Cincinnati team powers into Regular lead at 2023 USBC Open Championships
May 31, 2023
Pictured above (from left): Ron Pollard Jr., Jeff Fehr, Kenny Abner, Charles Easton and Bill O'Neill
RENO, Nev. – While Wednesday’s festivities at the 2023 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships may have started with a power outage in downtown Reno, the performance by the members of Riding Kenny’s Coattails of Cincinnati electrified the National Bowling Stadium as they moved into the top spot in Regular Team with a 3,578 total.
Charles Easton started with 300 to help the team get to 1,228 in Game 1, and they continued to keep pace with 1,188 and 1,162 to conclude their run Wednesday. The team easily cruised into the lead at the 2023 event by 156 pins, passing the 3,422 posted March 18 by Las Vegas’ Chili Garlic Edamame.
The score now sits as the second highest team series in the 119-year history of the USBC Open Championships. Artistic Expressions 1 of Oklahoma City won the Regular Team title at the 2014 event, also held at the NBS, with 3,720.
Jeff Fehr led the way for Riding Kenny’s Coattails with a 778 series and was joined by Easton (773), two-time champion Kenny Abner (723), Professional Bowlers Association Tour star Bill O’Neill (692) and Ron Pollard Jr. (612).
“We’ve seen some other teams start out strong and have some issues with the transition,” Fehr said. “When we started strong in the second game, about midway through, I told the guys that we need to continue to keep going as hard as we can, because at some point, it was probably going to catch up with us a little bit. It did toward the middle of the third game and got a little bit tricky. Around the middle of the second game, though, we knew something special was happening.”
Fehr has seen his fair share of great runs at the tournament, highlighted by crossing with his father – USBC Hall of Famer, five-time Open Championships titlist and 1994 USBC Masters champion Steve Fehr – and Abner when they captured wins in back-to-back years in 2006 (Regular Team) and 2007 (Team All-Events).
Getting to share this moment with his teammates Wednesday is something he had a hard time describing.
“This is a feeling I’ve never felt before, and it’s unreal,” Fehr said. “I was on the companion team when my dad and Ken won in 2006 and 2007, and the excitement for them was special. I’ve been coming here for 26 years and have been waiting for this moment for a long time, and it’s finally here. Now, we get to wait and see for a couple months.”
The cross was worth a note as well in Wednesday’s performance, as Riding Kenny’s Coattails has not brought a companion team to the Open Championships for the past couple editions of the event.
They were joined this year in Reno by Shane, Michelle, Kaitlynn and Gary Goldermann, along with Steven Sklarski.
“They were great,” Fehr said. “We had never met them before. We’ve done this for the last six or seven years. They really kept the flow going for us.”
The family connection is strong on the team and at the Open Championships for Riding Kenny’s Coattails. Pollard also comes from a family with a storied history at the event.
Pollard’s father, Ron, and uncle, Rick, are both USBC Hall of Famers and helped Pollard’s Bowl of Versailles, Indiana, win Team All-Events at the 1996 event with a then-record score of 10,425. His aunt, Vicky, and wife, Jamie, paired up to win Classified Doubles at the 2015 tournament in El Paso, Texas.
“To possibly be there with them, it would be pretty special,” Pollard said.
Easton also characterizes the group as sharing a bond that’s like family, and his 300 game was made a little easier knowing he had them in his corner.
At the same time, the two-time USBC National High Average Award winner still felt the pressure with the chance at his own spot in the tournament’s record book. While he enjoyed the moment as he recorded the final strike, he knew the job had only begun for the talented group.
Now, he’ll join his teammates in waiting to see if their effort will be enough to outlast the charge of talented players and teams making their way to Reno across June and July.
“It was nerve-wracking,” said Easton, who added games of 267 and 206 after recording the ninth 300 of the 2023 Open Championships. “I tried to keep my pre-shot routine the same, and bowling with these four amazing people really helps keep me calm and collected. I’m blessed to be able to bowl with them and not only call them friends, but family at the same time.
“It was kind of surreal in that moment to think about it. I just shot 300, but we knew the job wasn’t done yet. We have a special group of five guys here, and we work so well together. It’s amazing to think about that score. We’re going to have a tough wait the next couple months, but you know what, that’s the excitement, too.”
The team will return to the National Bowling Stadium on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Pacific to try and continue its run at the top of the standings.
Chili Garlic Edamame leads Team All-Events at the 2023 event with 9,884.
The group found some momentum at the Bowlers Journal Championships on Tuesday as well, with Abner and O’Neill taking the lead in Open Doubles with 1,430. O’Neill led the consistent effort with 720, and Abner added 710.
The Bowlers Journal Championships features the same oil pattern being used in doubles and singles at the Open Championships.
The team will take Wednesday night to enjoy the moment, though, before refocusing on the next task at hand.
“Tonight, we’ll have a nice meal and celebrate the three games, but we have six more tomorrow,” Fehr said. “Our mission was to come out here and win multiple Eagles this year, and we have a good start toward the first one.”
Regular Team features five-player groups with combined entering averages of 876 and above.
The 2023 Open Championships kicked off March 4 and will conclude July 24. The 143-day tournament will feature more than 9,700 five-player teams and nearly 50,000 bowlers making their way to compete in The Biggest Little City in the World.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.
RENO, Nev. – While Wednesday’s festivities at the 2023 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships may have started with a power outage in downtown Reno, the performance by the members of Riding Kenny’s Coattails of Cincinnati electrified the National Bowling Stadium as they moved into the top spot in Regular Team with a 3,578 total.
Charles Easton started with 300 to help the team get to 1,228 in Game 1, and they continued to keep pace with 1,188 and 1,162 to conclude their run Wednesday. The team easily cruised into the lead at the 2023 event by 156 pins, passing the 3,422 posted March 18 by Las Vegas’ Chili Garlic Edamame.
The score now sits as the second highest team series in the 119-year history of the USBC Open Championships. Artistic Expressions 1 of Oklahoma City won the Regular Team title at the 2014 event, also held at the NBS, with 3,720.
Jeff Fehr led the way for Riding Kenny’s Coattails with a 778 series and was joined by Easton (773), two-time champion Kenny Abner (723), Professional Bowlers Association Tour star Bill O’Neill (692) and Ron Pollard Jr. (612).
“We’ve seen some other teams start out strong and have some issues with the transition,” Fehr said. “When we started strong in the second game, about midway through, I told the guys that we need to continue to keep going as hard as we can, because at some point, it was probably going to catch up with us a little bit. It did toward the middle of the third game and got a little bit tricky. Around the middle of the second game, though, we knew something special was happening.”
Fehr has seen his fair share of great runs at the tournament, highlighted by crossing with his father – USBC Hall of Famer, five-time Open Championships titlist and 1994 USBC Masters champion Steve Fehr – and Abner when they captured wins in back-to-back years in 2006 (Regular Team) and 2007 (Team All-Events).
Getting to share this moment with his teammates Wednesday is something he had a hard time describing.
“This is a feeling I’ve never felt before, and it’s unreal,” Fehr said. “I was on the companion team when my dad and Ken won in 2006 and 2007, and the excitement for them was special. I’ve been coming here for 26 years and have been waiting for this moment for a long time, and it’s finally here. Now, we get to wait and see for a couple months.”
The cross was worth a note as well in Wednesday’s performance, as Riding Kenny’s Coattails has not brought a companion team to the Open Championships for the past couple editions of the event.
They were joined this year in Reno by Shane, Michelle, Kaitlynn and Gary Goldermann, along with Steven Sklarski.
“They were great,” Fehr said. “We had never met them before. We’ve done this for the last six or seven years. They really kept the flow going for us.”
The family connection is strong on the team and at the Open Championships for Riding Kenny’s Coattails. Pollard also comes from a family with a storied history at the event.
Pollard’s father, Ron, and uncle, Rick, are both USBC Hall of Famers and helped Pollard’s Bowl of Versailles, Indiana, win Team All-Events at the 1996 event with a then-record score of 10,425. His aunt, Vicky, and wife, Jamie, paired up to win Classified Doubles at the 2015 tournament in El Paso, Texas.
“To possibly be there with them, it would be pretty special,” Pollard said.
Easton also characterizes the group as sharing a bond that’s like family, and his 300 game was made a little easier knowing he had them in his corner.
At the same time, the two-time USBC National High Average Award winner still felt the pressure with the chance at his own spot in the tournament’s record book. While he enjoyed the moment as he recorded the final strike, he knew the job had only begun for the talented group.
Now, he’ll join his teammates in waiting to see if their effort will be enough to outlast the charge of talented players and teams making their way to Reno across June and July.
“It was nerve-wracking,” said Easton, who added games of 267 and 206 after recording the ninth 300 of the 2023 Open Championships. “I tried to keep my pre-shot routine the same, and bowling with these four amazing people really helps keep me calm and collected. I’m blessed to be able to bowl with them and not only call them friends, but family at the same time.
“It was kind of surreal in that moment to think about it. I just shot 300, but we knew the job wasn’t done yet. We have a special group of five guys here, and we work so well together. It’s amazing to think about that score. We’re going to have a tough wait the next couple months, but you know what, that’s the excitement, too.”
The team will return to the National Bowling Stadium on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Pacific to try and continue its run at the top of the standings.
Chili Garlic Edamame leads Team All-Events at the 2023 event with 9,884.
The group found some momentum at the Bowlers Journal Championships on Tuesday as well, with Abner and O’Neill taking the lead in Open Doubles with 1,430. O’Neill led the consistent effort with 720, and Abner added 710.
The Bowlers Journal Championships features the same oil pattern being used in doubles and singles at the Open Championships.
The team will take Wednesday night to enjoy the moment, though, before refocusing on the next task at hand.
“Tonight, we’ll have a nice meal and celebrate the three games, but we have six more tomorrow,” Fehr said. “Our mission was to come out here and win multiple Eagles this year, and we have a good start toward the first one.”
Regular Team features five-player groups with combined entering averages of 876 and above.
The 2023 Open Championships kicked off March 4 and will conclude July 24. The 143-day tournament will feature more than 9,700 five-player teams and nearly 50,000 bowlers making their way to compete in The Biggest Little City in the World.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.