Pennsylvania bowler makes long-awaited 50th trip to USBC Open
April 14, 2016
By Darrin Foster
Special to BOWL.com
RENO, Nev. - When Wilfred Toby of Tioga, Pennsylvania, competed in his first United States Bowling Congress Open Championships in 1956, he was there for the competition and the thrill of going up against some of the best bowlers in the world.
Reaching 50 years of participation was a far off possibility and not part of the picture. In fact, he didn't return to the championship lanes again until 1963.
Now, 60 years after his first march down the famed Center Aisle, Toby has joined an elite group of bowlers who have celebrated five decades of USBC Open Championships participation. He became the latest member of the event's 50-Year Club at the National Bowling Stadium on Wednesday.
The 92-year-old's illustrious career is filled with great memories, not only from the Open Championships, but also from his home center in Corning, New York. It was there that some of his fellow bowlers decided they wanted to get a team together for the 1956 tournament, which was being held in nearby Rochester, New York.
Since his initial appearance, the members of Toby's team have changed many times, giving him the opportunity to meet a number of great people and make lifelong friendships along the way.
Although it took seven years for Toby to make another tournament appearance, he had a memorable return in Buffalo, New York, in 1963.
Until that point no bowler had reached the elusive 700 mark in the Booster Division, and after games of 249 and 225, he was within sight of becoming the first.
The chance at making it to 700 was of such importance that local news station WKBW visited the venue in hopes of capturing the milestone. Unfortunately, he came up a little short, finishing with a 666 series, but it was a great way to cement his desire for a long career of participation in the Open Championships.
In the early years of his journey, the most difficult task was getting enough people to go to the tournament, and he was forced to miss a few years due to the distance and travel costs for potential team members.
After 1966, when the tournament returned to Rochester, New York, Toby made it a goal to be at the event each year.
His next miss was unavoidable and came in 1981 when a recent heart surgery kept him from making the trip to Memphis, Tennessee. He also was forced to sit out the 1982 tournament in Baltimore, which was especially disappointing.
"I never should have missed that one, it was too close," said Toby, a member of the Corning USBC Hall of Fame.
One of the greatest overall moments of Toby's bowling career came at the age of 85 when he shot his first 300 game, a night that includes a funny anecdote. It's is possible the success of that night was due in part to a mistake made by the proprietor of the center.
"It was an exciting night," Toby said. "The alley manager got on the loud speaker and announced I had a 300 after the 11th ball. I think it kind of relaxed me a little bit, and, fortunately, I buried the 12th one."
About 10 years ago, Toby's dream of reaching 50 tournament appearances started to look like it might become more of a reality.
Standing at the end of Center Aisle at the NBS this year, it became apparent that all the hard work, personal sacrifices and dedication paid off. The thunderous applause that greeted him as they announced his arrival on the championship lanes made it all worth it.
Toby was presented with a plaque, chevron and special lapel pin to commemorate the milestone.
On the lanes this year, Toby rolled sets of 421 in singles, 395 in doubles and 384 in team for a 1,200 all-events total. In 50 tournament appearances, he has knocked down 75,676 pins for a career average of 177.6.
The next thing Toby is looking forward to is the tournament's long-awaited return to his home state in 2018, when it visits Syracuse, New York, for the first time since 1999.
Note: The Booster Division began in 1916. Until 1936, teams in the division were confined to the host city area. In 1937, the division opened to all teams, and champions formally were declared.
In 1999, the name of the division was changed to Classified, and doubles, singles and all-events champions were crowned for the first time.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open/Women's Championships page.
Special to BOWL.com
RENO, Nev. - When Wilfred Toby of Tioga, Pennsylvania, competed in his first United States Bowling Congress Open Championships in 1956, he was there for the competition and the thrill of going up against some of the best bowlers in the world.
Reaching 50 years of participation was a far off possibility and not part of the picture. In fact, he didn't return to the championship lanes again until 1963.
Now, 60 years after his first march down the famed Center Aisle, Toby has joined an elite group of bowlers who have celebrated five decades of USBC Open Championships participation. He became the latest member of the event's 50-Year Club at the National Bowling Stadium on Wednesday.
The 92-year-old's illustrious career is filled with great memories, not only from the Open Championships, but also from his home center in Corning, New York. It was there that some of his fellow bowlers decided they wanted to get a team together for the 1956 tournament, which was being held in nearby Rochester, New York.
Since his initial appearance, the members of Toby's team have changed many times, giving him the opportunity to meet a number of great people and make lifelong friendships along the way.
Although it took seven years for Toby to make another tournament appearance, he had a memorable return in Buffalo, New York, in 1963.
Until that point no bowler had reached the elusive 700 mark in the Booster Division, and after games of 249 and 225, he was within sight of becoming the first.
The chance at making it to 700 was of such importance that local news station WKBW visited the venue in hopes of capturing the milestone. Unfortunately, he came up a little short, finishing with a 666 series, but it was a great way to cement his desire for a long career of participation in the Open Championships.
In the early years of his journey, the most difficult task was getting enough people to go to the tournament, and he was forced to miss a few years due to the distance and travel costs for potential team members.
After 1966, when the tournament returned to Rochester, New York, Toby made it a goal to be at the event each year.
His next miss was unavoidable and came in 1981 when a recent heart surgery kept him from making the trip to Memphis, Tennessee. He also was forced to sit out the 1982 tournament in Baltimore, which was especially disappointing.
"I never should have missed that one, it was too close," said Toby, a member of the Corning USBC Hall of Fame.
One of the greatest overall moments of Toby's bowling career came at the age of 85 when he shot his first 300 game, a night that includes a funny anecdote. It's is possible the success of that night was due in part to a mistake made by the proprietor of the center.
"It was an exciting night," Toby said. "The alley manager got on the loud speaker and announced I had a 300 after the 11th ball. I think it kind of relaxed me a little bit, and, fortunately, I buried the 12th one."
About 10 years ago, Toby's dream of reaching 50 tournament appearances started to look like it might become more of a reality.
Standing at the end of Center Aisle at the NBS this year, it became apparent that all the hard work, personal sacrifices and dedication paid off. The thunderous applause that greeted him as they announced his arrival on the championship lanes made it all worth it.
Toby was presented with a plaque, chevron and special lapel pin to commemorate the milestone.
On the lanes this year, Toby rolled sets of 421 in singles, 395 in doubles and 384 in team for a 1,200 all-events total. In 50 tournament appearances, he has knocked down 75,676 pins for a career average of 177.6.
The next thing Toby is looking forward to is the tournament's long-awaited return to his home state in 2018, when it visits Syracuse, New York, for the first time since 1999.
Note: The Booster Division began in 1916. Until 1936, teams in the division were confined to the host city area. In 1937, the division opened to all teams, and champions formally were declared.
In 1999, the name of the division was changed to Classified, and doubles, singles and all-events champions were crowned for the first time.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open/Women's Championships page.