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March was a ridiculously busy month for tournament pinball, and if our last edition of The Score Card wasn't proof of that enough, we're here with another packed recap of more competitive craziness from the past few weeks. In this edition, we're jumping between the premier pinball convention in Texas, a brand new tournament on the 2026 Stern Pro Circuit held at a world-class arcade, and capping things off with the climactic IFPA Women's North American Pinball Championship and World Championship. There's a lot to cover here, so let's take a look back at all the big wins of March as the 2026 competitive pinball season continues to truck on.
The next stop on the Stern Pro Circuit in March was at the 2026 Texas Pinball Festival, an attendee-favorite event for both competitive and casual play. In addition to the sprawling show floor with over 400 machines to enjoy, TPF also hosted a handful of tournaments, with the Texas Wizards Tournament acting as the main course. Qualifying for the Texas Wizards Tournament saw over 160 players competing in 20 matches of group Match Play, with the top 32 qualifiers moving on to A Division finals, and the next top 8 occupying B Division.
All the action was broadcast live on Twitch by CarpoolPinball, with replays available to watch on their YouTube channel. The roster of finalists included some familiar names for anyone who has kept up with The Score Card, including Eric Stone, Steven Bowden, Nick Mueller, Steve Strom, and several more. Over the course of the first three rounds of finals, the pack grew thinner and thinner, leaving four finalists: Nick Mueller, Tim Hansen, Steven Bowden, and Jack Revnew.
Spider-Man (Stern, 2007) was the first match of the three-game grand finals, and everyone had time to get comfy over the course of this hour-long battle. While Nick and Jack struggled early, Steven Bowden and Tim went to war, with Steven putting up over 100 million points by ball 3. Not to be defeated so easily, though, Tim fought back with a huge ball 3 of his own, scoring over 130 million points and grabbing the win. However, in the second match on King Kong: Myth of Terror Island (Stern, 2026), the script was flipped, as Nick and Jack put up hundreds of millions of points while Steven and Tim trailed behind. Ultimately, Jack blew past the rest of the group and earned his win with over 700 million points, most of which were scored on the first ball.
Pulling into the final match, Tim and Jack led the pack in total points, but there was still hope for Steven and Nick, making the last game of Panthera (Gottlieb, 1980) a stressful, all-or-nothing endeavor. Relying on his skill with classic machines, Jack played a solid first two balls and scored over 330,000 points, and while Steven came close to catching his score, it was ultimately not enough. Wrapping up the tournament with a ball 3 walk-off, Jack secured his Stern Pro Circuit win, clinching the series in style.
A Division – Jack Revnew (The Woodlands, TX)
B Division – Dale Geiger (Virginia)
Novice Division – Susie Sprankle (Wichita, KS)
Women's Texas Takedown – Emily Cosson (Brisbane, QLD)
One weekend later, the Stern Pro Circuit continued with a brand new tournament: the Steel Valley Spring Mega Match Play. Held in Girard, Ohio, at the world-class Past Times Arcade, over 140 players competed in 20 rounds of pinball action, spread across a bank of 45 games, ranging from rare classics like Cosmic Princess (Stern, 1979) to modern favorites like Pulp Fiction (Chicago Gaming Company, 2023). Out of the 140 players, the top 32 qualifiers progressed to A Division, while the next top 16 went to B Division, and the top 8 novice players occupied C Division.
The entire event was streamed live on Twitch by YpsiPinball, and with a stacked roster of players that included some of the world's finest, making it to the playoffs was a tough task. While I was lucky enough to attend, I did not play my best and failed to qualify, but this gave me more than enough time to enjoy the finals. After four rounds of playoffs, four finalists emerged: Sterling Mitoska, Jason Werdrick, Tim Breidenstein, and Jared Schmidt. With Sterling as the top seed, he got to pick his favorite games for the best-of-three grand finals, leading to an amazing showcase of skill.
In Game 1, Banzai Run (Williams, 1988), Tim and Jared got off to a great start while Jason struggled, but no one was able to catch Sterling, who soared ahead with over 1 million points by ball 2, picking up his first win. Game 2 was on another Sterling specialty, Jim Henson's Labyrinth (Barrels of Fun, 2023), but it was a scuffed game, to say the least. Sterling started strong on ball 1 with a few million points, but Tim and Jason soon caught up and surpassed him by ball 2, forcing him to lock in on ball 3 in a big way. Despite a game malfunction that cost him his Brick Keeper Multiball, Sterling persisted and wound up with 18 million points total, enough to push him past his competitors and earn another victory.
Thanks to his back-to-back wins, Sterling had enough total points to secure the overall tournament victory (and his first Stern Pro Circuit win) without needing to play Game 3, as the other players were tied at 2 points each, leaving no mathematical path to a first-place finish. So, the final match on a particularly brutal Paragon (Bally, 1979) was a fight for second place. While Sterling continued to excel and secured a sweep with impressive play, all eyes were on Tim, Jason, and Jared, as their play on Paragon would ultimately decide their final placement. While Jared and Jason had a respectable start, Tim had terrible luck on his first two balls, but that all changed on ball 3. Starting with just 15,000 points, Tim locked in, ripping spinners and obtaining bonus multipliers all the way up, ending his final ball with just over 250,000 points. Though Jason came close with 200,000 points of his own, it was not enough to catch Tim, giving him the overall second-place finish.
A Division – Sterling Mitoska (Brooklyn, MI)
B Division – Brian Dye (Morgantown, WV)
C Division – Kevin Alburger (Warren, PA)
In the February edition of The Score Card, we covered the IFPA State/Provincial Championships, where the best players from each state/province competed in head-to-head matches to determine one rightful winner. In addition to the main, overarching IFPA State/Provincial Championships, the Women's division also held its own separate State/Provincial competitions, with the 50+ winners of those tournaments earning a spot to compete in the 2025-26 IFPA Women's North American Championship. Held at Lyon's Classic Pinball in Lyons, Colorado, this year marked the third annual Women's North American Championship, and with packed attendance, it was a clear indication of the continued growth of women's competitive pinball.
Similar to the States/Provincial competitions, the IFPA Women's Nationals tournament consisted of a sprawling, head-to-head bracket of the best players on the continent, with each match-up being a best-of-seven affair. The dramatic matches were streamed live on Twitch by LyonsClassicPinball, providing a clean broadcast with top-tier commentary throughout the competition. During the first five rounds of playoffs, several players cut through the pack, including Ashley Weaver, Emily Reilhan, Kassidy Milanowski, and Paige Peck. These four finally met in the semifinals, as Emily eliminated Ashley with a strong 4-1 finish, while Kassidy battled Paige in a 3-4 series, with Paige advancing after a close game of Medieval Madness (Williams, 1997). This set the stage for the grand finals match to declare the 2025-26 IFPA Women's North American Champion: Utah's Paige Peck vs British Columbia's Emily Reilhan.
Game 1 of the set was on Dialed In! (Jersey Jack, 2017), where Emily got off to a roaring start on ball 1, scoring enough points to carry her through the rest of the game for her first win. In Game 2, The Walking Dead (Stern, 2014), both players struggled to get a handle on the machine, but Emily picked up some points in Prison Multiball, enough to earn another win. This led to an immensely close Game 3 on El Dorado (Gottlieb, 1975), where both players nearly rolled the score, but Paige persisted and picked up the win with 89,000 points to Emily's 87,000. Emily answered back in a big way on Game 4, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (Bally, 1976), rolling the score with 126,000 points, far surpassing Paige's score of 30,000 to pick up another win. With the series at 3-1 and match point for Emily, the pressure was on for Game 5, White Water (Williams, 1993). Both players played their hearts out, but ultimately, Emily outscored Paige with 50 million points to 15 million, wrapping up the series at 4-1 and making Emily Reilhan the 2025-26 Women's North American Champion (plus the first Canadian player to win the title).
Women's North American Pinball Champion – Emily Reilhan (Port Moody, BC)
Second Place – Paige Peck (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Third Place – Ashley Weaver (Renton, WA)
Fourth Place – Kassidy Milanowski (Appleton, WI)
Following the IFPA Women's North American Championship, Lyon's Classic Pinball also hosted the 2026 IFPA Women's World Pinball Championship, once again drawing the best players into one tournament to determine the overall international women's pinball champ. This tournament was slightly different from the North American Championship, as it consisted of both qualifying and playoffs. In order to advance, 32 players competed in 8 rounds of four-player, three-game Match Play, with the top 16 making their way to playoffs.
2026 Women's World Championship bracket
Following three rounds of best-of-seven head-to-head playoffs, four familiar finalists earned a shot at the World Championship title: Emily Reilhan, Ashley Weaver, Samantha Bacon, and Kaylee Campbell. In the semifinal round, Emily Reilhan defeated Kaylee Campbell in a 4-0 sweep, while Ashley Weaver bested Samantha Bacon with a 4-0 sweep of her own. Obviously locked in and playing at the top of their game, Emily and Ashley met for another face-off, their second head-to-head series of the weekend after their semifinals match during the Women's North American Championship.
Game 1 of the grand finals commenced with an absolute classic, Alien Star (Gottlieb, 1984), where both players consistently pulled off shatz passes and spinner rips, but Emily edged ahead and picked up her first win with a ball 3 walk-off. Both players tore into Game 2, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (Bally, 1976), and while both rolled the score with over 100,000 points, Ashley squeaked out an extra 10,000 points, picking up her first win and tying the set at 1-1. In Game 3, F-14 Tomcat (Williams, 1987), Ashley started off strong while Emily struggled to get a handle on the machine, but come ball 3, Emily answered back with controlled multiball play to pick up another win. Game 4, Congo (Williams, 1995), was a war of attrition, as both players scored roughly 100 million points per ball. However, Emily was once again able to pull ahead on ball 3, winning the game with 300 million points to Ashley's 250 million, setting the series at 3-1.
Now on match point for Emily, the pair moved onto TRON: Legacy (Stern, 2011) for Game 5. Despite the pressure, Ashley held on strong and scored 10 million points, enough to best Emily, who wound up in the outlanes rather quickly on all three balls. With the series at 3-2, Game 6 on The Walking Dead (Stern, 2014) was a punishing arena for this exceptionally high-stakes match. On ball 1, Ashley pulled ahead with decent progress while Emily suffered an early drain. However, the tables were turned on ball 2, as Ashley drained off the prison doors early, but Emily stacked a mode and a multiball, pushing her score over 30 million points. Though Ashley started Prison Multiball and ripped a few jackpots, it was not enough to catch Emily's score, wrapping up the series at 4-2 and making Emily Reilhan the 2026 Women's World Pinball Champion. This represents a hell of a run for Emily, having won three Women's championships in the span of a couple of months, including the Canadian Women's Championship, the North American Championship, and finally, the overall World Championship.
Women's World Pinball Champion – Emily Reilhan (Port Moody, BC)
Second Place – Ashley Weaver (Renton, WA)
Third Place – Kaylee Campbell (Charlotte, NC)
Fourth Place – Samantha Bacon (Wake Forest, NC)
As the weather warms up, the schedule of pinball events stays stacked, offering countless opportunities for competitive play. The Stern Pro Circuit continues in April with the Silverball Rumble at Pintastic New England Expo, followed by the Pinball at the Zoo convention in Kalamazoo, MI, then wrapping up the month's competition with a new SPC tournament, the Mid-Atlantic Pinball Open at the Delaware Pinball Collective. Of course, there's plenty of other non-Stern Pro Circuit tournaments to attend, including a long list of IFPA Certified and IFPA-sanctioned events. Many locations are also hosting their Stern Pokémon Pinball launch parties, so be sure to check your local arcade/pinball parlor for more information.
In addition to Pintastic and Pinball at the Zoo, several other big-name conventions are set for the upcoming weeks, including PinBrew Festival (now at The Church Arcade near Pittsburgh, PA), the Spring Ann Arbor VFW Pinball Show in Ann Arbor, MI, Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee, WI, and more. For a list of other pinball tournaments and conventions, check out the Pinside Pinball Events calendar. If you're in the mood for a weekly pinball outing with competitive flavor, I also highly recommend checking the IFPA League page, as many Summer leagues are set to begin over the coming months. As you can see, tournament pinball rarely slows down, so we'll be back next month for another edition of The Score Card. In the meantime, get out there and flip!
Matt Owen is a lifelong gamer and overall media fiend. He can often be found playing endless hours of games or watching an absurd amount of movies and television: action, horror, mystery, and sci-fi in particular. When he's not bingeing entertainment media, Matt enjoys reading and writing fiction, playing pinball, broadcasting, and attempting to cook.
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