Tucson’s Bryanna Coté naturally felt so many emotions when she won the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open bowling championship — her first major win on the PWBA Tour — last month.
Near the top of list: the phone call she would have made — the first call she used to make after each win. That would have been to her grandfather, Ray Munguia. He taught her how to bowl.
“There’s so many emotions that came,” Coté said, “but I think the first emotion that came over me was relief that I finally won a major tournament and obviously joy and happiness but also a little bit sad because I lost my grandfather in December.
“He absolutely would have loved to see that happen.”
Tucson native Bryanna Coté wins professional bowling's 2023 U.S. Women's Open on June 21, 2023 at ABC Gates Bowl in Gates, N.Y. The win marked the first career major title for Coté, 37. Video courtesy Patrick Martinez/United States Bowling Congress
The Canyon del Oro High School graduate secured the win by beating Colombia’s Clara Guerrero, 153-142 in the championship, a televised match broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network.
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“It was a tough match. There was a lot on the line and a lot of nerves happening for myself as well as Clara,” Coté said. “I think going into the 10th frame knowing that I was in control of my own destiny, I was kinda like ‘alright, it’s go big or go home time,’ you know?
“It’s lay it out all on the line and if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be (laughs).”
The U.S. Women’s Open in Gates, New York, featured 108 competitors vying for the winner’s spoils. That includes a green jacket, the championship trophy and the $60,000 first-place check.
Coté, née Caldwell, is also the reigning International Bowling Federation World Cup women’s singles champion and a 12-time gold medalist for Team USA.
In 2021 she was named the Professional Women’s Bowling Association’s Player of the Year.
That accolade came as a surprise to her even though she had a late run that year.
Bryanna Coté, a Tucson native and alumna of Canyon del Oro High School, shares her U.S. Women’s Open trophy with the crowd at ABC Gates Bowl in Gates, N.Y., after securing her first-career major championship victory as part of the Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour on June 20.
“I thought I would win a major tournament before I won player of the year so I think winning player of the year just kinda solidified that ‘yes, I can win a major, I’m a great enough player to do it,” Coté said. “It’s just a matter of when.”
Coté turned professional when the PWBA relaunched in 2015, and her game has improved as she got used to the challenges of professional bowling. That includes being away from home for weeks at a time.
“The last three years I’ve been very fortunate I’ve had a lot of success,” Coté said.
The open win is her fifth on the PWBA Tour.
Bryanna Coté, a Tucson native and alumna of Canyon del Oro High School, poses with the U.S. Women’s Open trophy after securing her first-career major championship victory as part of the Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour on June 20 at ABC Gates Bowl in Gates, N.Y.
She has also won the PWBA Lexington Open, in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2016; the PWBA ITRC Classic in Arlington, Texas, in 2021; and the PWBA BVL Classic in Rockville Centre, New York and the PWBA Dallas Classic in 2022.
“It’s very tough. The talent level is just amazing,” Coté said. “We have women from all over the world competing, and last year, I was the only player to win multiple times, which was hard to do.
“To say that only one person won twice was hard and kinda the same thing’s happened this year: Only one player has won multiple times this year. So every week we’re almost crowning a new champion because that’s just how difficult they are.”
Coté has played for Team USA for eight years and was on Junior Team USA for two.
In college, she was the first bowler in NCAA history in any division to win National TenPins Coaches Association Player of the Year four consecutive seasons (2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008), and in 2015 she was inducted into Central Missouri’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Here in Tucson, Coté used to bowl at the revered Golden Pins Lanes before it was torn down in 2019.
Now Fiesta Lanes on River Road is her home center. She’s not able to come home much during the summer, but she does compete in league bowling on Tuesdays and Fridays during the fall.
“So I’m there pretty frequently,” Coté said.
Professional bowler Bryanna Coté practices at Tucson’s Golden Pin Lanes back in 2019 before a tournament. Since the alley closed, Coté, who now has a PWBA Player of the Year award and, most recently, U.S. Women’s Open major championship on her pro resumé, now bowls out of Fiesta Lanes when she’s in Southern Arizona in the offseason.
The league games provide her a chance to relax after the grueling professional season from May to August.
“I still like to bowl league and hang out with friends and family that I get to bowl with and just be a league bowler at times,” Coté said. “Just to kinda have fun and not really focus on the professional side just do it because it’s something that I love to do.”
The next PWBA event is the PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles on July 27-30 in Houston. The event will be livestreamed via bowltv.com.
Professional bowler Bryanna Coté had a banner hanging at Tucson’s Golden Pin Lanes in honor of her winning her first national title in 2016. Since Golden Pin closed, Coté, who now has a PWBA Player of the Year award and, most recently, U.S. Women’s Open major championship on her pro resumé, now bowls out of Fiesta Lanes when she’s in Southern Arizona in the offseason.
Bryanna Coté, a Tucson native and alumna of Canyon del Oro High School, competes in the U.S. Women’s Open on June 20 at ABC Gates Bowl in Gates, N.Y. Coté would win that day, securing her first-career major championship victory as part of the Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour — an honor that seemingly goes right alongside her 2021 PWBA Player of the Year award.
Bryanna Coté, a Tucson native and alumna of Canyon del Oro High School, competes in the U.S. Women’s Open on June 20 at ABC Gates Bowl in Gates, N.Y. Coté would win that day, securing her first-career major championship victory as part of the Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour — an honor that seemingly goes right alongside her 2021 PWBA Player of the Year award.
Bryanna Coté, a Tucson native and alumna of Canyon del Oro High School, poses with the U.S. Women’s Open trophy after securing her first-career major championship victory as part of the Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour on June 20, 2023, at ABC Gates Bowl in Gates, N.Y.
