LAS VEGAS - Two decades ago, five friends from Indiana got together and shared a life-changing experience on the biggest stage in bowling.

The members of Bruno's Pizza of Lafayette, Indiana, have been inseparable ever since, meeting annually on that same stage, where they'll forever be recognized for their success, before setting out to reach for the pinnacle once again.

The routine resumed Wednesday at the South Point Bowling Plaza, and their performance played out like a reenactment of their 2002 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships experience in first-time host Billings, Montana.

They may not have been the best-known competitors before the Regular Team title that year, but it would be impossible to stay under the radar in future editions of the world's largest participatory sporting event.

Even as the tournament moved from city to city, so too did their legacy, celebrated each year with five orange eagles next to their names on the scoreboard.

Though the iconic symbol of success at the USBC Open Championships since has been replaced in the digital era by a gold cup, the significance is unchanged, much like the feelings of nostalgia and nervousness the teammates feel each time they see them.

The quintet has returned to the tournament lanes together all but one year since, and while their travel to Las Vegas this week likely was by commercial airplane, it may as well have been by time machine.

For all intents and purposes, it was 2002 again Wednesday, and they were in need of a quarter to call the staff at Bruno's Pizza back in Indiana to deliver some exciting news.

The team put together games of 1,007, 1,102 and 1,077 and soared to the top of the 2022 standings with a 3,186 total. Highland Lanes 1 of Toledo, Ohio, previously held the lead with 3,078.

"I don't really know how to describe it," said team captain David Hurtt. "This is our anniversary year. I'm getting ready to celebrate my 50th tournament next year. We're still here together. I know this score isn't going to hold up, but it's there now, and the feelings are very familiar. It's a lot of fun and another stop on a really great ride."

Hurtt led the effort Wednesday with a 686 series and was followed by Michael McCormick (656), Terry Clayton (624), Steven Hartman (616) and Gerry Ness (604).

"We take pride in the fact that we're just five guys from the same association, while a lot of the top teams are all-star teams with people from all over," Hurtt said. "We're a close-knit group, despite coming from diverse backgrounds, and we just work well together. We made some changes to put this lineup together in 2002, and we made a pact that we'd all buy in and share everything that came with it."

As they've gotten older, Hurtt and his teammates have thought about what it would be like to win again, but they've also been realistic about the chance of that happening.

Even so, they've also had Bruno's Pizza in their corner every step of the way.

"Our sponsor has been with us this entire time, and 2002 was his first year on board, so that was a pretty cool start to the relationship," Hurtt said. "We didn't get done until about 3 a.m., but we made sure to call and wake him up."

After a stroke last fall, Hurtt is on the mend and recently back to bowling.

The fun and excitement the group experienced on the lanes Wednesday was invigorating and motivating as he looks toward his personal milestone next year in Reno, Nevada, along with a more distant goal of joining the event's elite 100,000-Pin Club.

He's also looking forward to another opportunity to keep an eye on the online leaderboard, no matter how long the Bruno's Pizza name stays at the top of the standings.

In Hurtt's eyes, the Open Championships is the premier event in bowling, and he knew it the minute he marched to the lanes for his 1973 debut in Syracuse, New York.

"The first time I went to the Open Championships, the march to the lanes was like nothing I'd ever experienced, and then (USBC Hall of Famer) Allie Brandt was on our squad," Hurtt said. "I was hooked, and I haven't missed one since, even if it was a struggle at times to get a group together. If I was told I could only bowl in one event a year, this is it."

Together, the members of Bruno's Pizza have combined for 198 Open Championships appearances. Hurtt has logged 49 years and is followed by Clayton (46), Ness (45), Hartman (34) and McCormick (24).

The 2022 Open Championships kicked off March 12 and will run for 129 consecutive days, concluding July 18.

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