New friends also new Regular Doubles leaders at 2017 USBC Open Championships
May 26, 2017
LAS VEGAS - Millions of people flock to Las Vegas each year hoping to hit a jackpot, which often is more about luck than skill, but John Nolen of Waterford, Michigan, used a little of each Friday to put him and Mike Reasoner of Hazlet, New Jersey, in position to claim one of bowling's biggest jackpots - an Eagle at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
Nolen found a moment of good fortune at the South Point Bowling Plaza when an errant shot in a must-strike situation went Brooklyn but ended with a late-falling 6 pin to all but secure the top spot in Regular Doubles. He regrouped for his fill ball and toppled another 10 pins to complete the pair's 1,431 effort.
The two were consistent in the performance, rolling games of 500, 446 and 485, and both delivered doubles in the final frame to lift them past the father-and-son duo of Doug and Jacob Kent of Newark, New York, who previously held the lead with 1,425. Nolen set the pace with a 725 series, and Reasoner added 706.
"I drifted a little left on that shot and just flat out threw it bad," said Nolen, who made his 15th USBC Open Championships appearance. "It was so bad, it was good. Honestly, I was fine on the first shot, but I was shaking like a leaf on the second one. Other than the first shot of the tournament each year, when you feel like you have sea legs, I can't remember feeling like that in a long time."
Click here to watch Nolen and Reasoner's final doubles frame at the South Point Bowling Plaza.
Friday's competition wasn't the first time Nolen threw strikes under pressure in Las Vegas, where he admits he's pretty comfortable on the lanes.
In 2009, he won the USBC Masters when it visited the custom-built Open Championships venue across town at Cashman Center, and he was present months later when his teammate, Bo Goergen of Midland, Michigan, rolled the highest three-game series in Open Championships history, an 862 set, on the way to the Regular Singles title.
This time, Nolen got to share the moment on the biggest stage in bowling with someone he'd only met two days prior, during the four-team group's practice session at the nearby South Point Bowling Center.
Nolen and Reasoner had an instant chemistry on and off the lanes and immediately wanted to bowl doubles together, though they didn't find out for sure until after their team event Thursday night that another stroke of luck would allow that to happen.
"Based on the conversations we had before and during team, even though we'd just met, I knew he was an outstanding competitor," Nolen said. "His game reminds me a lot of mine in that we're both self-taught and do things you'd never want to teach someone. We're able to see the lanes the same way, and the communication throughout was incredible."
Communication and teamwork were the goals and keys to success long before the group hit the lanes at the Bowling Plaza, and the execution of their game plan resulted in four top-five performances.
Nolen and Reasoner's companion team, Turbo Grips 4 of Chesterfield, Michigan, made a run at the lead in Regular Team on Thursday, before finishing the day in third place with a 3,240 total. Nolen and Reasoner helped Turbo Grips 3 to a 3,078 total, just outside the top 25, and both teams returned to the lanes Friday poised to challenge the leaders in Team All-Events.
Reasoner improved with each set in just his second Open Championships appearance since 2010, and sixth overall, sandwiching his doubles success between 736 in singles and 651 in team for a 2,093 all-events total, which is fourth in Regular All-Events this year.
The 49-year-old right-hander's career-best outing helped Turbo Grips 3 into third place in Team All-Events with a 9,833 total. He was followed by Nolen (2,026), Jeffrey Austreng (1,926), Alan Pittman (1,903) and Chris Sand (1,885).
Turbo Grips 4 fell off the pace during doubles and singles and finished the day 14th in Team All-Events with a 9,452 total. Former Junior Team USA member Andrew Anderson led the way with a 2,034 all-events total and was joined by Cory Hines (1,874), Frank Snodgrass (1,858), James Koss (1,850) and Eric Tulley (1,836).
"It was an honor to be asked to join this group last year, and it meant a lot to be invited back this year," Reasoner said. "It's an amazing group of bowlers, we get along and communicate well, we had a game plan and everyone committed to it. Andrew came up with an amazing blueprint and strategy, and we all got on board."
Jacob Boresch of Kenosha, Wisconsin, leads with Regular All-Events with a 2,122 total, while Team NABR of Fairport, New York, leads Regular Team and Team All-Events with 3,266 and 9,957, respectively.
Now, Nolen and Reasoner will return to their respective home states to wait out the final six weeks of the 2017 Open Championships, which kicked off Feb. 18 and will conclude July 16 after 149 days of competition.
There's no doubt they'll hear from friends about the rolled 6 pin that finished the job. It's also likely that as much as they might not want to, they'll probably visit the online leaderboards once or twice to see how their score is holding up.
"In the big scheme of things, you're going to need a break or two along the way, and, a lot of times, that might be evening things out from a great shot that didn't go your way earlier, which happened on a few 9 pins today for Mike," said Nolen, who retired from the Professional Bowlers Association Tour in 2013. "I'm not into Facebook or social media, but I think it's going to be hard not to look a few times over the next few weeks."
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships Facebook page.
Nolen found a moment of good fortune at the South Point Bowling Plaza when an errant shot in a must-strike situation went Brooklyn but ended with a late-falling 6 pin to all but secure the top spot in Regular Doubles. He regrouped for his fill ball and toppled another 10 pins to complete the pair's 1,431 effort.
The two were consistent in the performance, rolling games of 500, 446 and 485, and both delivered doubles in the final frame to lift them past the father-and-son duo of Doug and Jacob Kent of Newark, New York, who previously held the lead with 1,425. Nolen set the pace with a 725 series, and Reasoner added 706.
"I drifted a little left on that shot and just flat out threw it bad," said Nolen, who made his 15th USBC Open Championships appearance. "It was so bad, it was good. Honestly, I was fine on the first shot, but I was shaking like a leaf on the second one. Other than the first shot of the tournament each year, when you feel like you have sea legs, I can't remember feeling like that in a long time."
Click here to watch Nolen and Reasoner's final doubles frame at the South Point Bowling Plaza.
Friday's competition wasn't the first time Nolen threw strikes under pressure in Las Vegas, where he admits he's pretty comfortable on the lanes.
In 2009, he won the USBC Masters when it visited the custom-built Open Championships venue across town at Cashman Center, and he was present months later when his teammate, Bo Goergen of Midland, Michigan, rolled the highest three-game series in Open Championships history, an 862 set, on the way to the Regular Singles title.
This time, Nolen got to share the moment on the biggest stage in bowling with someone he'd only met two days prior, during the four-team group's practice session at the nearby South Point Bowling Center.
Nolen and Reasoner had an instant chemistry on and off the lanes and immediately wanted to bowl doubles together, though they didn't find out for sure until after their team event Thursday night that another stroke of luck would allow that to happen.
"Based on the conversations we had before and during team, even though we'd just met, I knew he was an outstanding competitor," Nolen said. "His game reminds me a lot of mine in that we're both self-taught and do things you'd never want to teach someone. We're able to see the lanes the same way, and the communication throughout was incredible."
Communication and teamwork were the goals and keys to success long before the group hit the lanes at the Bowling Plaza, and the execution of their game plan resulted in four top-five performances.
Nolen and Reasoner's companion team, Turbo Grips 4 of Chesterfield, Michigan, made a run at the lead in Regular Team on Thursday, before finishing the day in third place with a 3,240 total. Nolen and Reasoner helped Turbo Grips 3 to a 3,078 total, just outside the top 25, and both teams returned to the lanes Friday poised to challenge the leaders in Team All-Events.
Reasoner improved with each set in just his second Open Championships appearance since 2010, and sixth overall, sandwiching his doubles success between 736 in singles and 651 in team for a 2,093 all-events total, which is fourth in Regular All-Events this year.
The 49-year-old right-hander's career-best outing helped Turbo Grips 3 into third place in Team All-Events with a 9,833 total. He was followed by Nolen (2,026), Jeffrey Austreng (1,926), Alan Pittman (1,903) and Chris Sand (1,885).
Turbo Grips 4 fell off the pace during doubles and singles and finished the day 14th in Team All-Events with a 9,452 total. Former Junior Team USA member Andrew Anderson led the way with a 2,034 all-events total and was joined by Cory Hines (1,874), Frank Snodgrass (1,858), James Koss (1,850) and Eric Tulley (1,836).
"It was an honor to be asked to join this group last year, and it meant a lot to be invited back this year," Reasoner said. "It's an amazing group of bowlers, we get along and communicate well, we had a game plan and everyone committed to it. Andrew came up with an amazing blueprint and strategy, and we all got on board."
Jacob Boresch of Kenosha, Wisconsin, leads with Regular All-Events with a 2,122 total, while Team NABR of Fairport, New York, leads Regular Team and Team All-Events with 3,266 and 9,957, respectively.
Now, Nolen and Reasoner will return to their respective home states to wait out the final six weeks of the 2017 Open Championships, which kicked off Feb. 18 and will conclude July 16 after 149 days of competition.
There's no doubt they'll hear from friends about the rolled 6 pin that finished the job. It's also likely that as much as they might not want to, they'll probably visit the online leaderboards once or twice to see how their score is holding up.
"In the big scheme of things, you're going to need a break or two along the way, and, a lot of times, that might be evening things out from a great shot that didn't go your way earlier, which happened on a few 9 pins today for Mike," said Nolen, who retired from the Professional Bowlers Association Tour in 2013. "I'm not into Facebook or social media, but I think it's going to be hard not to look a few times over the next few weeks."
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships Facebook page.