Ryan Ciminelli (born March 7, 1986) is a left-handed ten-pin bowler originally from Cheektowaga, New York. Since 2007, he has competed on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. Ciminelli has won eight PBA Tour titles, including one major championship, in addition to 14 PBA Regional Tour titles. He has earned over $700,000 on Tour through the 2020 season, and has rolled 15 perfect 300 games in PBA competition. Ciminelli was runner-up for PBA Player of the Year in the 2015 season. He was given the nickname "The Ryan Express" in the 2012 Tournament of Champions TV introductions, while his DV8 bio listed the nickname "Hit Man".
Ciminelli was a pro staff member for the DV8 division of Brunswick for the first nine seasons of his career before signing a sponsorship agreement with MOTIV bowling balls on June 2, 2017. Ryan announced he had left the MOTIV pro staff on July 25, 2019. After a year as a free agent looking for a ball rep, he was re-signed by DV8. He is also sponsored by Turbo grips and Genesis kinesiology tape.
Ciminelli on the PBA Tour
Early years Ciminelli joined the PBA in 2007. From 2007 through 2009, he bowled mostly on the PBA Regional Tour. On the national Tour during this stretch, he made match play six times in 36 tournaments and failed to make the TV finals in any event.
2009–10 season 2009–10 proved to be his first productive season, as Ryan made match play in six of 17 events as a non-exempt player. He made the TV finals four times, but failed to win a title. Ciminelli finished third at the 2009 Regional Players Invitational to earn an exemption for the 2010–11 PBA Tour season.
2010–11 season Ciminelli's first PBA Tour title came at the 2011 Earl Anthony Memorial Classic in Dublin, California, where he defeated Patrick Allen in the final match, 237–215.
2011–12 season Ciminelli's win in 2011 qualified him for the 2012 PBA Tournament of Champions where he finished runner-up, losing in the final match against Sean Rash, 239–205.ToC Tournament Results at www.pba.com Despite not winning a title this season, Ryan posted his best earnings to date, taking home $64,545.
2012–13 season On November 3, 2013 (broadcast December 15, 2013), Ciminelli rose from the #3 seed and bested #1 seed Dominic Barrett, 258–203, in the title match at the PBA Chameleon Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ciminelli overwhelmed the three right-handed bowlers he faced in the TV finals, and took home $20,000 in prize money while collecting his second PBA title.Inspired Ryan Ciminelli Wins PBA Chameleon Championship for Second Tour Title Vint, Bill at pba.com on 15 November 2013. Celebrating the victory, Ciminelli kissed his bride-to-be, Chelsie, and then handed the trophy to his father, Angelo.
2014 season Ciminelli took a step backward in 2014, making match play in just two of 15 events while appearing in the TV finals only once, coming away without a title.
2015 season Ciminelli made the TV finals in the Tournament of Champions for a second time in 2015, only to have his opponent (Sean Rash) roll a 300 game against him in the opening match.
Ciminelli collected his third PBA Tour title at the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open on October 22, 2015. Qualifying as the #2 seed, Ryan defeated his boyhood idol, 52-year old Parker Bohn III, in the semifinal match, and went on to defeat #1 seed and fellow New Yorker Anthony Pepe in the finals, rolling 10 strikes en route to a convincing victory.
Seventeen days after winning his third title, Ciminelli collected his fourth title and first major championship at the 2015 Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open, held in Garland, Texas. Qualifying as the #1 seed in the grueling 56-game format, Ryan defeated Dominic Barrett in his lone TV finals match to take home the prestigious green jacket and $50,000.
At the 2015 PBA World Series of Bowling in Reno, NV, Ciminelli qualified as the #2 seed in the Rolltech PBA World Championship, but was upset in the semifinals on December 17 by eventual winner Gary Faulkner, Jr. On December 18, Ryan picked up his fifth career title in the finals of the GoBowling.com Viper Championship, defeating Thailand's Kim Bolleby, 237–201. This made Ciminelli the only player to win three titles in the 2015 season. He had his best season in earnings, by far, taking home $142,661.
In an extremely close vote, Ciminelli was runner-up to Jason Belmonte for the 2015 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year award. Ciminelli earned 43.22 percent of the vote, on the strength of three titles (one major) and a 225.37 average. Belmonte won two titles (both majors), led the PBA Tour in earnings, and barely edged Ciminelli in Tour average (225.40), getting 47.36 percent of the vote.
2016 season Ciminelli made a bid for his second PBA major title in February, 2016, but finished runner-up to Canadian Graham Fach in the PBA Players Championship. He earned his sixth career PBA Tour title at the BowlingBall.com Xtra Frame Maine Shootout on April 6, 2016. Ciminelli won his second title of 2016 and seventh overall on October 2 at the PBA Xtra Frame Parkside Lanes Open in Aurora, Illinois.
2017 season As one of the top eight money leaders from the start of the 2015 season through the 2017 USBC Masters, Ryan was invited to participate in the inaugural Main Event PBA Tour Finals in May, 2017. Ciminelli placed fifth in the event. Ciminelli made the semifinals of the 2017 PBA World Championship, getting knocked out in heartbreaking fashion. In his second match of the stepladder, he tied eventual winner Jason Belmonte 257–257, but lost 9–7 in a one-ball sudden death roll-off.
2018 season Ciminelli had a difficult 2018 season, failing to qualify for a championship round for the first time since 2008–09.
2019 season Ryan was a member of the Portland Lumberjacks team, winners of the 2019 PBA League competition. Ciminelli won his eighth PBA Tour title on August 18 at the PBA Gene Carter's Pro Shop Classic. The win came fresh off Ciminelli's suspension from the previous two PBA Tour events, which the PBA handed down for negative comments Ryan made about PBA lane oiling conditions during a bowling-related podcast.
2020 season Ciminelli’s best performance during the 2020 season came at the PBA Oklahoma Open, where he qualified as the top seed for the finals but lost the championship match to Sean Rash.
On July 6, 2020, Ciminelli announced that he was retiring from full-time competition on the PBA Tour to further pursue his career in construction management, stating he accepted a position as a commercial masonry project manager. Ryan noted he would honor his 2020 PBA League team commitment, and will still compete in limited PBA events as his schedule permits. "Hopefully, I'm not done winning on Tour," he added, "I'll just have fewer opportunities to do so."
2021 season Exactly one year after announcing his retirement from full-time PBA Tour competition, Ciminelli announced he would return to full-time touring status, stating, "Thanks to my wonder woman boss of a wife killing it in her field, I am able to get back to bowling."
2022 season Ciminelli struggled through the 2022 PBA Tour season, cashing only four times in 12 events.
2023 season Ciminelli won the 2023 PBA League Elias Cup team title with the Waco Wonders, and was named league MVP. As the team's anchor bowler (bowling the fifth and tenth frames), he struck on 23 of his 33 shots during the event.
2025 Ciminelli ranked #21 on the PBA's 2025 "Best 25 PBA Players of the Last 25 Seasons" list. The ranking was based on a points system that took into account standard titles, major titles, top-five finishes and Player of the Year awards.
World Series of Bowling Wins (2) YearChampionshipFinal scoreRunner-upEarnings ($)2013Chameleon Championship258-203 Dom Barrett20,0002015Viper Championship237-201 Kim Bolleby 20,000
Results timeline Results not in chronological order. Tournament2008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020Cheetah Championship8722823121138274445NH7317Viper Championship60211113742711Not HeldChameleon Championship9336113551551221113011NH4361Scorpion Championship78512833427993264854NH5626Shark Championship69757544Not Held4542Not Held
"T" = Tied for a place
Career PBA victories
PBA Tour titles Major titles in bold text.
2011 Earl Anthony Memorial Classic (Dublin, CA) 2013 PBA Chameleon Championship (Las Vegas, NV) 2015 PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open (Las Vegas, NV) 2015 Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open (Garland, TX) 2015 GoBowling.com PBA Viper Championship (Reno, NV) 2016 BowlingBall.com Xtra Frame Maine Shootout (Portland, ME) 2016 PBA Xtra Frame Parkside Lanes Open (Aurora, IL) 2019 PBA Gene Carter's Pro Shop Classic (Middletown, DE)
PBA non-title wins 2023 PBA Elias Cup champion w/Waco Wonders (finals MVP)
Career PBA statistics
Statistics are through the last complete PBA Tour season.
Season Events Cashes Match Play CRA+ PBA Titles Average Earnings ($) 2007–08 17 8 3 0 0 210.77 12,635 2008–09 19 11 3 0 0 207.22 15,940 2009–10 17 9 6 4 0 218.70 57,775 2010–11 12 6 3 2 1 217.91 51,350 2011–12 14 10 5 3 0 225.93 64,545 2012–13 24 16 9 3 1 218.38 57,942 2014 15 8 2 1 0 217.41 52,827 2015 19 11 9 5 3 225.37 142,661 2016 21 9 7 4 2 219.76 67,775 2017 20 10 7 3 0 218.80 74,705 2018 16 8 4 0 0 212.16 31,820 2019 22 6 4 1 1 209.95 28,905 2020 14 6 3 1 0 -- 30,700
+CRA = Championship Round Appearances
Personal Ciminelli attended Erie Community College in Williamsville, New York where he earned a degree in construction engineering and project management. He spent time as a construction laborer while refining his bowling game. He now resides in Monroe, North Carolina.
References
External links Ryan Ciminelli at the Professional Bowlers Association (archive)