Sean Rash (born August 22, 1982) is an American ten-pin bowler who is considered one of the top players on the
Professional Bowlers Association
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the PBA membership consists of over 3,000 members worldwide. Member ...
(PBA) Tour. He currently owns 17
PBA Tour
The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional profess ...
titles, including two major championships, and was the
2011–12 PBA Player of the Year. Rash has rolled two of his 30 career PBA
perfect 300 games on television, making him the first player in history with multiple perfect games in the TV finals of a
PBA Tour
The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional profess ...
event.
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
François Lavoie and American
Chris Via, and Australian
Jason Belmonte
Jason Belmonte (born 29 July 1983) is an Australian professional ten-pin bowler. He plays on the PBA Tour in the United States and in world events. He is known for being one of the first bowlers to gain media attention for using the two-hand ...
have since joined Rash in this exclusive club. Sean also owns ten
PBA Regional Tour titles.
As of January 2020, Rash is a member of the
900 Global and Vise Grips pro staffs, being previously sponsored by
Brunswick for 17 years.
Before the PBA
Sean Rash was a highly accomplished bowler before turning pro. His amateur accomplishments included:
* Junior Team USA member in 1998, 2002 and 2003.
* Team USA member in 2002, 2004 and 2005. Was part of the 2004 team that won the World Tenpin Team Cup in
The Netherlands
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.
* Two-time All-American at
Wichita State University
Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...
(2002 and 2003).
* Won the 2003 International Bowling Congress (IBC) National Championship, and was runner-up for IBC Bowler of the Year.
* Won the 2003 USBC Doubles Championship, where he and partner Derek Sapp established an all-time record for pinfall with 1,540 over six games (later broken in 2007 by Jonathan Masur and Jeffrey Butler shooting a 1,544).
* Bowled as an amateur in the 2003
USBC Masters, his first-ever PBA Tour event, and finished seventh.
Rash also started a tournament in his native Alaska when he was just 13 years old. Frustrated by a lack of scratch tournaments for junior bowlers, he started his own: Sean Rash Stars of the Future. The tournament is in its 18th year as of 2012, and has awarded nearly $25,000 in scholarship money over the years.
PBA career
Early years
![US Army 52330 Professional bowlers gives expert advice to Area 1 Warriors](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/US_Army_52330_Professional_bowlers_gives_expert_advice_to_Area_1_Warriors.jpg)
Rash joined the
PBA Tour
The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional profess ...
in 2005. He holds the distinction of being the first PBA player to ever win a title when starting from the Tour Qualifying Round (TQR), which he accomplished in his rookie season at the
2006 West Virginia Championship. He won his first PBA major title at the 2007
USBC Masters in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
. The win gave Rash four titles in his first four television appearances, and seven straight match wins on TV to open his career (one short of the record eight wins set by
George Branham III
George Branham III (born November 21, 1962) is a professional ten-pin bowler and former member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He began his career in 1984 and retired at the end of the 2003 season. His career is most noted because h ...
). The streak ended when Rash lost to
Norm Duke
Norm Duke (born March 25, 1964) is an American professional bowler currently competing on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour and the PBA50 Tour. He has won 40 titles on the PBA Tour, including seven major championships, and another ...
in the semi-final match of the 2008–09 season-opening
PBA World Championship The PBA World Championship is one of five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) bowling events. It is one of three PBA Tour major events that are open only to PBA members. (The U.S. Open and USBC Masters allow qualifying amateurs to enter.) ...
.
2011–12: PBA Player of the Year
Rash won the 2012
PBA Tournament of Champions The PBA Tournament of Champions is one of the five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) bowling events. It is an invitational event and the only PBA Tour major that does not have any open field. All participants must meet qualifications to b ...
for his first championship in five years, and second major title overall. Qualifying as the #1 seed, Rash beat
Ryan Ciminelli in the final match 239–205. Rash led the 2011–12 PBA Tour in average, earnings and points. On May 28, 2012, the PBA announced that Rash had won the 2012
Chris Schenkel
Christopher Eugene Schenkel (August 21, 1923 – September 11, 2005) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and bar ...
PBA Player of the Year award in an extremely close vote (Rash received 29% of the vote to
Jason Belmonte
Jason Belmonte (born 29 July 1983) is an Australian professional ten-pin bowler. He plays on the PBA Tour in the United States and in world events. He is known for being one of the first bowlers to gain media attention for using the two hand ...
's 26.6%).
2012–13: International success
Sean won his sixth and seventh PBA Tour titles in the 2012–13 season, in the WBT Kuwait Open and WBT Thailand Open. He later won an additional $20,000 in the World Bowling Tour finals (contested at the 2013 World Series of Bowling), but this did not count as a PBA title. Sean was the top money winner on Tour for the
2012–13 season, with earnings of $248,317.
2014: First televised 300 game
In the finals of the PBA Wolf Open on May 24, 2014 (broadcast nationally on June 3, 2014), Sean rolled the PBA's 23rd televised 300 game in the opening match. He went on to win the tournament for his 8th PBA title.
2015: Second televised 300 game
On February 15, 2015 Sean bowled a on ESPN while competing in the Barbasol Tournament of Champions in Indianapolis, Indiana, the 25th time a perfect game has been bowled in a televised PBA event. This, combined with his June 2014 perfect game, made him the only player in PBA history to have bowled two televised perfect games in PBA Tour events. He did not, however, go on to win the tournament. On October 11, 2015, Rash bowled from the #1 seed position and defeated Hall of Famer
Pete Weber in a single-game final to win the PBA Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest Open for his ninth PBA title.
Sean passed the $1 million mark in career PBA earnings during the 2015 season.
2016: 10-title plateau
Rash won his 10th PBA title at the PBA Fall Swing Badger Open on September 10, 2016 in
Allen Park, Michigan
Allen Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 28,638.
Ford Motor Company is an integral part of the community. Many of the company's offices and facilities lie within the city limit ...
, defeating #1 qualifier
Wes Malott
Wes or WES may refer to:
* Westmorland, county in England, Chapman code
__NOTOC__ People and fictional characters
* Wes (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Wes Madiko (1964–2021), Cameroonian musici ...
in the final match. One day later, Rash won his 11th title in the PBA Detroit Open, defeating top seed Jason Belmonte in the final match.
2017
As one of the top eight money leaders from the start of the 2015 season through the 2017
USBC Masters, Rash was invited to participate in the inaugural Main Event PBA Tour Finals in May, 2017. He placed sixth in the event. On August 20, 2017, Rash won his 12th PBA Tour title at the Xtra Frame Gene Carter's Pro Shop Classic in
Middletown, Delaware
Middletown is a town in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the town is 18,871.
Geography and climate
Middletown is located at (39.4495560, –75.7163207) with an elevation of .
According t ...
, defeating reigning PBA Player of the Year
E. J. Tackett
Edward Dean Tackett Jr. (born August 7, 1992) is an American professional ten-pin bowler from Huntington, Indiana, now residing in Bluffton, Indiana. A member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 2012, Tackett has won 19 PBA Tour ...
in the final match.
2018
Rash endured his most difficult season to date in 2018, advancing to match play in only 10 of 30 events and making only one championship round appearance.
2019
On January 13, 2019, Rash won his 13th PBA title, teaming with partner Matt Ogle to take the top prize in the
Roth-
Holman Holman may refer to:
People
* Holman (surname), including people with the name
* Holman (given name), a list of people with the name
Places United States
* Holman, Missouri, a former town
* Holman, Texas, a settlement
* Holman, Washington, a s ...
PBA Doubles Championship. Rash qualified as the #6 seed for the inaugural
PBA Tour Playoffs. He made it to the Final Four on June 1, but lost in the semifinal to
Bill O'Neill. Rash won his second title of 2019 and 14th overall on August 27 at the PBA Wolf Open. Qualifying as the #3 seed, Rash defeated
Kyle Troup
Kyle Troup (born June 11, 1991) is an American professional ten-pin bowler residing in Taylorsville, North Carolina. He uses the two-handed shovel-style delivery with a dominant right hand. Troup says he needed two hands when learning to throw ...
in his first match, then rolled back-to-back 257 games against #2 qualifier
Norm Duke
Norm Duke (born March 25, 1964) is an American professional bowler currently competing on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour and the PBA50 Tour. He has won 40 titles on the PBA Tour, including seven major championships, and another ...
and top seed
Anthony Simonsen
Anthony Simonsen (born January 6, 1997) is an American professional ten-pin bowler from Little Elm, Texas, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has been a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 2014. Simonsen became ...
to earn the championship. Rash was also recognized as the USBC Cup champion for earning the most points during the nine-event
2019 PBA Summer Swing, which awarded him a $20,000 bonus. He qualified as the #1 seed at the 2019
U.S. Open, but finished runner-up to champion
François Lavoie. Rash also won the non-title 2019 PBA China Tiger Cup on November 21, sweeping A.J. Johnson 211–194 and 227–207 in the best-two-of-three final to take the $20,000 top prize.
2020
On January 26, 2020, Rash won his 15th PBA Tour title at the PBA Oklahoma Open. He qualified as the #5 seed for the stepladder finals and won all four matches to win the title, defeating Packy Hanrahan,
Jesper Svensson, Brad Miller, and top seed
Ryan Ciminelli.
On June 13, 2020, Rash won the PBA Summer Clash, a non-title made-for-TV event held in
Jupiter, Florida
Jupiter is the northernmost town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the town had a population of 61,047 as of April 1, 2020. It is 84 miles north of Miami, and the northernmost community in the Miami met ...
. Rash outlasted nine other competitors in the one-ball elimination tournament, surviving two sudden-death tie-breakers on his way to defeating
Bill O'Neill in the ninth and final round. On October 4, 2020, Rash won the
PBA World Series of Bowling XI Cheetah Championship held in
Centreville, Virginia
Centreville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States and a suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 73,518 as of the 2020 census. Centreville is approximately west of Washington, D.C.
History
Colonia ...
. (Qualifying rounds were held in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
in March, after which the event was postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.) As the #3 seed for the finals, he defeated Darren Tang, Packy Hanrahan, and top seed
E. J. Tackett
Edward Dean Tackett Jr. (born August 7, 1992) is an American professional ten-pin bowler from Huntington, Indiana, now residing in Bluffton, Indiana. A member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 2012, Tackett has won 19 PBA Tour ...
to claim his 16th PBA Tour title. This was Rash's first title in a World Series of Bowling event after 15 previous final round appearances, which included four runner-up finishes.
Rash surpassed the $1.5 million mark in career earnings during the 2020 season. He has accumulated 30
perfect 300 games in PBA events to date (end of 2019 season).
2021
On August 22, 2021 (his 39th birthday), Rash won his 17th PBA Tour title at the PBA Chesapeake Open, defeating
Tom Daugherty
Tom Daugherty (born February 22, 1975) is a right-handed American professional ten-pin bowler residing in Riverview, Florida. He is a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), having joined in 2001. He is one of the few PBA bowlers ...
in the final match.
2022
In the opening event of the 2022 season, the
PBA Players Championship
The PBA Players Championship is one of five major tournaments on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. It is one of three PBA Tour major events that are open only to PBA members. (The U.S. Open and USBC Masters allow qualifying amateu ...
, Rash won the Midwest Region final over Matt Russo. During the final match, Rash openly questioned the "integrity" of urethane bowling ball use on the PBA Tour, due to his rather well-known disapproval of urethane bowling balls – mostly the
Purple Hammer, which has had controversy surrounding its softness. He also uttered an expletive on the live broadcast during his rant. He was fined an undisclosed amount, forced to miss one February event (later announced as the Dave Small's Best of the Best Championship), and was placed on one year probation by the PBA for "conduct unbecoming a professional". Rash went on to claim the No. 1 seed for the January 29 Players Championship finals, but fell to No. 2 seed
Jason Belmonte
Jason Belmonte (born 29 July 1983) is an Australian professional ten-pin bowler. He plays on the PBA Tour in the United States and in world events. He is known for being one of the first bowlers to gain media attention for using the two hand ...
in the final match.
PBA Titles
Major titles in boldface.
# 2005–06 West Virginia Open (
Parkersburg, WV)
# 2006–07 Beltway Classic (
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
)
# 2006–07
Earl Anthony
Earl Roderick Anthony (April 27, 1938 – August 14, 2001) was an American professional bowler who amassed records of 43 titles and six Player of the Year awards on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. For over two decades, his care ...
Medford Classic (
Medford, OR
Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the M ...
)
#
2007–08 USBC Masters (
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
)
#
2011–12 PBA Tournament of Champions (
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
,
NV)
# 2012–13 WBT Kuwait Open (
Kuwait City)
# 2012–13 WBT Thailand Open (
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
)
# 2014 PBA Wolf Open (
Shawnee, OK
Shawnee ( sac, Shânîheki) is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistica ...
)
# 2015 PBA Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest Open (
Council Bluffs, IA
Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area. It is loc ...
)
# 2016 PBA Badger Open (
Allen Park, MI)
# 2016 PBA Detroit Open (Allen Park, MI)
# 2017 Storm Xtra Frame Gene Carter's Pro Shop Classic (
Middletown, DE)
# 2019 Roth-Holman PBA Doubles Championship w/Matt Ogle (Shawnee, OK)
# 2019 FloBowling PBA Wolf Open (
Aurora, IL
Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located primarily in DuPage and Kane counties, it is the second most populous city in Illinois, af ...
)
# 2020 PBA Oklahoma Open (Shawnee, OK)
# 2020 PBA WSOB XI Cheetah Championship (Las Vegas, NV and
Centreville, VA
Centreville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States and a suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 73,518 as of the 2020 census. Centreville is approximately west of Washington, D.C.
History
Colonia ...
)
# 2021 PBA Chesapeake Open (
Chesapeake, VA
Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...
)
Career statistics
Statistics are through the last complete PBA season.
+ CRA=Championship Round Appearances
Personal
Rash was born in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
. At the age of 6 months, he and his family moved to
Anchorage, Alaska, where he would live until he was 18 years old. He then attended Wichita State University in
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...
. He now resides in
Montgomery, Illinois
Montgomery is a village in Kane and Kendall counties, Illinois. While roughly 45 miles from Chicago, it is not considered a Chicago suburb. The population was 20,262 at the 2020 census. Between 2000 and 2010 the village population grew 237 per ...
, with his wife Sara and their three daughters.
[
]
Sources
* www.pba.com, official site of the Professional Bowlers Association and Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour
* http://www.bowl.com/tournaments/usbcopen/national/records_general_records.aspx
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rash, Sean
American ten-pin bowling players
Sportspeople from Anchorage, Alaska
Sportspeople from Illinois
1982 births
Living people