The top 50 players after those 48 combined games will move on to 16 games of advancer rounds Then the top 16 players will bowl an additional 16 games of round-robin match play “I almost have tunnel vision,” Tim Foy Jr. who celebrated his 38th birthday on the opening day of qualifying those sprints are going to take care of themselves Add it all up: 80 games of excellence are required to make the stepladder finals for the major championship “This is when I’m at my best,” Belmonte said I'm going to back myself against anyone in history I've loved the challenge of the multiple patterns." “The only thing that was going through my head today was ‘you have to make the shot,'" Belmonte continued you have to take advantage of those moments when the pairs are nice for you When you’re feeling good and the ball is doing the right thing making really great shots for the whole day After the second round of qualifying on Wednesday the top 24 players in the PBA Scorpion Championship will advance to elimination match play Ethan Fiore (+137) ranks 24th after six games The Rounds of 16 and 8 will take place on Sunday leading to the championship round that day at 4 p.m All rounds of PBA WSOB XVI qualifying and match play will be livestreamed on BowlTV Full standings are available here — PBA Scorpion Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games)2:30 p.m — PBA Scorpion Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games) Top 24 players advance to elimination match play — PBA Scorpion Championship - Match Play Round of 24 (best-of-five games) — PBA Viper Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games)2:30 p.m — PBA Viper Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games) — PBA Viper Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games)2:30 p.m — PBA Viper Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games) — PBA Viper Championship - Match Play Round of 24 (best-of-five games) — PBA Chameleon Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games)2:30 p.m — PBA Chameleon Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games) — PBA Chameleon Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games)2:30 p.m — PBA Chameleon Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games) — PBA Chameleon Championship - Match Play Round of 24 (best-of-five games) — PBA Shark Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games)2:30 p.m — PBA Shark Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games) — PBA Shark Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games)2:30 p.m — PBA Shark Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games) Top 24 players advance to elimination match playTop 1:4 of field advance to PBA World Championship advancer rounds — PBA Shark Championship - Match Play Round of 24 (best-of-five games) — PBA World Championship - Advancer Round 1 (eight games) — PBA World Championship - Advancer Round 2 (eight games) Top 16 players advance to PBA World Championship round-robin match play Jason Belmonte and Bill O’Neill came up just short in the position round and again in the title match losing the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship to Andrew Anderson and Kris Prather the longtime doubles teammates seized the top seed with an emphatic performance in the position round 1 seed for the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship taping Saturday afternoon at Bowlero Vernon Hills and airing March 2 at 1 p.m DJ Archer and Shawn Malonado will be the No with the teams of Patrick Dombrowski and Bailey Mavrick and Matt Ogle and Sean Rash rounding out the championship round Wes Malott and his son Jordan, hoping to complete a heartwarming, full-circle story, finished in sixth place, followed by Darren Tang and Chris Via, and defending champions Anderson and Prather. Belmonte and O’Neill led the field through 36 games of qualifying the combined total of their 18 individual PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic qualifying games After leading through the entirety of the first round of match play which shifted to baker games on dual patterns (43-foot Roth on the left lane they started the final eight-game round with three games south of 210 Archer and Maldonado started with games of 269 279 and 300 — the latter coming against Belmonte and O’Neill Belmonte and O’Neill rediscovered their stride late firing 277 in Game 7 and the front-8 in the position round to lock up the top seed “We had struggled for a good portion of the day either bowling 280 or 190-200,” O’Neill said “To finish the way we did there was good for our confidence and you always want to be as high as you can.” I think we both bowled really well,” Belmonte said but once his ball split the 8-9-pin and once mine split the 8-9-pin Both players said they were excited once match play began and they could truly compete as a team comparing baker match play to singles qualifying “We’re invested in each other and it’s a lot more fun that way We enjoy communicating with each other and being able to root for each other instead of kind-of-sort-of rooting for each other.” “I got my first high-five in Game 17 of 18,” Belmonte said once I was leading in the singles I was rooting for him,” O’Neill said laughing The Illinois events were the first O’Neill competed in since learning he will be inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame this spring We always knew he was going to be in the Hall of Fame but until your name is etched in stone and it's official and I hope we get an opportunity to add to that Hall of Fame career of his.” While Archer and Maldonado came up shy in earning the top seed the two were overjoyed to return to a championship round This marks their fifth championship round as doubles partners “What gave us the edge tonight was getting the ball over the front part of the lane,” Maldonado said “(DJ) does that naturally and I knew I had to do that Our carry percentage was better and we were able to blend out the lane.” Archer and Maldonado led the event in 2022 but fell to Marshall Kent and EJ Tackett in the title match While the native Texans have a long history of success bowling together “We just need to get a win on the show,” Maldonado said “We've been there too many times to not get one win.” during qualifying I bowled on the right lane and (Maldonado) bowled on the left lane,” Archer said We’re not going to try to over-strategize it We’ll just go out there and have a good time.” Dombrowski and Mavrick do not have decades of experience competing together 3 seed for the stepladder finals regardless The PBA Central Region stalwarts felt their strengths matched up well for the dual-pattern format and I’m better on long patterns,” Dombrowski said Foy and McCune have been friends for years but this year marked their first time bowling the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship together The partnership pairing paid immediate dividends as the duo surged from 14th place comfortably into the finals McCune said the team rode Foy’s momentum after he advanced to the PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic finals on Thursday night “(Foy) beating Belmo to make the singles show that gave us a big momentum boost,” McCune said “He brought that into today and we just rolled with it who also both qualified for the PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic finals will look to win their second PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship title Ogle and Rash entered the position round with an 85-pin cushion over the Malotts but the match could have spiraled after Ogle left the 3-6-9-10 in the second frame and missed them all on the spare attempt they laughed off the gaffe (literally) and handled their business very well together during qualifying as doubles partners We're both very aggressive at the same time “That’s why we work so well together,” Ogle said “I probably would’ve done the same thing (if Rash missed the spare) Rash credited each of their commitments to a stronger fitness and nutrition regimen to their early success this season which is about an hour from his hometown of Montgomery began with learning he will join O’Neill as a member of the 2025 PBA Hall of Fame class.  “I knew it was gonna be a great week,” Ogle said “The fans were great back here in Vernon Hills,” Rash said The PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship will air on FS1 at 1 p.m Complete standings are available here Nine players remain in title competition for the PBA Players Championship Twenty-year-old Ethan Fiore earned the top seed for the two-part stepladder finals averaging nearly 227 for the event’s 48 games of qualifying and round-robin match play secured berths in Sunday’s championship round as the second through fourth qualifiers All four finalists seek to win their first career PBA Tour title They will be joined by the advancing player from Saturday’s preliminary stepladder which includes three past champions of this event who owns the most PBA Players Championship titles with three will be the fifth overall seed and the top seed in Saturday’s preliminary stepladder All qualifying rounds and match play rounds through Friday were livestreamed on BowlTV The two-part championship round includes the prelims Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern time on FS1 and the finals Sunday at noon ET on FOX. sits one game away from winning his first career PBA Tour title.  “It felt the same way as when I bowled the PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic and I made the finals I'm not going to be able to absorb what just happened until it's over.” “I’m going to do the same thing because it went pretty well for me the last time,” Fiore said of his previous finals appearance when he lost in a seven-frame roll-off to EJ Tackett Fiore ended each of six eight-game rounds of the event in no lower than second place Keplinger seized the lead to close the first round of match play but Fiore retook the lead with final games of 265 “I got lost this morning when I put more focus on ball reaction,” Fiore said we were all focused on fundamentals and throwing better shots more often Execution was top tier tonight and I came out with more score.” Ryan Barnes will make his second consecutive championship round appearance in the PBA Players Championship Barnes said he struggled on the fresh 37-foot Don Carter oil pattern all week but he said he drilled a ball to allow him to stay farther right for longer in match play He averaged more than 243 in Games 2-8 of each match play round “I stayed in this zone where there wasn't a lot of traffic,” Barnes said “I thought I was going to have to chase the left like every other block I got to just go repeat (shots) for a while This marks Barnes’ third finals appearance of the season He lost his first match in each previous appearance but said he doesn’t plan to make significant changes to his preparation but I just have to match up to the lanes better We're going to try and find a good gameplan in practice and see if we can't do something good.” which is about a 40-minute drive from Jackson Two of his three career championship round appearances have come in his home state including last season’s PBA Cheetah Championship in Allen Park “To have people here and do this in front of them proud is about the only way to describe this feeling,” Keplinger said It’s amazing coming back to Michigan and bowling well.” Barnes and Keplinger were teammates at Wichita State University from 2020-2023 They won the 2021 and 2023 Intercollegiate Team Championships and finished runners-up in 2022 (Barnes was on the developmental team in 2021.) will make his sixth championship round appearance of the season and second in a major championship Foy had made the finals just once in his career “This makes me feel like making the World Championship show wasn’t a fluke “I’ve got a decent amount of TV experience this year I just need to try to put it all together to finally hold a trophy at the end of the day.” Foy lost in the semifinal match of the PBA World Championship to EJ Tackett who threw a match-winning Brooklyn strike in the 10th frame Still searching for his first career title “It’s more about the drive: I’m ready to win,” Foy said “I feel like I’ve learned enough on TV and I’ve been bowling well on TV I bowled well against EJ (Tackett) and the unfortunate break happened It’s easy to put your head down and dwell on things but if I keep putting myself in position to win Jason Belmonte will look to extend his record with a fourth career PBA Players Championship victory Jason Sterner, propelled by a 300 in Game 5 of Friday’s second round of match play secured the sixth overall seed and second seed in the preliminary round who defeated Belmonte in the 2019 championship match of this event will be the seventh overall seed and third seed in the preliminary round who rose from 11th to eighth during the position round will face the 2023 PBA Players Championship winner Kevin McCune in the opening match on Saturday Boog Krol finished seven pins behind McCune Krol could have struck in the 10th frame of the position round to usurp McCune Stu Williams and Patrick Dombrowski round out the match play finishers 5th-9th qualifiers players advance to prelims; 1st-4th qualifiers advance to finals — Prelims (stepladder finals)Winner advances to finals More information on the PBA Players Championship is available here Singapore’s Darren Ong shot another perfect game — his third of the PBA World Series of Bowling XVI — en route to leading PBA Viper Championship qualifying on Friday at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev. Ong led the 201-player field through 12 games of qualifying on the 38-foot Viper oil pattern with a total pinfall of 2,897 (+497). The 29-year-old averaged more than 241 to earn a bye to the Round of 16 in the second title event of the WSOB. Thomas Larsen and Jean Perez (who won a one-game roll-off over William Berggren) also earned a bye to the Round of 16 The ninth through 24th qualifiers competed in the Round of 24 secured his second Round of 16 berth of the WSOB with a three-game sweep over Nick Borgaro “Since going home in the break and coming back I definitely feel rejuvenated,” Belmonte said the ball feels good off my hand and the pins do what they're supposed to do I’m very happy to be here and I'm really enjoying the way the ball is coming off my hand.” Belmonte returned to the winner’s circle earlier this season winning the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship with Bill O’Neill The win ended a near-two-year title drought though Belmonte felt he came close to winning on several occasions “I think there's a big difference between not winning while not having a chance and not winning while having been one shot away from winning,” Belmonte said “I felt like (the latter) was the case last season I've looked at it from the perspective of ‘You're so close the universe is just playing a few tricks on you at the moment and you’ve just got to fight through that.’ The doubles win with Bill has definitely helped because it allows me to forget about it.” Belmonte also leads the PBA World Championship through 24 qualifying games racking up a total pinfall of 5,614 (+814) through four rounds on Scorpion and Viper Chameleon and Shark Championships combine for the PBA World Championship I’ve given myself an opportunity to just enjoy being at the top,” Belmonte said “My job this week is to finish what I've started and I've given myself every opportunity now to do really well The Rounds of 16 and 8 in the PBA Viper Championship will take place on Monday The winners of each bracket and the highest-seeded loser in the Round of 8 will advance to the championship round that day at 4 p.m Qualifying begins for the PBA Chameleon Championship on Thursday The squad order will reverse for Sunday’s second round of qualifying said he is not a big fan of the multiple-squad format we haven’t bowled on the Chameleon for five days so (B-squad) is going to have a really good look at how we play the lanes what's working and what's not working,” Belmonte said whoever bowls second probably has a little bit more of an advantage because you're going to see that first score I’m up first tomorrow and I suppose if I’ve got three spares to start I’m going to quickly see who's got a triple and see if I can't copy them.” Full standings are available here EJ Tackett defeated Jason Belmonte to win third straight PBA World Championship title In a battle between the top two bowlers on the planet EJ Tackett prevailed over Jason Belmonte to win a historic third consecutive PBA World Championship title the major title finale of the PBA World Series of Bowling (XVI) Jason Couch and Earl Anthony (twice) had ever won a PBA major championship three consecutive times before Tackett “I watched Jason (Belmonte) do it a few years ago “I watched the other Jason (Couch) win three TOCs in a row I thought those guys were just so much better than everyone else that no one else could do it THREE. PEAT.EJ Tackett (@ejt300) defeats Jason Belmonte to win his third consecutive PBA World Championship title. pic.twitter.com/JfFfj6HFqD — PBA Tour (@PBATour) March 22, 2025 Tackett made every championship round during the PBA WSOB XVI becoming the first player to achieve that feat since Sean Rash in 2011 He also made the PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic presented by Pilgrim’s finals setting the official PBA record with six consecutive championship round appearances Dating back to the PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic Tackett has made seven consecutive championship rounds in singles events His PBA World Championship victory marked his fourth title of the 2025 season Tackett, who owns almost twice as many points and three times as many earnings as the next highest player, is on pace to earn his fourth career and third consecutive PBA Player of the Year honor. In Saturday's PBA World Championship stepladder finals BJ Moore defeated Boog Krol in the opening match Moore fired the front-six strikes while Krol struggled to string strikes Moore’s strong ball reaction ran out in the second match against Tim Foy Jr. who was making his fifth championship round appearance of his breakout season Foy stayed clean until the 10th frame to shoot 234 and advance to the semifinal match against Tackett Foy possessed control of the match against Tackett until the eighth frame in which he split and opened on the right lane He left a 10-pin in the ninth frame as well setting Tackett up with a chance to strike for the win but the ball crossed over the head-pin — and still struck The fortunate break enabled the Tackett-Belmonte duel that had been building for nearly a month in Reno “I got extremely lucky in the 10th frame,” Tackett said before the title match “Tim threw two unbelievable shots in the 10th frame He deserves to be standing here right now.” WHAT JUST HAPPENED 😱😱😱📺 FOX | FOX Sports app pic.twitter.com/4Tmxc2O1PS — PBA Tour (@PBATour) March 22, 2025 Tackett refocused and seized control of the title match by throwing four strikes to start the match he struck three more times to set up his final frames seeking to extend his PBA record with a 16th career major title on the same lane Tackett went high and split Belmonte left a 2-10 split and created a 30-pin advantage for Tackett Belmonte struck in each of his next three frames forcing Tackett to double in the 10th frame for the win — the exact stakes of their 2023 PBA World Championship title bout (those) were two of the best shots of my whole career,” Tackett said The 2025 PBA Tour continues next week with the USBC Masters at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park will aim for a third consecutive major title The Masters would complete the career Grand Slam Qualifying begins on Monday, leading up to the double-elimination bracket on Thursday and Friday. All rounds of qualifying and match play will be livestreamed on BowlTV, followed by the two-part, televised championship round on March 29-30 After Graham Fach dealt with a middle finger injury last week which forced him to remove the finger insert from his bowling balls he is back to near-100% health and top form Fach leads the PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic through two rounds of qualifying with a total pinfall of 2,873 (+473) In the Roth/Holman PBA Doubles Championship Fach and his partner Matt Sanders rank second with a combined score of 5,468 (+668) "We've been growing together for years now and have been able to talk a lot," Fach said "We understand each other's games and love to help each other when we can It's nice that we're able to be on the same pair and strike." “We've gone back and forth almost every year So we're hoping this year we can both be on.” the only thing “on” for the team was Fach’s check engine light His car broke down somewhere in Indiana on Monday Sanders was willing to skip the practice session to go pick him up Fach said he walked to a rental car facility and made it to Vernon Hills on his own accord Chris Sloan and Ryan Barnes round out the top six individuals in PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic qualifying through 12 games which will be the cut after the final round of qualifying on Wednesday Käyhkö will have his work cut out for him to stay in the number sitting just three pins ahead of Sunday’s U.S .@JBelmo and @Bill_ONeill caught fire tonight, while the Fach train keeps rolling.More action at 11am (noon ET) tomorrow on BowlTV.🎳 Singles standings: https://t.co/txPGuudFwH🎳 Doubles standings: https://t.co/JTspkG4yVo pic.twitter.com/HObSEc3Z23 — PBA Tour (@PBATour) February 5, 2025 a few noteworthy teams find themselves in contention dominated on Tuesday evening to surge from 18th place to the lead The duo is averaging nearly 230 for their 24 combined games named for PBA Hall of Famer and founding member Carmen Salvino Belmonte opted to stay right even as the lanes transitioned and Kyle Troup and Jesper Svensson round out the top five doubles teams with one round to go met bowling match play in Junior Gold as youth players Neuer said they have wanted to bowl this event together ever since and this was the first year they were able to do it failed to learn from his college coach Bob Learn Jr Stippich had the front-11 strikes twice in his first three games.. and missed the head pin on both perfect game attempts Both Stippich and Neuer appreciated the humor of the situation “I’m sure (Bob’s) proud of you right now,” Neuer joked to Stippich Two people who feel genuinely proud are Chris Barnes and Wes Malott The PBA Hall of Famers are each bowling with their sons while Wes and Jordan Malott sit in 17th and just three pins outside the cut number The final round of qualifying begins at 11 a.m followed by PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic elimination match play begins with the Round of 24 at 6 p.m Elimination match play continues on Thursday then PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship round robin match play takes center stage on Friday Both championship rounds will be held on Saturday Full standings for the PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic are available here Full standings for the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship are available here Top 24 individuals advance to PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic elimination match playTop 16 doubles teams advance to PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship round robin match play — Elimination Match Play - Round of 24 (best-of-seven games) — Elimination Match Play - Round of 16 (best-of-seven games)6 p.m — Elimination Match Play - Round of 8 (best-of-seven games) — Round Robin Match Play (eight games)6 p.m — PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship stepladder finals (taped) 7 p.m — PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic stepladder finals (live) More information on the PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic is available here.More information on the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship is available here Darren Ong, Kris Prather, Zach Wilkins, Jason Belmonte and EJ Tackett advance to stepladder finals The second championship round of the PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) XVI features two of the PBA Tour’s biggest names, but neither matched the dominance of Darren Ong The Singapore star earned the top seed for the PBA Viper Championship stepladder finals, awaiting to see which of Kris Prather, Zach Wilkins, Jason Belmonte and EJ Tackett can meet him in the championship. The PBA Viper Championship finals will air live on FS1 and the FOX Sports app at 4 p.m. Pacific/local (7 p.m. Eastern) time at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev. firing three 300 games in the first seven games of the 12-game round He swept Stu Williams and Trevor Roberts in the elimination bracket to clinch the top seed for the stepladder finals No Singapore player has ever won a PBA Tour title no Singapore player had ever competed on the PBA Tour until Ong and Jaris Goh bowled in last year’s WSOB XV who won his first career PBA Tour title in 2019’s WSOB X Scorpion Championship seized the second seed by qualifying fifth and defeating Chris Barnes and Tom Daugherty Wilkins had not been able to replicate the success of his breakout 2024 season But Wilkins turned his season around in Reno Thomas Larsen and Tackett to make the PBA Viper Championship finals He also qualified for round-robin match play in the PBA World Championship Belmonte has now finished in the top 11 in six straight title events this season including his PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship victory with Bill O’Neill Belmonte currently ranks second in the PBA World Championship Belmonte and Tackett have won a combined six of the past eight PBA World Championship titles and are the two winningest players in WSOB history with nine and seven titles Tackett advanced to his third straight championship round of the season as the highest-seeded qualifier to lose in the Round of 8 Viper is one of just two WSOB animal pattern championships Tackett has yet to win which he also has a chance to win tomorrow The PBA Viper Championship stepladder finals will begin at 4 p.m. Pacific/local (7 p.m. Eastern) time, airing live on FS1 and the FOX Sports app. International viewers can watch via BowlTV Full standings and match results are available here After undergoing three surgeries on her right knee in 18 months which kept her sidelined for her sophomore and junior seasons Victoria Belmonte wasn't even sure if she'd get to play another high school match "I would say it was the hardest 18 months of my life but I just tried to stay positive throughout the whole thing," the 5-foot-11 Fremd senior setter said "I had my doubts (about playing again) during my surgery and rehab There were times I didn't know if I'd come back." she returned to the floor this fall with an elite performance that led her team to all the way to the Elite Eight as the Vikings' setter also named Mid-Suburban West Player of the Year dished out more than 750 assists and produced more than 100 kills as Fremd won the Mid-Suburban League title The honors she achieved while helping to make it all happen were the last thing Belmonte was looking for "She is thinking 'How can I share this with the team," said third-year Fremd coach Pete Gavin A kid who has gotten a lot of accolades this year but all she cares about is the team's success." That success came from the one intangible Belmonte brought to the table: chemistry she wants to study chemistry and forensic science in college "I watched those television shows on forensics and thought they were cool," said Belmonte "My chemistry class (teacher Jennifer Carlson) my sophomore year was cool Where she will study and if she will play volleyball in college is still to be determined "Being out two years kind of hurt her recruiting chances but she still has hopes and dreams of playing Division 1 volleyball," Gavin said "That's something I think she has the talent to do especially if she gets healthier and healthier I know she is a kid that schools would be lucky to have." Gavin feels fortunate to have had Belmonte set for his third team at Fremd Belmonte played all 40 matches in that 37-3 season collecting more than 170 kills as a right-side hitter She was all set to return for her sophomore season but on the very last day of summer camp injured her knee 2022 she had her first surgery (partially torn ACL) but she tore it again three months later while training and underwent a second surgery on Jan Then she tore it again during vertical testing with her trainer requiring another surgery on the meniscus this past April "It was definitely the hardest thing that has happened in my life," she said "Having to go through it three times was just really hard." she tried to attend as many matches as she could I was doing a lot of rehab to get myself back so I didn't get to as many as my sophomore year," she said "I just tried to stay positive throughout the whole thing “My friend (Loyola High School senior Grace Kreutz) was also going through ACL surgery so we pushed each other to get back." Belmonte gives big kudos to the Fremd coaching staff for helping her get back "I got really close to them and felt I was part of the staff," said Belmonte who followed her sister Allie into the sport "They pushed me to get back to where I'm at and helped me so much." it was Belmonte helping the Vikings get back to the Elite Eight for the third time in five seasons especially because she went from being an opposite hitter freshman year," said Gavin who coincidentally was a captain as a setter for Palatine's 2004 Final Four boys volleyball team coached by Pinley sitting for two years and coming back from a different position you played in high school is pretty impressive." And she got to play with an impressive surrounding cast "These kids are great and Victoria would be the first to tell you her success is largely due to the amazing hitters and passers we have on the team," Gavin said "It's just something that is special about this group there was someone there to pick them up and Victoria is a prime example in that she makes everyone around her better." And she is such a high volleyball IQ athlete She knows how to put teammates in a situation to be successful which is the mark of a great setter She is a tall left-hander which is nice for a setter She has big hands and her depth perception and ability to read balls off the platform was exceptional." Belmont constantly put herself in a situation where she was able to make a good set "I think she always had a passion for setting," Gavin said Victoria is the type of kid who would do anything to help the team win so if that meant playing a different position I think she has always had dreams of being a setter I think she kind of enjoys the organizational side of it and being a leader on the court "She's a great student and I've had multiple teachers come up to me and tell me how great she is in their class." And now she is the head of class for this year's Daily Herald Cook County All-Area volleyball team Kathryn Greenwood Swanson (dressed as Uncle Sam) Christopher “Monte” Belmonte (dressed as a Greenfield Marching Band member) and Alex McGuigan (no costume) show off some of the costumes used during Belmonte’s annual march to support the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts TOP: Greenwood Swanson with a helmet from one of the outfits Some of Christopher “Monte” Belmonte’s outfits used during the annual march to support the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts Swanson’s Fabrics owner Kathryn Greenwood Swanson with a helmet from one of Christopher “Monte” Belmonte’s outfits used during the annual march to support the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts Buckingham Rabbits Vintage owner Alex McGuigan with some of Christopher “Monte” Belmonte’s outfits used during the annual march to support the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts Making his way from Springfield to Greenfield during his annual walk to raise money for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts local radio personality Christopher “Monte” Belmonte looks to increase the visibility of one of the country’s greatest issues you’ve probably learned that this can get quite literal Aside from amassing a crowd often dozens strong to march by his side Belmonte makes the 43-mile voyage while pushing a shopping cart and wearing an outlandish costume he’s trekked as characters ranging from Barbie to stunt performer Evel Knievel who launched the fundraiser in 2010 while working at WRSI 93.9 The River explained that he’s always dressed extravagantly so going all-out for special occasions has become the norm for him a community member helped him realize that dressing up isn’t all silliness “I used to always call it a ridiculous publicity stunt but there’s a woman who lives in Mason Square in Springfield named Liz O’Gilvie who is working on hunger issues day in and day out,” he said “We were together at the White House Conference on Hunger and she’s like ‘Stop calling it a ridiculous publicity stunt.’ She’s like Belmonte has been further encouraged by Kathryn Greenwood Swanson owner of Swanson’s Fabrics in Turners Falls assisted by her mother and retired costume designer Emilie Long as well as Buckingham Rabbits Vintage owner Alex McGuigan has been custom-making Belmonte’s costumes since 2020 She expressed that the concepts of food and clothing are “a really good marriage” when considering similarities between related issues with both resources widely needed due to inaccessibility “It’s all essential human necessity from the day you’re born until the day you die,” reasoned Greenwood Swanson whose business is centered on teaching people how to make their own textile goods “When the opportunity came up to hitch my cart to Monte’s horse ‘What a great opportunity to just really put on a display for the community that it’s possible to make [your own clothing].” which took on the new moniker of March for the Food Bank with Monte Belmonte last year after formerly being known as Monte’s March Belmonte said his costumes have been particularly memorable for local children He noted he often re-wears costumes from past marches when he speaks at schools was during his 2022 march when he passed through Amherst and met a group of screaming schoolchildren asking for autographs I always think of you as a court jester-type,” Greenwood Swanson told Belmonte sitting across from him at Swanson’s Fabrics Mentioning Belmonte’s favorite costume — and the one that Greenwood Swanson said was the hardest to make — she added You put on these performances that delight people ...” She added that his costumes are sometimes also direct social commentaries when the time is right Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Met Gala outfit and wore a costume bearing the phrases “It’s very exciting for us to be a part of something so inspiring for so many people,” Greenwood Swanson said of Belmonte’s tradition Belmonte plans to dress up as both Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West from the movie “Wicked.” He feels something light-hearted might be appreciated this year The March for the Food Bank with Monte Belmonte with more than $43,000 already raised as of Thursday morning Reaching the $500,000 goal would provide the equivalent of 1.5 million meals to the community and would also bring the cumulative 15-year donation total past $4 million with $3.71 million raised in the first 14 years To learn more about the march or to make a donation, visit tinyurl.com/FoodBankMarch you agree with our use of cookies to personalize your experience measure ads and monitor how our site works to improve it for our users by | Dec 27 levitating its drinkers towards the hope of wealth and good cheer has become a staple when the clock strikes 12 on the last night of the year The tiny bubbles of optimism signify all of the possibilities that come with a turn of the calendar PHOTO BY MONTE BELMONTEProvisions in North Amherst held their Grand Champagne Tasting event and the place was packed Six wine distributors set up tables and were pouring their best bubbles There is a lot of lore as to why Champagne is the beverage of choice for New Year’s Eve The writer Wayne Curtis wrote a great piece about this for Imbibe Magazine back in 2019 where he says that a restaurant called Martin’s in New York City started the trend “This French restaurant was among the first rank of ‘lobster palaces,’ where the cream of society went to entertain themselves guests could order anything they wanted to drink as long as they wanted champagne — it was reputedly the first place to go ‘champagne only’ after 9 p.m ‘To get a table at all on New Year’s Eve is difficult,’ wrote a visitor in 1910 ‘when you get one you must drink what you are told.’” Champagne may not be mandatory on New Year’s Eve but it is likely to be available both in restaurants and at private gatherings on the rare occasion that the pocketbook permits I won’t bore you once again with the lesson that not all sparkling wine is Champagne I will say that if you call a non-Champagne sparkling wine “Champagne,” I will judge you But I’ll also say that there are many great non-Champagne sparkling wine options that would suit you just fine for First Night or any night I was lucky enough to taste beaucoup Champagne Many of our great wine stores in the Valley have some sort of big tasting event right before the holidays two of my favorite stores both had big Champagne tasting events The first I attended was at Provisions in North Amherst It was their Grand Champagne Tasting event and the place was packed There was an incredible Le Brun de Neuville Champagne Millésimé poured by Gordon and Terroir Wines then poops alcohol and farts carbon dioxide When you trap the yeast farts in the bottle that is where the Champagne bubbles come from And some makers leave the dead yeast in the bottle for a month or a few months or maybe a year The Brun de Neuville Champagne Millésimé left the dead yeast in for 14 years Those dead yeasts incorporated their carcases into the grape juice and bubbles and made for an incredibly rich and delicious Champagne PHOTO BY MONTE BELMONTEAt the Grand Champagne Tasting event at Provisions in North Amherst I tried an incredible Le Brun de Neuville Champagne Millésimé poured by Gordon Alexander and Terroir Wines On the slightly more affordable end of things was the Atlantic Beverage Company’s Gamet Champagne portfolio Many of my favorite Champagnes are what they refer to as “grower” Champagnes where the farmers are making and bottling the product themselves rather than selling their juice off to the big name companies who are charging you as much for their fancy marketing campaigns as they are for their juice Gamet is a grower and their Blanc de Noir (“white from black,” meaning a wine that looks white but is made with red grapes) was excellent and only (only!?!?) $60 When I go to buy a new shirt that I know I will wear hundreds and hundreds of times But if it’s a great $60 bottle of wine that I am going to drink in one sitting and have only this one experience with The best stuff I tried at the Provisions tasting was not in the public tasting portion of the event but when I weaseled my way into the private tasting in the backroom with one of Provison’s owners Benson tasted me on a bunch of great Champagnes including one from the so-called Special Club The wine comes in a strangely shaped bottle and was produced by a group of 28 growers in Champagne who get together and blind taste their juices and come up with the best blend from the bunch Special Club is like The Avengers Champagne PHOTO BY MONTE BELMONTEThe best stuff I tried at the Provisions tasting was not in the public tasting portion of the event But I defer to Benson’s better half and Provisions wine-buyer Benson told me Toni’s favorite was the Rémy Grand Cru His family used to sell his grapes to the big Champagne companies until he decided to get his family back into the game for themselves The 2021 vintage 100% Pinot Noir Grand Cru Champagne from Rémy was both tangy and creamy Benson says “it’s not a shy Champagne.” And I agree on the very same afternoon as the Provisions tasting State Street Fruit Store Deli Wines & Spirits was also hosting their annual gala most of the tables there featured a Champagne or something sparkling But the first thing I noticed when I walked through the doors of State Street that afternoon was the unmistakable smell of scallops wrapped in bacon To quote Ron Swanson from Parks & Recreation it is “my number one favorite food wrapped around my number three favorite food.” I don’t want to dwell too much on the the food at this event tipped me off to a delicious Champagne she was pouring from the portfolio of one of my favorite wine companies The Champagne was the Girot-Moussy Tradition Brut and damn PHOTO BY MONTE BELMONTEI sampled well over a dozen Champagnes at the two tastings in early December the Girot is the one that I walked out the door with I sampled well over a dozen Champagnes that day in early December It has become exceedingly rare to find a Champagne of any quality for anything under $50 Maybe 2025 will bring with it the good fortune to afford the $115 Rémy But given the chaos that tariffs brought to the wine world during the first Trump administration maybe I should spend my 2024 dollars on the wines that I want now I have a feeling that neither my shirts nor my Champagnes are going to get any more affordable in 2025 Matthew Craig SAN ANTONIO – Candice Mossberg said she remembers her brother “I need the world to know that my brother was not a statistic,” Mossberg said Belmonte was hit and killed in a wrong-way crash on Jan The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office identified him as Thomas Cuellar A San Antonio Police Department spokesperson said Cuellar was attempting to drive east in the westbound lanes of U.S An SAPD crash report stated Belmonte’s car caught on fire after the crash Belmonte and Cuellar were found dead at the scene SAPD confirmed the case is being investigated as intoxication manslaughter but the department said its investigation remains active “We as a family had to literally use dental records to identify him,” Mossberg said Belmonte was a hazmat and fuel tank driver Mossberg said her brother was returning home when he died only a couple of minutes away from his home “My brother really embodied the beauty of what a good person was,” Mossberg said Belmonte was married and the father of three kids with a fourth on the way Mossberg said she’s fundraising to keep her brother’s family afloat Copyright 2025 by KSAT - All rights reserved Email Newsletters KSAT RSS Feeds Contests and Rules Contact Us KSAT Internships Careers at KSAT Closed Captioning / Audio Description Public File Current EEO Report Terms of Use Privacy Policy Do Not Sell My Info FCC Applications Copyright © 2025 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group In a real estate market where quality homes at affordable price points are increasingly hard to come by, there’s never been a better time to build. And with Belmonte Builders’ new Forest Grove community now entering phase two of development there’s never been a better time to build a Belmonte home Located in the town of Wilton in the Saratoga Springs City School District Forest Grove is a new-home community consisting of both twin homes and single-family homes (The mailing address and school district is actually Saratoga but homeowners will enjoy lower Wilton taxes.) With 19 different floor plans to choose from premium twin homes starting in the mid-500s to single-family homes with larger lots “People started moving in earlier this year and they’re all very excited about the amenities to come,” says Peter Belmonte Clifton Park–based company.“It’s a master-plan community with all the amenities that people in the Northeast ask for.” Some of those amenities A 5,000-square-foot community center complete with a kitchen original buyers of newly built homes in Forest Grove get 50 percent off golf course memberships at McGregor Links Country Club Other perks of Forest Grove living include seven miles of walking trails a dog park and well-lit sidewalks throughout the community Forest Grove is clearly a hit with homebuyers—phase one sold out in just 18 months if you’re interested in a Forest Grove home act fast—we’re already a month into phase two “We have three models on site—two decorated,” Belmonte says “and are proud that both are award-winning The Westerly model home won Best New Construction Floor Plan and Best New Merchandised Model in the 2023 CRBRA Best in Building Awards and the community itself won Best Twin Home Project We enjoy giving tours of the property and our model homes It’s the best way for people to see up close the quality that goes into each and every Belmonte home.”    Forest Grove’s sales center/model home is located at 2 Daintree Drive Contact Sharon Byrne at 518.527.4914 or sharon@belmontebuilders.com to get started on your journey toForest Grove living a leading investment migration firm in Portugal in collaboration with the non-profit organization Cinema have just launched an innovative business incubator in Belmonte has just received its IAPMEI certification to offer the Portuguese Startup Visa and the highest participation quotient in non-refundable community funding given that it is located in the country’s interior Offering a range of startup incubation services and accelerator programs along with two iconic coworking facilities and access to national and international investor networks Ignite Belmonte serves as the heart of a growing technology ecosystem Brazilian companies find in Portugal an attractive expansion opportunity due to cultural proximity The country serves as a natural bridge for entry into the European Union market Belmonte offers a culturally familiar base for international operations through a complete solution covering business incorporation as well as a matchmaking service connecting new startups and scale-ups with Venture Capital (VC) and EU grant funding opportunities famous for being the birthplace of Portuguese seafarer Pedro Álvares Cabral has long been on the radar of numerous Brazilian companies seeking to create pathways into Portuguese and broader European markets more than 10 Brazilian companies are already in the process of establishing Portuguese structures to participate in Ignite Belmonte with more than 30 expected to sign up in the next 12 months This first group of companies joining the incubator includes startups in areas such as smart textiles All of these companies are seeking to expand into European markets and gain access to European VC as well as institutional grant funding opportunities all these outcomes stem from Visadoro's stated mission objective: To reduce the economic asymmetries between Portugal's coastal and interior regions and to position Belmonte's technological and academic ecosystem as the destination of choice for Brazilian startups and technology companies seeking to establish a presence in the country On the heels of Ignite Belmonte's approval as a certified Portuguese startup incubator Visadoro is also pleased to announce the imminent launch of the Cabral Fund a Portuguese Golden Visa eligible investment fund The fund will offer applicants exposure to a range of asset-backed projects with proven business models Visadoro also offers a number of more tailor-made visa types for investors seeking a second European passport and mature companies interested in learning more about the Belmonte ecosystem and its available opportunities are invited to contact the Visadoro team through the contact details below Web: www.visadoro.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6fa2a051-a4be-4091-bb13-504f340f9fc5 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d86f7667-d12f-44f6-9428-55c15f66d370 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c82214b5-a05f-4b75-b90a-e2dc8f2b7b65 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ae8d55e7-2888-4c42-a106-3fab01c441e5 Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInCRYSTAL LAKE (WLS) – A dog who went missing in Illinois was rescued thanks to the help of drone technology went outside on a foggy morning and vanished After her family spent a few days looking for him themselves They used a thermal drone to locate their 2-year-old pet walking trail area off in some tall grass and broken-down trees Belmonte and her fiancee David Nowak had been looking for the Bernese Mountain dog since the Monday before With the help of Dog Gone Pet Recovery a Lake Villa Animal search and rescue group the family was finally reunited with their canine best friend He had suffered a broken femur and was taken to a veterinary hospital with a broken femur The couple said they are grateful for Charlie’s will to survive in the cold for nearly a week and for the rescue group’s dayslong effort to find him I don’t think we would be able to find him,” Nowak said Belmonte and Nowak said Charlie came back home to them Tuesday to rejoin them and their two other dogs « Back SAN ANTONIO – UPDATE (1/31/2025): A second man killed in a deadly wrong-way crash on the West Side has been identified The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office said Richard Belmonte died in the crash due to blunt force injuries Belmonte’s death has been ruled an accident According to a San Antonio Police Department report a driver in his 40s was seen just after 5 a.m Sunday traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of U.S Police said a person called 911 to report a crash in the area SAPD determined that the wrong-way driver crashed into a second vehicle driven by a man in his 30s The driver of the second vehicle was identified as Belmonte The medical examiner’s office identified the wrong-way driver as Thomas Cuellar Cuellar’s death was also ruled as an accident UPDATE (1/28/2025): The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office identified a man killed in a head-on collision on the West Side of San Antonio Another driver was also killed in the crash ORIGINAL STORY: Two men died after a head-on collision involving a wrong-way driver Several people called 911 to report a black pickup truck traveling east in the westbound lanes of Highway 90 another person reported a crash between the black pickup truck and a grey SUV police said officers had located a head-on collision involving the black pickup truck Authorities pronounced both drivers — one man in his 30s and another man in his 40s — dead on the scene It’s unclear if alcohol played a factor in the deadly crash The highway was shut down for several hours following the crash Home » Dominic Belmonte ID’d as Second Driver Killed in San Antonio Wrong-Way Accident on January 26 Dominic Belmonte Among 2 Killed in San Antonio Wrong-Way Accident at Highway 90 and Southwest Loop 410 TX – The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the second motorist who was killed in a wrong-way traffic collision near US Highway 90 and Loop 410 in San Antonio as 44-year-old Dominic Belmonte Another motorist, identified as 43-year-old Thomas Cuellar, was also killed in the collision that happened at about 5:05 a.m Authorities said Dominic Belmonte and Cuellar died as a result of the injuries they sustained when a black pickup truck collided with a gray SUV early Sunday morning on January 26 Authorities said one of the vehicles was traveling the wrong way leading to the deadly collision TX – Two men were killed in a collision involving a wrong-way motorist in San Antonio on Sunday morning according to the San Antonio Police Department The incident took place at about 5:05 a.m a black pickup truck was traveling eastbound on westbound Highway 90 when it collided with a grey sport utility vehicle The wrong-way driver was a man in his 40s while the other motorist was a man in his 30s Have you lost a loved one in a car accident Contact our Houston personal injury attorney today please click the “REMOVE ARTICLE” button below and the article will be removed Removal of an article is usually done within several hours after receipt of the removal request First responders had to remove the top of the... read more Man Critically Injured in Fort Worth Pedestrian Accident near... read more The deadly wrong-way accident happened in the area of... read more Good Samaritan Killed in San Antonio Pedestrian Accident on... read more One Injured in Lubbock Multi-Vehicle Crash at University Avenue... read more One Killed in Gregg County 18-Wheeler Crash on Interstate... read more One Killed in Houston Motorcycle Crash on Katy Freeway... read more Joshua Ivie Killed in Houston Pedestrian Accident on North... read more Salas-Zul was driving a 1996 Chevrolet Silverado southbound on... read more The deadly accident occurred at the intersection of John... read more In addition to helping personal injury clients within the City of Houston we also assist clients who reside in West Houston and Southwest Houston We also serve clients residing in North Houston Joel A Gordon & Associates - Accident Lawyer On Friday 18 April 2025, at 7 p.m., the suggestive historical centre of Belmonte Calabro will be the backdrop for the 2nd edition of the Living Way of the Cross, an event that involves the entire community in an intense moment of faith and reflection. Organised by the Parish S.S. Maria Assunta, the representation will retrace the last hours of Jesus' life, between spirituality and tradition. The ancient streets of the village will be transformed into an open-air theatre, offering those present an emotional and immersive experience. Street viewInterestedReligiousVaria di PalmiAug 25, 2024 Place of worshipBelmonte Calabro Last update: Apr 18, 2025 6:01 AMContent owned by the Calabria Region | Tourism and Commerce Department issued under CC-BY License Download OFFICIAL TOURIST INFORMATION SITE © 2022 Calabria Region Tourism and Commerce Department We use cookies to analyze user behavior in order to constantly improve the website for you. Learn more (TSXV: HMR) (OTCQB: HMRFF) ("Homerun" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has secured the services of Dorfner Anzaplan GmbH ("Anzaplan") to perform final calcination and leaching test work process design and the CAPEX estimate for the purification of Homerun's flagship silica sand deposit in Belmonte Anzaplan will initiate confirmation test work to validate the test work completed during 2024 under the Company's partnership with NREL (US Department of Energy) which applied a matrix of complex thermal and chemical testing treatments to identify streamlined pathways to >99.99% SiO2 purity "As a pioneering Company in the high-purity silica sand industry we have gained a significant advantage by actively listening to our prospective customer needs and wants from the very beginning After carefully evaluating global product inquiries across various industries we've confirmed our strategy to develop a new thermal upgrade plant for our high-purity silica resources in Belmonte This path forward maximizes our silica sand resource value for our shareholders by focusing on the highest margin use cases for the exceptional resource we've been fortunate to acquire in Belmonte This thermal upgrade facility will allow us to meet the demands of our customers and solidify our position as a leading global provider of high purity silica sand for a variety of industrial and technology end-uses." Homerun has already confirmed that it's silica sand can achieve these elevated purity levels in the lab testing completed in partnership with the University of California - Davis Materials Lab in H1 2024 and is scaling these initiatives through continuing development work underway at UC-Davis in 2025 The comprehensive proprietary data sets from both NREL and UC Davis have been transferred to Anzaplan Further to developing the final silica purification process flows Anzaplan will be tasked with the next step in the development of Homerun's Ultra-Pure Silica Sand for the global market by developing the CAPEX estimate for the Belmonte Silica Sand Processing Plant Anzaplan will issue a final report with the evaluation and assessment of the results This work program will be concluded in Q2 2025 and Homerun will utilize the Anzaplan work for the capital development of the Belmonte Silica Sand Processing Plant "Anzaplan is one of the most renowned mineral technology entities in Europe with wide experience in processing and analysis of quartz silica and silica sand This development work program will provide Homerun with an important competitive edge in the high purity silica sand marketplace in total synergy with the Company's vertical integration plans supporting significant value creation in our advanced materials strategy," stated Armando Farhate About Dorfner Anzaplan GmbH (https://www.anzaplan.com/) Anzaplan's portfolio covers process design and engineering services consulting in market requirements and applications and high-end analytical services along the complete value chain of project valuation - from material analysis geoscientists and business economists with an extensive industrial network to deliver a process tailored to fulfill the stringent market requirements About Homerun (www.homerunresources.com) Homerun (TSXV: HMR) is a vertically integrated materials leader revolutionizing green energy solutions through advanced silica technologies As an emerging force outside of China for high-purity quartz (HPQ) silica innovation the Company controls the full industrial vertical from raw material extraction to cutting-edge solar Our dual-engine vertical integration strategy combines: With six profit centers built within the vertical strategy and all gaining economic advantage utilizing the Company's HPQ silica Homerun is positioned to capitalize on high-growth global energy transition markets The 3-phase development plan has achieved all key milestones in a timely manner and breakthrough IP in advanced materials processing and energy solutions Homerun maintains an uncompromising commitment to ESG principles deploying the cleanest and most sustainable production technologies across all operations while benefiting the people in the communities where the Company operates As we advance revenue generation and vertical integration in 2025 the Company continues to deliver shareholder value through strategic execution within the unstoppable global energy transition On behalf of the Board of Directors ofHomerun Resources Inc Brian Leeners, CEO & Directorbrianleeners@gmail.com / +1 604-862-4184 (WhatsApp) Tyler Muir, Investor Relationsinfo@homerunresources.com / +1 306-690-8886 (WhatsApp) FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management and estimates of amounts not yet determinable assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements" Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/245793 SOURCE: Homerun Resources Inc. Sign Up Company Profile Mining and Metals Summer McIntosh set a world record of 1:59.32 in the 200 fly in Budapest as she lowered Mireia Belmonte’s 2014 mark set when the Canadian was eight years old a time that was also a Commonwealth and Canadian standard as she continues on her record-breaking bull run It was in the Duna Arena pool that McIntosh really made her golden breakthrough She’d finished fourth on her Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021 and later that year won three medals – including 4×2 gold – at the short-course worlds in Abu Dhabi But it was in Budapest where she really started her relentless march to the global podium at the World Championships in June 2022 with her first individual title coming in the 200 fly She returned to the pool on Thursday evening to post the new WR going 0.29 inside Belmonte’s time of 1:59.61 that has stood since Doha 2014 Regan Smith set an American record of 2:01.00 for silver with Elizabeth Dekkers replicating her Melbourne 2022 bronze in 2:02.91 McIntosh said: “I am pretty over the moon Yesterday having the day off was kind of nice to recollect myself after a crazy day one  And tomorrow I have another day off and then right back into the 400IM So I am super-excited to just keep the meet rolling.” The three-time Olympic champion watched on in the mixed zone where the athletes speak to media as teammate Ilya Kharun won the men’s 200 fly for a Canadian double She added: “I just think the Canadian team has been doing so well overall It’s so motivating and we all feed off each other’s energy and that’s great We are all supportive of each other because we understand what each other is going through in these big moments And we have little celebrations which are awesome Smith said: “I had a bit of a tight double 50m back then like 10 minutes later this race Dekkers said: “I am really happy with the time It’s nice just to go out to race and have fun so I am absolutely happy with that.” Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " X were the final team to qualify for the PBA Elite League presented by Snickers Playoffs snuck into the postseason with a 5-9 record after staving off the feeble late-season crawls by Dallas and Waco the only player to compete for the same franchise in all 11 seasons of the PBA League was promoted to player-manager before this season The franchise has yet to bring home an Elias Cup title Player-manager: Jason BelmonteProtected players: Jason Belmonte Belmonte’s first decision as player-manager was retaining Nuke. He then brought in four new players, including Barrett with the top overall draft selection.  X’s record to 4-4 and kept them in fifth place while the other four teams averaged below 207.  the Go Bowling Dallas Strikers and Waco Wonders stepped on rake after rake seemingly trying to get eliminated from the playoffs Their Round 12 loss to New Jersey marked their fourth straight loss they led Dallas by just one game for the final postseason berth Packy Hanrahan walks it off for the KingPins 😤📺 FS1 | FOX Sports app pic.twitter.com/U9YaAuUTgF — PBA Tour (@PBATour) April 7, 2024 turned a corner with their emphatic Round 8 win — and were met with the giant hand from Jackass 3D They were swept twice and fell into a spiral averaging 198 across their next eight games they ended the four-match losing streak just in time defeating Waco in Round 13 to clinch a playoff berth The Wonders showed the power of an underdog mentality during their Elias Cup title run last year A team playing with no expectations is one to be feared “The good news for us is when we go to Portland, we've really got nothing to lose," Belmonte said back in April. "I actually think that's what makes this team gel a little better together is being those underdogs. I'm hoping that's the narrative the other teams are thinking because that's just going to play right into my team's hands.” It’s no secret that a talented southpaw is a crucial component to winning on the 42-foot Roth pattern at Bayside Bowl. Every championship team dating back to 2017 has featured a left-handed player. Motown’s Justin Knowles led the league in strike percentage, Graham Fach didn’t miss a year ago in Portland. Meanwhile Las Vegas (Matt Russo), Akron (Jesper Svensson) and New Jersey (Packy Hanrahan) each have title-winning southpaws. L.A. has Williams, who posted the fifth-lowest strike percentage (44.23%) among players who bowled at least 20 frames in the PBA Elite League. The only lefty with a worse strike percentage (Ryan Ciminelli) was dropped by his team. But if Williams turns his season around, L.A. X could take flight in a hurry. Non-Bowling Team Comparison: 2022-23 Miami Heat Remember when the Heat stumbled into the playoffs as the eight-seed, then Jimmy Butler turned into Michael Jordan for six weeks and led Miami to an improbable NBA Finals berth? It’s not hard to envision Playoff Belmo leading the way as a grizzled L.A. X squad makes a similar deep postseason run. I hear Belmo’s already reserved space at Bayside Bowl where he will be selling jars of his new salsa brand DIP’IN. Their official slogan: Our salsa is so bold, you’ll want to use two hands. ALBANY — Holland Patent teammates Andrew Juliano and Trent True reached the finals in Division II New Hartford Spartan Chris Belmonte did the same in Division I and all three came home as second-place finishers at the NYSPHSAA wrestling championships a returning champion who won at 101 pounds as a sophomore last year reached the 108 finals with a semifinal win Saturday morning Juliano's junior classmate and also back from last year's tournament the same weight at which he placed seventh in 2024 made it to the championship round at 285 pounds this year Central Valley Academy junior Gene Edwards and Adirondack sophomore Seth Strain were also semifinalists and lost Saturday morning More: Juliano, four others advance to semifinals at state wrestling championships More: Mohawk Valley high school wrestling scoreboard The five semifinalists all finished the day on the podium and were joined by four others who battled through wrestlebacks Section III wrestlers won three individual titles Patrick Grimsey of Lowville Academy won at 145 pounds and Kayleb Martin of Sackets Harbor won at 170 in Division II; both won Class D sectional titles in Little Falls Feb 8 and Division II crowns one week later at SRC Arena The Division I champion was Carthage senior Kamdyn Dorchester who beat Belmonte Dorchester won 1-0 with a single escape Saturday; he had previously beaten Belmonte in overtime in Section III's finals the last two years Belmonte earned his spot in the final with a 11-7 semifinal decision against William Wortkoetter seeded second behind Mason Tanner of Jordan Elbridge/Port Byron/Union Springs/Cato-Meridian who had beaten him in the sectional title bout Tanner was beaten Friday by Colton Schmiesing from Oyster Bay and Strain joined Juliano in Saturday's final four Schmiesing scored a major decision against Strain and Juliano defeated Lukas Mills-Travis from Haverling 6-3 in the other semifinal Schmiesing and Juliano went to overtime tied at 7 and Schmiesing took the title with a takedown.Strain wrestled back to a sixth place finish 2 Luke VanGorden of Palmyra-Macedon by major decision in his semifinal 1 seed and a winner by technical fall in the semifinals Keeran Timerman of Canastota placed sixth at 190 wrestling back from a loss in his first match Friday fifth- and eighth-place finisher at previous state tournaments 1 seed this year and left with a 4-2 decision against Jacob McVige from Honeoye Falls-Lima Martin finished seventh at 170 pounds last year and won at that weight in his return he won by major decision in his final against No Matt Verri of Little Falls and Landon Andrade of Sherburne-Earlville placed fifth in Division II at 131 Markham's Ben Dziuban finished seventh at 101 To Diamond Belmonte and her blended family of seven brothers there is no “half” or “step.” Vincent Belmonte was just her brother He dreamed of becoming a YouTuber and starting a business with his siblings to teach people in Cleveland how to tend their own gardens When he was fatally shot by a police officer in East Cleveland during an attempted traffic stop on January 5 Diamond and her siblings joined in a now familiar ritual and then they marched to keep Vincent’s case in the spotlight They reeled when authorities deemed his death justified and learned to live on together as attention faded and their brother became one of 29 people killed in fatal police shootings in the state that year I first met Diamond and her family at Vincent’s funeral and have followed them for more than three years catching glimpses with my camera of the aftermath we rarely see: the struggle to balance grief with life’s responsibilities the fight to keep going despite newfound anxieties you really learn a different trauma response,” Diamond said I first sat down to talk with De’Jour Duckworth he smiled and laughed as he talked about his favorite memories of Vincent De’Jour’s voice went low as he reminded himself that Vincent’s death wasn’t his fault He told Vincent to come spend some time away on the family’s farm about an hour south they were struggling to navigate the responsibilities of early adulthood and mental health challenges your hurt gon’ be gone soon,’” De’Jour said but it wasn’t like I was wishing death or anything … It's just Vincent’s loved ones were still reeling from his death at this point the protests became more like celebrations of Vincent’s life Vincent’s family decided against marching and chanting they bought dozens of flowers and handed them out to drivers passing by on Euclid Avenue Diamond remembered the way Vincent brightened up a room when he walked in She told me she just wanted to carry on that legacy She and her mother Nickey Duckworth waved bouquets and ran up to drivers when they stopped in the middle of the street They told them the flowers were from Vincent Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that a Cuyahoga County grand jury declined to indict Larry McDonald the East Cleveland police officer who fatally shot Vincent McDonald tried pulling Vincent over for a loud muffler Vincent sped off and crashed the car before running away on foot McDonald told investigators that Vincent reached for a gun as he was running away McDonald said he accidentally turned off his body camera as he was chasing Vincent so the exact details of the shooting remain unclear Police found a gun in Vincent’s hoodie pocket Yost concluded that McDonald’s use of deadly force was justified The news that McDonald would not be indicted for killing Vincent brought back waves of grief for his family The decision came about a week before Halloween Diamond decided to organize a “trunk-or-treat” in Vincent’s name Diamond said she started having panic attacks She developed anxiety so bad that she would pick “holes” in the skin on her face Seeing police cars sometimes made her so angry and nervous that she couldn’t talk “Anytime I see police shootings or anything like that certain things just to protect me because some things just literally take me to a high anxiety,” she said McDonald, the officer who shot Vincent, was back in the news in 2023 when he resigned he was one of 18 current and former East Cleveland officers indicted in an investigation into public corruption and civil rights violations was charged with lying about his role in a pursuit that resulted in a crash he was again indicted in a separate crash that was fatal He pleaded not guilty and told me he did not have a comment on his ongoing case Even though McDonald wasn’t indicted for killing Vincent Diamond and her family believe their protests helped shed light on systemic issues at the East Cleveland police I joined the family for a Memorial Day cookout this year at Diamond’s house She kept a close eye on a rack of ribs on the grill as she told me how Vincent’s death changed her relationships with her brothers “I thought I knew all my brothers,” she said And then I got to spend time with everyone for real That made me appreciate our relationships a bit more.” This year has been a little better for Diamond “For the first two-and-a-half to three years This is the first year that I've been like really outside living more like a normal person.” Diamond’s birthday falls just a few days after Vincent’s so she celebrates him each year at her own birthday parties “But how long will you let grief overcome you You won't even know who you are by the end of it do you love that person more than you love you You just got to relearn it a different way.” by | Feb 28 The leader of the free world is working diligently to rid the USA of DEI are either obediently heeding our leader’s directives or pre-emptively expunging any notion of the divisive notions of “equity” and the like from their organization’s mission This wine column will move forward cautiously and follow suit As major retailers like Target and Amazon question whether they will continue to support diverse makers or continue programs like their Black Business Accelerators I feel it is my duty to apprise you of some Black winemakers Brown Estate’s 2023 Zinfandel won a Gold Medal at the 2025 San Francisco Chronicle’s Wine Competition Brown Estate is Napa Valley’s first and only Black-owned estate winery According to the Agriculture Human Values journal only 2% of farmland is owned by Black folk The Brown Estate claims that the previous generation of the Brown family purchased an abandoned Napa ranch in 1980 and planted wine grapes selling to some of the biggest names in the world of California wine who was a winemaker involved in the so-called “Judgement of Paris,” where California wines defeated Bordeaux in blind tastings propelling California wines into a revered space in the wine atlas But did Grgich want the Brown family’s grapes because they were of the highest quality or because of DEI the Brown family children began producing their own label and bottling award winning wines Brown Estate’s 2023 Zinfandel just won a Gold Medal from the 2025 San Francisco Chronicle’s Wine Competition I once brought a bottle of Brown to a party and a friend of mine who is knowledgeable about wines was very excited He had recently been diagnosed with a condition that prohibited him from drinking too much wine but he was willing to make an exception for a glass from this bottle of Brown UPS may ask “what can Brown do for you?” But DEI begs the question “did my friend risk his health for this wine because ‘woke?’” I also failed to mention that Brown Estate family wine is also women-led Black South African winemaker and sommelier Tinashe Nyamudoka named his wines “Kumusha,” which means “your home” or “your roots” in Shona the language spoken by the Shona people of Zimbabwe I feel as though it is my duty to draw your attention to the McBride Sisters Andrea and Robin McBride are half-sisters who grew up on opposite sides of the globe but who were both raised in wine regions in disparate hemispheres Neither had much contact with their shared father but one of his dying wishes was for his two daughters to connect they discovered that they both had a passion for winemaking as of 2020 the McBride sisters were the largest Black-owned wine company in the U.S they continue to encourage their consumers to be “socially-conscious.” And some of the proceeds from their wines like Black Girl Magic and their canned wine have been used to promote the advancement of women in business and for scholarships to Historically Black Colleges and Universities As our investigation of potential DEI wines moves abroad we turn to the home country of the head of our nation’s glorious efforts to “DOGE” the bullet of DEI While the status of refugees from certain nations is suspect the White House is welcoming white South African refugees with open arms White South Africans have not only experienced untold political oppression but also potential economic oppression when it comes to South Africa’s wine industry Black South African wines have seen a 20% increase since 2019 Black-owned wineries now make up an entire 1% of the South African wine market And while Black people still make up 80% of the population of South Africa white South Africans may want to flee to the U.S I recently tried a wine from a Black South African winemaker and sommelier Nyamudoka is originally from Zimbabwe but moved to South Africa in hopes of making a better life for himself He worked in fine restaurants and became an expert in the world of wine and now has a commitment to making wines using minimal intervention and natural fermentation He believes his wines are representative of the best that South Africa’s terroir has to offer which means “your home” or “your roots” in his native Zimbabwean Shona language I tried the Kumusha Wild Mutupo made with the grapes Carignan and Pinotage Carignan is often used for adding coloring to wines and for beefing up a wine’s flavor profile And Pinotage is the wild child grape of South Africa This particular blend struck a perfect balance It’s the kind of red wine you might want to put a little chill on and then bring out to your back porch and contemplate the mysteries of the universe; Is it harder for a rich man to enter the gates of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle I hope this effort to make you aware of some potential DEI wines will help you make some educated purchasing decisions And as DEI programs and initiatives are scrubbed from websites all over the U.S. you may want to help out your local Valley wine stores by removing these particular wines from their shelves This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page by | Aug 30 While dining out with my lovely wife the other day it occurred to me that I use a lot of extraordinarily snobby adjectives that are incomprehensible to the lay drinker Then it occurred to me: maybe a wine glossary would be handy given that I have the opportunity to write this here wine column But if you go out drinking with a wine snob maybe keep a copy of this article with you for the next time you’re subjected to the ludicrous language of the libated PEXELS/Valeria BoltnevaYou’ll have to wait until the next Advocate publishes to see the second half of my Wine Snob Glossary only talk to wine snobs who use the first half of the English language Beer drinkers are familiar with things in the 5% to 8% territory Acid: It’s what separates most bad white wines from most good white wines a California Chardonnay can actually seem good Astringent: It’s when a wine makes your mouth all dry and puckery It has to do with tannins (see column in the next edition) Barnyard: It’s when a wine reminds you of … poop some of the best red wines have a whiff of poop Biodynamic: It is a crazy hippy way of farming that has to do with harvesting under a full moon and burying a cow antler filled with manure in a field But dammit if it doesn’t make for some great wines Breathing: It’s the same as human breathing; exposing a wine to oxygen If you get a lot of oxygen over several days If you give a wine a little oxygen it can really help it sing But if you give wine too much oxygen over time Cepage: The grape or grapes used in a wine the cepage of Rhône reds is often Grenache Its pronounced “say-PAHjuh.” A good cepage will make you “say cheese.” Corked: When a wine did too much breathing in the bottle before it was open when the actual cork made of tree bark was tainted by an airborne fungus and a chlorine molecule that then ruins the wine Take it back to the store where you bought it Cuvée: Most of the time it means a specific blend or batch Sometime it means nothing more than you are going to pay extra for this wine because we put “cuvée” on the label You pour it from the bottle into a bigger container Or you pour it through a napkin like the butler in “Downton Abbey.” Most wines don’t want or need you to do this And how you will look if you drink as much as I do Fortified: They put extra booze in your wine It’s for booziness and preservation as much as for flavor Fruity: It’s the same as the normal English meaning but it’s different than sweet It’s less about tasting sugar and more about imagining what fruits you taste in the wine even though the wine is only made with grapes most wine snobs never say that wine tastes like grapes Grand Cru: This one can be really confusing because it has some official meanings in certain parts of France But basically it means a vineyard where the grapes that are grown there have the potential to make the best wine from that region this one usually is worth the extra dollars they are going to charge you Green: Contrary to white wine (which is often yellow) red wine (which is often purple) and orange wine green means a wine made from grapes harvested too young or maybe a little under ripe Green wine can often be described as tasting “vegetal” (see next column) Jammy: When a wine is both fruity and sweet and tastes like jam Its not an overly complimentary term (like If you leave juice “on the lees” or “sur lie” it can bring interesting smells and flavors But it’s basically a fancy controlled rotting so they say it in French so it sounds nicer Legs: Ever seen the teardrop-looking droops on the sides of your glass It’s cause by surface tension (called the Maragoni Effect) I only have a certain number of words I’m allowed per column you’ll have to wait until the next Advocate publishes to see the second half of my Wine Snob Glossary Eight of the PBA’s finest arrived at Steel City Bowl & Brews in Bethlehem hoping to capture the season’s final televised PBA Tour title Marshall Kent and Jason Belmonte have put themselves in prime position to do so Players qualified for the Tour Finals as the top-eight point earners during the 2023 and 2024 PBA Tour seasons They competed in two groups based on their point totals all four players bowled two games simultaneously The left lane featured the 46-foot Johnny Petraglia oil pattern while the right lane had the 38-foot Marshall Holman pattern the third and fourth qualifiers earned the No The top two qualifiers bowled a one-game match to determine the No then defeated Bill O’Neill in the seeding match to earn the top seed for tomorrow’s stepladder Jason Belmonte qualified second behind Anthony Simonsen but bounced back to win the seeding match and claim Group 2’s top seed Marshall Kent made among the quickest worst-to-first comeback in sports The two-time 2024 champion shot 178 in Game 2 but rebounded with an empathic 269 to top Group 1 over O’Neill O’Neill finished just two pins behind with a 445 total pinfall followed by Tackett’s 429 and Butturff’s 410 Tackett summarized his own frustration as his final shot on the right lane Butturff bookended Game 1 with open frames to shoot 190 Though he made up ground with 220 in Game 2 he was unable to climb out of Group 1’s cellar Kent continued his torrid pace into the seeding match torching O’Neill 248-186 and earning the top seed “I guess I’ve just got a flair for the dramatic,” Kent said during the show “I just started throwing good shots and fortunate enough for me I finally committed to a ball that I thought was going to work and just executed Although Simonsen cruised to the top qualifying position Belmonte emerged with the top seed from the all-two-handed Group 2 Simonsen fired 484 for his two games to lead Belmonte’s 441 Belmonte defeated Hanrahan in a one-ball roll-off with a strike to advance to face Simonsen a couple shots that did not carry turned into frustration and two splits for Simonsen Belmonte fired the front-eight and teased the raucous crowd with the potential of his fourth televised perfect game Belmonte earned the top seed with a 274-214 victory followed by Hanrahan and defending Tour Finals champion Troup Belmonte spent the weeks prior to the Tour Finals back home in Australia Though he was disappointed to miss his son Bowie’s third birthday today he said he is appreciative of the time home it makes a huge difference psychologically and physically for me,” Belmonte said “Anytime I get that opportunity moving forward in my career to head home The Group 1 and 2 stepladders will begin at 2 p.m The winner of each stepladder will compete in the championship at 6 p.m The final match of each group stepladder and championship match will feature the Race-to-Two format “The good news is if you're a little lost coming into the pair and the seed below you feels very comfortable you do have that extra game to hang on,” Belmonte said I've won plenty of times from the first seed and if I win the first game tomorrow I will very much wish it was only one game.”