Sean Rash

Sean Rash - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Sean Rash

Sean Rash (born August 22, 1982) is an American professional ten-pin bowler who has been one of the top players on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. He currently owns 18 PBA Tour 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 event. Canadian François Lavoie, American Chris Via, and Australian Jason Belmonte have since joined Rash in this exclusive club. Rash has also been on the losing end of four televised 300 games, more than any other player. He owns ten PBA Regional Tour titles.

This profile of Sean Rash covers Before the PBA, Early Life and Family Background, 2011–12: PBA Player of the Year, 2012–13: International success and 2014: First televised 300 game.

In January 2024, Rash was elected to the USBC Hall of Fame (Superior Performance category). He was officially inducted on April 24, 2024. On January 31, 2025, Rash was voted into the PBA Hall of Fame, and was notified via a surprise announcement from PBA Commissioner Tom Clark at a pro-am event for the PBA Owens Illinois Classic. He was officially inducted with the 2025 class at a ceremony during the PBA Tournament of Champions in April, 2025. In December 2025, Rash was voted into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame as a 2026 inductee.

In January 2020, Rash became a member of the 900 Global pro staff, after being previously sponsored by Brunswick for 17 years. Rash was briefly sponsored by MOTIV Bowling in the summer of 2025, but signed with SWAG Bowling in 2026. In August 2026, SWAG and Rash announced the Virtue, Rash's first-ever signature bowling ball. He is also sponsored by JoPo Grips, Dexter shoes and BowlersMart.com.

Before the PBA of Sean Rash

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 was in its 18th year as of 2012, and has awarded nearly $25,000 in scholarship money over the years.

Early Life and Family Background of Sean Rash

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 (TQR), which he accomplished in his rookie season at the 2006 West Virginia Championship. Rash caused a minor controversy during his 256–236 semifinal victory over Danny Wiseman in the 2006 Beltway Classic in Baltimore. After throwing a match-clinching strike in the 11th frame, Rash approached the crowd at the left side of the approach and yelled, "Who's your hometown fan, now?" seemingly in reference to Wiseman, a Baltimore native. Rash later minimized his outburst, telling The Baltimore Sun in 2007, "The media and everybody took it and twisted it the wrong way. Danny knew exactly what I meant. I was trying to get his fans to cheer me on in the next match." Rash went on to win the next match and the title.

Rash won his first PBA major title at the 2007 USBC Masters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The win gave him 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). The streak ended when Rash lost to Norm Duke in the semifinal match of the 2008–09 season-opening PBA World Championship.

2011–12: PBA Player of the Year

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 (Rash received 29% of the vote to Jason Belmonte's 26.6%).

2012–13: International success

Rash 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. He 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 eighth PBA title.

2015: Second televised 300 game

On February 15, 2015, Rash bowled a 300 game on ESPN while competing in the Barbasol Tournament of Champions in Indianapolis, Indiana, the 25th time a perfect game had been bowled in a televised PBA event. This, combined with his June 2014 perfect game, made him the first player in PBA history to have bowled two televised perfect games in PBA Tour events. He did not, but 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, 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.

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, defeating reigning PBA Player of the Year E. J. Tackett 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.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Rash), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.