Bowling Industry News

Bowling News USA - April 4, 2009 Richgels and Crew Rocket to Lead in Las Vegas...

LAS VEGAS - Storm Regional staffer Jeff Richgels of Oregon, Wis., and his Turbo 2-N-1 Grips teammates might be the only group that can fill the stands and lock up the Web cams at the USBC Open Championships, and they put on quite a show as they took the Regular Team lead at Cashman Center on Friday night.

Gail Myers Jr., led the way for Turbo 2-N-1 Grips 1 as he closed the first game with 11 consecutive strikes for 279 and helped the team to a 1,113 start. They added games of 1,078 and 1,212 and moved into the top spot with a 3,403 total. Don Johnson Memorial of Lexington, Ky., previously held the lead with 3,306.

"Team bowling is what this is all about, and we do that with 10 guys working together," said Myers, who is second on the tournament's lifetime average list with 215.72 and one of just 18 bowlers who own two career 300 games on the championship lanes. "We have a lot of knowledge and experience, and we compliment each other and communicate really well."

Myers finished the night with 212 and 248 for a 739 series and was followed by Mike Shady, a one-time Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion who has broken the 1,900 all-events mark in all 13 of this USBC Open Championships appearances (681), Roto Grip staffer Steve Richter (677), five-time PBA national champion Marc McDowell (673) and Richgels (633).

Each year, Turbo 2-N-1 Grips 1 is a top contender at the Open Championships thanks to a combination of experience, hard work and preparation. In 2005, Richgels and Richter took home the Regular Doubles title and helped the group to the Team All-Events crown.

"This is the first time in a couple of years that we were all in a great frame of mind and everyone came in throwing the ball really well," said Richgels, who became the only bowler in tournament history to record 90 clean frames as he claimed the 1997 Regular All-Events title. "I also can't say enough about Mike Jasnau and his team practice session. Last year, we didn't listen to him enough, and we paid the price. This time, we listened to him completely, and it paid off."

Richgels used a Storm Dimension and Second Dimension in the Team Event, while Myers uses a Virtual Gravity. Richter used a Roto Grip Cell.

Jasnau, a USBC Silver coach, is offering team practice sessions to tournament bowlers for the second consecutive year. This year, the sessions are being held at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino, where he gives teams the opportunity to practice on the same lane condition being used at the Open Championships and offers advice on what equipment to throw and how to play the lanes.

Even with the extra practice and advice, the team still had to go out and knock the pins down. That is something Richgels has instinctively done at the Open Championships for nearly 30 years and did particularly well in the same building 23 years ago.

Cashman Center was the site of the first of his four Open Championships titles (Regular Team) when the tournament made its only other trip to Las Vegas in 1986.

"When we posted our score that year (3,253), I left here thinking there was no way we weren't going to win," said Richgels, who made his 28th tournament appearance this year. "I was also young and didn't understand the significance of what we were doing and how hard it really was. You only get one chance out here each year and you have to be at your best."

And while Richgels and his teammates did roll the highest team score of the year, they also know they left a lot of pins out on the lanes. Including a few bad breaks and splits, they had 17 open frames. Despite the miscues, though, they are comfortable with the number they posted.

"I'm walking out of here pretty confident that our score is enough to win, but if someone comes out and beats us, I will be the first one in line to congratulate them." Myers said. "The team that wins this is the one that's the most deserving."

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April, 2009

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