“The talent in the field is just astronomical,” Coté said. “It’s a hard tournament to win and one of the few where it is just total pinfall wins.”
Via and Coté were in the middle of the pack, in 22nd place, when the field was cut to the top 40 after seven games of qualifying.
“Then I decided to strike a bunch,” Via said with a smile. “I had one of those blocks where everything was going my way.”
Via opened the four-game block with a three-game 826 series, including his second 300 game of the tournament helping the duo climb to third place as the field was cut to the top 12. Round robin match play posed no problems for Via and Coté as the eventual champions went 10-2 in head-to-head matches.
Via and Coté took the lead after Game 3 of match play and never gave it up. The duo built a commanding 260-pin lead heading into their final match as they finished as the top male and female bowlers as far as pinfall through 23 games.
“It’s awesome to win here,” said Via. “It’s a special one as this event is so hard to win because you have to have both bowlers bowling really well at the same time. Bryanna did phenomenal, she never wants to back down from anything so it’s really easy to give her an idea, she’ll commit to it and make the best shot possible.”
The win marked Coté’s sixth PWBA title and a long-awaited second PBA title for Via who won the 2021 U.S. Open.
“The ordeal with winning a (PBA) title is that once you have one, everyone wants to get a second one – you don’t want to be the guy who only gets it one time,” Via said. “I think it’s a relief and a confidence boost to win again – it wasn’t a fluke.”
The title was meaningful, but so too is the cause. This marked the 25th anniversary for the tournament that has raised more than $1 million in the fight against breast cancer since 2000. Via donated both his $300 checks for the two perfect games back to the charity tournament.
“(Chris and I) have said so many times that bowling and winning this event is great, but what we’re really here for is the breast cancer cause,” Coté said. “That’s really why we all show up and show up every year.”
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