Sean Rash


Sean Rash is a right-handed ten-pin bowler originally from Anchorage, Alaska, and is considered one of the top players on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour. He currently owns 15 PBA titles, including two major championships, and was the. Rash has rolled two of his 30 career PBA perfect 300 games on television, making him the only player in history with multiple perfect games in the TV finals of a PBA Tour event. He also owns ten PBA Regional Tour titles. He 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:
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

Rash joined the PBA Tour in 2005. He holds the distinction of being the first PBA player to ever win a title when starting from the Tour Qualifying Round, which he accomplished in his rookie season at the. He won his first PBA major title at the 2007 USBC Masters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The win gave Rash four titles in his first four television appearances, and seven straight match wins on TV to open his career. The streak ended when Rash lost to Norm Duke in the semi-final match of the 2008–09 season-opening PBA World Championship. Rash won the 2012 PBA Tournament of Champions 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 PBA Player of the Year award in an extremely close vote.
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, but this did not count as a PBA title. Sean was the top money winner on Tour for the, with earnings of $248,317.
In the finals of the PBA Wolf Open on May 24, 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.
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 and stands at over $1.25 million in earnings through 2018. He has accumulated 28 perfect 300 games in PBA events to date.
Rash won his 10th PBA title at the PBA Fall Swing Badger Open on September 10, 2016 in Allen Park, Michigan, defeating #1 qualifier Wes Malott 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.
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, defeating reigning PBA Player of the Year E. J. Tackett in the final match.
On January 13, 2019, Rash won his 13th PBA title, teaming with partner Matt Ogle to take the top prize in the Roth-Holman 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 in his first match, then rolled back-to-back 257 games against #2 qualifier Norm Duke and top seed Anthony Simonsen 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.
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. 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.

PBA Titles

Major titles in boldface.
1. 2005–06 West Virginia Open
2. 2006–07 Beltway Classic
3. 2006–07 Earl Anthony Medford Classic
4. 2007–08 USBC Masters
5. 2011–12 PBA Tournament of Champions
6. 2012–13 WBT Kuwait Open
7. 2012–13 WBT Thailand Open
8. 2014 PBA Wolf Open
9. 2015 PBA Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest Open
10. 2016 PBA Badger Open
11. 2016 PBA Detroit Open
12. 2017 Storm Xtra Frame Gene Carter's Pro Shop Classic
13. 2019 Roth-Holman PBA Doubles Championship w/Matt Ogle
14. 2019 FloBowling PBA Wolf Open
15. 2020 PBA Oklahoma Open

Career statistics

Statistics are through the last complete PBA season.
SeasonEventsCashesMatch PlayCRA+PBA TitlesAverageEarnings
2005–061912411214.2555,655
2006–0720201222221.2991,500
2007–0821201311217.96151,500
2008–0921211430218.1067,090
2009–1019161030217.6054,110
2010–111210720217.8164,930
2011–1213121071228.13140,250
2012–1330221172227.36248,317
20142017631221.4094,884
201526191131225.16101,690
201627181132219.3674,555
20172218521221.6574,787
201830191010215.2644,222
201931231372218.41145,968

+ CRA=Championship Round Appearances

Personal

Rash now resides in Montgomery, Illinois with his wife Sara and their daughters Kaylee and Olivia. The couple is expecting their third daughter in July, 2020.