Abboud rolls 804 to take two leads at 2025 Bowlers Journal Championships
May 01, 2025
BATON ROUGE, La. – Sometimes, you just need to change things up.
On Monday at the 2025 Bowlers Journal Championships, Rich Abboud of Omaha, Nebraska, had started his set with a couple marks, but his ball reaction wasn’t the best.
His teammate – 2008 Regular Doubles champion Dennis Rakauskas of Apopka, Florida – suggested a change to get his ball to finish the right way. It was the right call.
Starting in the seventh frame of Game 1, Abboud rolled strikes on 28 of his next 30 deliveries to close his set with games of 225, 300 and 279 for an 804 series and the lead in Super Senior Singles at All Star Lanes.
Rick Minier of Katy, Texas, previously held the top spot with 767.
Dennis Rakauskas and Rich Abboud
Abboud also was paired with several partners for Senior Doubles and took over the top two spots with Rakauskas and Adam Colton of The Villages, Florida. Abboud and Rakauskas (726 series) secured the lead with 1,530, while Abboud and Colton (716) combined for 1,520.
Jon Rakoski of Estero, Florida, and William Nichols of Bella Vista, Arkansas, had held the lead with 1,509.
“I had about 85 in the fifth frame of the first game, and my ball just wasn’t going through the pins right,” said Abboud, a 65-year-old right-hander and winner of the 1993 Professional Bowlers Association Touring Pro/Senior Doubles with Teata Semiz. “Dennis talked me into changing balls, and I struck out to the fill ball. Then, 300 and 279, so obviously, it was a good call.
“When the ball starts going through the pins correctly, the high hits trip the 4 (pin) and light hits rip the rack. It was the right call, and the ball held up well for three games, which surprised me. I had to increase my speed a little bit but didn’t really have to move a bunch. It was a really nice choice.”
Abboud enjoyed the chance to share the performance with his teammates, and he continued striking after heading to the Raising Cane’s River Center for his appearance at the 2025 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
He concluded his 38th tournament appearance with sets of 693 in team, 651 in doubles and 632 in singles for an all-events tally of 1,976.
“It’s always great – at our age, you don’t get a lot of moments like we had when we were all younger,” said Abboud, a member of the Nebraska and Greater Omaha USBC Halls of Fame. “It’s neat to have everything come together. It’s not as often as it used to be, but we sure enjoy it when it happens.
“It would be fantastic (to win). I haven’t had a great history at this tournament, so it’d be icing on the cake. To have a great week with the guys and come away with a trophy or two from the Bowlers Journal would be fantastic.”
The Open Championships is celebrating its third trip to Baton Rouge in 2025 and scheduled to feature more than 58,000 bowlers and 11,600 five-player teams competing across 150 consecutive days at the River Center.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.
On Monday at the 2025 Bowlers Journal Championships, Rich Abboud of Omaha, Nebraska, had started his set with a couple marks, but his ball reaction wasn’t the best.
His teammate – 2008 Regular Doubles champion Dennis Rakauskas of Apopka, Florida – suggested a change to get his ball to finish the right way. It was the right call.
Starting in the seventh frame of Game 1, Abboud rolled strikes on 28 of his next 30 deliveries to close his set with games of 225, 300 and 279 for an 804 series and the lead in Super Senior Singles at All Star Lanes.
Rick Minier of Katy, Texas, previously held the top spot with 767.
Dennis Rakauskas and Rich Abboud
Abboud also was paired with several partners for Senior Doubles and took over the top two spots with Rakauskas and Adam Colton of The Villages, Florida. Abboud and Rakauskas (726 series) secured the lead with 1,530, while Abboud and Colton (716) combined for 1,520.
Jon Rakoski of Estero, Florida, and William Nichols of Bella Vista, Arkansas, had held the lead with 1,509.
“I had about 85 in the fifth frame of the first game, and my ball just wasn’t going through the pins right,” said Abboud, a 65-year-old right-hander and winner of the 1993 Professional Bowlers Association Touring Pro/Senior Doubles with Teata Semiz. “Dennis talked me into changing balls, and I struck out to the fill ball. Then, 300 and 279, so obviously, it was a good call.
“When the ball starts going through the pins correctly, the high hits trip the 4 (pin) and light hits rip the rack. It was the right call, and the ball held up well for three games, which surprised me. I had to increase my speed a little bit but didn’t really have to move a bunch. It was a really nice choice.”
Abboud enjoyed the chance to share the performance with his teammates, and he continued striking after heading to the Raising Cane’s River Center for his appearance at the 2025 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
He concluded his 38th tournament appearance with sets of 693 in team, 651 in doubles and 632 in singles for an all-events tally of 1,976.
“It’s always great – at our age, you don’t get a lot of moments like we had when we were all younger,” said Abboud, a member of the Nebraska and Greater Omaha USBC Halls of Fame. “It’s neat to have everything come together. It’s not as often as it used to be, but we sure enjoy it when it happens.
“It would be fantastic (to win). I haven’t had a great history at this tournament, so it’d be icing on the cake. To have a great week with the guys and come away with a trophy or two from the Bowlers Journal would be fantastic.”
The Open Championships is celebrating its third trip to Baton Rouge in 2025 and scheduled to feature more than 58,000 bowlers and 11,600 five-player teams competing across 150 consecutive days at the River Center.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.