ARLINGTON, Texas – When a friend asked 23-year-old Erik Howard of Louisville, Kentucky, to bowl as a substitute the night of Feb. 25 in the Wednesday Night Mixed league at Kingpin Lanes, a center Howard also works at, no one could have foreseen what would happen next.

Howard threw strike after strike, and, a few hours later, the two-handed lefty achieved ultimate perfection with just the 43rd United States Bowling Congress-certified 900 series. This breaks the previous city and state record of 890 set just a few years prior, also at Kingpin Lanes.

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’m even in the top 50 in the world to do something like that. To be the 43rd, it’s unbelievable,” said Howard.

The young Kentucky bowler has had four 300 games in the past three years, so when he started Game 1 with perfection, he wasn’t breaking a sweat. Game 2 is when the thought of the perfect series began creeping in.

“I started the second game with the first six strikes, and that’s when it hit me that I was still 100% perfect,” he said.

By the middle of the third game, the anxiety started to ratchet up for him, but then he remembered something from a few years ago: he had nearly done this already.

“During my first sanctioned 800 at Kingpin, I shot 33 out of 36 strikes in September 2023. I went 277, 265, 278 (for 820),” Howard said. “After that, I knew I could shoot 900. And then right before 2025 ended, I shot 847. I even commented on Facebook that 900 was around the corner. I told myself I could do it, and I made sure it happened.”

That anxiety faded away into confidence over the last few shots on Feb. 25.

“Something in the back of my head told me I was going to do it, and I wasn’t going to let it slip away,” said Howard.

Howard seized his opportunity, and with a flush 36th shot to end the night, he became the 42nd person to roll a 900 series (Robert Mushtare owns two 900 series) and the first one to do it from the Bluegrass State.

Howard got his start in bowling early as he was born into a family that bowled and was introduced to the sport by his grandfather.

“Before I could even properly lift a 6-pound ball, I was in a bumper league at 3 or 4 years old,” Howard said. “For my first 14 years, I bowled one-handed. Around late 2020, John McCarthy’s (owner of Kingpin Lanes) brother gave me advice. He said I threw it like a two-hander anyway because of how much crank I had, and he convinced me to switch. Since then, I’ve stuck with it and feel like I throw the ball better than ever.”

As an employee at Kingpin Lanes, Howard jumps on any opportunity he can to hone his skills on difficult or burnt patterns after local high school practices or after a certain professional bowler enters the building.

“Sometimes high school teams practice on tougher patterns, and (Professional Bowlers Association champion) Kyle Troup is a regular there, so occasionally special patterns get put out for him. Anytime a Sport shot is available, I’m asking to bowl on it. I feel like bowling on Sport shots is what separates me from someone who only bowls on house conditions.”

After achieving one dream with the 900 series, he has his eyes set on another in the future.

“It’s been a dream of mine to bowl on the PBA Tour,” Howard said. “If I could manage it, that would be incredible.”

For now, though, the Kentucky bowler will continue to hone his skills and look to bowl the Kentucky Open Championships.

The first USBC-certified 900 occurred Feb. 2, 1997, when Jeremy Sonnenfeld rolled three consecutive perfect games in Lincoln, Nebraska, while Andrew Granite of Elverta, California, was the most recent person to achieve 900 in November 2025.

CLICK HERE for more information on USBC records.

USBC-Certified 900 Series (43)
Jeremy Sonnenfeld (R), Lincoln, Neb., Feb. 2, 1997
Tony Roventini (L), Greenfield, Wis., Nov. 9, 1998
Vince Wood (R), Moreno Valley, Calif., Sept. 29, 1999
Robby Portalatin (L), Jackson, Mich., Dec. 28, 2000
James Hylton (R), Salem, Ore., May 2, 2001
Jeff Campbell II (R), New Castle, Pa., June 12, 2004
Darin Pomije (R), New Prague, Minn., Dec. 9, 2004
Robert Mushtare (R), Fort Drum, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2005 and Feb. 19, 2006
Lonnie Billiter Jr. (R), Fairfield, Ohio, Feb. 13, 2006
Mark Wukoman (R), Greenfield, Wis., April 22, 2006
P.J. Giesfeldt (R), Milwaukee, Dec. 23, 2006
Rich Jerome Jr. (R), Baltimore, Dec. 22, 2008
Chris Aker (L), Winnemucca, Nev., Oct. 30, 2009
Andrew Teall (R), Medford, N.J., Nov. 2, 2009
Andrew Mank (R), Belleville, Ill., March 18, 2010
William Howell III (L), Middletown, N.Y., Oct. 21, 2010
Matt Latarski (R), Medina, Ohio, Nov. 28, 2010
Bob Kammer Jr. (R), Crown Point, Ind., Jan. 8, 2011
John Martorella Sr. (R), Greece, N.Y., April 12, 2012
Jimmy Schmitzer (R), Riverside, Calif., April 20, 2012
James Williams (R), Pawcatuck, Conn., (bowled in Wakefield, R.I.), April 16, 2013
Joe Scarborough (R), Charlotte, N.C., (bowled in The Villages, Fla.), April 21, 2013
Todd James (R), East New Market, Md., (bowled in Laurel, Del.), March 18, 2014
Amos Gordon (R), Colorado Springs, Colo., April 11, 2014
Earon Vollmar (R), Toledo, Ohio, Jan. 19, 2015
Hakim Emmanuel (R), Stoughton, Mass., Feb. 19, 2015
David Sewesky (L), Dearborn, Mich., Jan. 10, 2016
Dale Gerhard (R), Mill Hall, Pa., Jan. 12, 2016
Sean Osbourn (R), Houston, Nov. 21, 2016
John Buchanan III (R), Evansville, Ind., Jan. 11, 2017
Sam Esposito (R), Homer Glen, Ill., Feb. 3, 2017
Brady Stearns (R), St. Cloud, Minn., March 28, 2017
Joe Novara (R), East Patchogue, N.Y., Oct. 16, 2017
Jonathan Wilbur (R), North Clarendon, Vt., Jan. 14, 2019
Jeremy Milito (L), Holbrook, N.Y., April 25, 2019
Wesley Low Jr. (L), Palmdale, Calif. (bowled in Glendale, Ariz.), July 19, 2020
Cody Schmitt (R), Elkhart Lake, Wis., Nov. 16, 2021
Stephen Kosela (R), Ambridge, Pa., March 13, 2022
Bryan Deck (R), New Castle, Ind., June 20, 2022
Desron Weatherspoon (R), Buffalo, N.Y., Jan. 18, 2025
Andrew Granite (R), Elverta, Calif., Nov. 10, 2025
Erik Howard (L), Louisville, Ky., Feb. 25, 2026