VENTRY: Records falling at B-O-D

By Ed Ventry

Last Wednesday night, two local records were broken at Bowl-O-Drome. Jerry Slipko rolled games of 279, 276, and 300 for a new B-O-D house record 855 series in the Empire Auto league. The record had previously been held by co-owner Frank Pati with an 846 series rolled way back in 1989. Congratulations to Jerry on this outstanding feat.

Slipko, a NFUSBCBA past president, came within 13 pins of the all-time Niagara Falls USBC Bowling Association record. The association record for high series currently stands at 868. This was achieved by two different individuals at two different houses. First, it was Howard Wheeler Jr in ’02-’03 at Frontier Lanes and then Gary Kinyon in ’05-’06 at Rapids Bowling Center.

Slipko’s 4-man team (Casa Nova Restaurant) that includes himself, Tommy Tedesco (751), Doug Potter (645), and Chris Mazur (739) combined for a 2990 three-game 4-man scratch team total. This 4-man scratch series is a new NFUSBC Bowling Association record and will be indicated as such on the association website (nfmba.com).

• Bowl-O-Drome is proud to announce that the Niagara Falls Teen Experience Sport Shot League is now sponsored by Ebonite. Ebonite donated three “GameBreaker” bowling balls to be awarded to the league champion, the league high average, and league high series. These prizes are in addition to the scholarship money that every bowler will receive at the end of each season, based on final standings.

For the first four weeks of competition, local teens had the opportunity to tackle the modified PBA “Chameleon” sport pattern. The Chameleon is a medium-long pattern that usually results in lower scoring. After the completion of week four, the league average on this pattern was 163.20. For the next four week set, Bowl-O-Drome is putting-out the modified PBA “Cheetah” pattern. The Cheetah offers an opportunity for a little higher scoring as the pattern is only 34 feet in length, but it forces bowlers to play the outside part of the lane. Used during the PBA’s tour stop in Cheektowaga for the past 3 years (and next month as well), the Cheetah is often referred to as a “high risk, high reward” pattern.

Currently, Niagara Falls High School senior bowler David Zajac leads the league in average with a 187 and also holds the high game in the league with a 257. NFHS junior Steve Biondi currently holds the league high series with his 679 and he is second in average with a 186. NFHS senior Frank Porter is currently in first place after week six of competition carrying a 185 average.

Teresa Ricotta is the only female participant in the league. She’s definitely holding her own with a 173 average on very difficult lane patterns. Ricotta’s high game is 199 and high series is 543. Hopefully, more female bowlers will join the league for the next season, starting in December.

The teen sport shot league competes at B-O-D on Mondays at 6 p.m. Stop-in next week to see how our local teens handle the challenge!

• What a week Jake Hayes had at Bowl-O-Drome! He started off on Tuesday night by rolling the last eleven strikes for a 290-game, on Wednesday night he shot a 300-game, and finished the week on Friday with another 290. Hayes bowls a total of four nights per week and he currently leads the Thursday night Shorty’s Ultimate Sports Bar league with a 226 average. This is Hayes’ first year bowling in adult leagues as he is an ’08 graduate on Niagara Falls High School. He shares the all-time Niagara Frontier League (NFL) average record of 233 with former teammate Mark Putaski and North Tonawanda’s John Szczerbinski (who is currently bowling for Wichita St. University.)

• This is an interesting story: Bill Rodgers Jr. rolled a 299-game for a 299-series last Thursday night in the Shorty’s league at B-O-D. A 299 series? I’ll explain. Although he is a regular on the team, Rodgers was designated the emergency sub for the night for teammate Max Martinez who recently underwent an operation. With Martinez not feeling-up to rolling the 3rd game, Rodgers came-in cold and proceeded to throw the first eleven strikes, without practice, en route to his 299. Congrats buddy! You made the column!

• Congratulations also goes-out to my pal Gianfranco “Franco” Balassone who rolled his first career 700 series in the Sunday morning 3-man at Rapids (714).

• At Frontier Lanes, Emmett Printup rolled his 3rd career 300-game in the Printup’s doubles league last Wednesday night. Last Thursday night, John Panattoni rolled a 300-game en route to a 745 series in the Johnston’s Restaurant league. Panattoni has had several 300’s in his career. And on Monday night, Rob Samborek rolled a 300-game as part of his 764 series. It was Samborek’s 14th career 300. This followed-up his 298-834 performance last Monday night. Nice bowling, gentlemen!

• At Island Lanes, Whitey Dlugosz shot his 8th career 300-game last Friday night in the Businessmen’s league. On Monday night, John Leszczak rolled games of 290, 289, and 237 for an 816 in the A-Best Roofing league. This was Leszczak’s 2nd career 800. He rolled his 1st a few weeks back at Island. This series followed his 299-game on Friday night.

• In local ladies bowling news: Cathy Paonessa led the way with games of 290, 214, and 245 en route to her 749 series at Rapids in the FinditQuick.com Wednesday women’s league. Paonessa threw the last eleven strikes of her first game and the first four strikes of her second game for a total of 15-in-a-row! Her average is currently a 195 so this series was 164 pins over her average. Very impressive!

Deanna Mills led all women at B-O-D this past week with her 268-746 on Monday in the Manente Orthodontics league.

• A correction from last week’s column. Bob Bedore's 257-703 & Mary Lou Hahn's 181-515 (155 pins over series) were rolled at Frontier Lanes, not Bowl-O-Drome as I incorrectly reported. My apologies to Mr. Bedore, Ms. Hahn, and Frontier Lanes management.

• Next week, I will begin my “league in the spotlight” portion of this column. I have received information from a few league secretaries, but I would like to here from more! Encourage your league secretary or president (at Rapids, BOD, Frontier, or Island) to email me some interesting information about your league including your league sponsor, league high averages, league high games/series to date, etc. Also, please have them include the names of your league officers and any other pertinent information. My e-mail address is listed below.

Tiffany Tucci rolled her first career 700 series last Wednesday night in the Fred's Collision league at Rapids (267-722).

Ed Ventry is a director on the board of the Niagara Falls USBC men and youth bowling associations. Contact him at eventry@roadrunner.com.