Update Pro Pressure

USBC Sport bowler faces PBA pros on national television.

MOST USBC members know that bowling in a Sport league — especially a PBA Experience Sport league — replicates the lane conditions the pros face. But for one USBC league bowler, Kevin Reuer of Hoffman Estates, Ill., competing in his local PBA Experience league led him to face the exact same conditions as the pros, com- plete with pro opponents and ESPN cameras. Reuer competed in the

PBA Experience Showdown, contested at the International Training and Research Center in Arlington, Texas,

on April 7. He faced the pro champs of the five PBA “ani- mal patterns” from earlier in the 2009-10 pro season – Norm Duke (Cheetah), Rhino Page (Viper), Bill O’Neill (Chameleon), Mike DeVaney (Scorpion) and Jack Jurek (Shark). The made-for-television

event featured a unique format and required all six players to bowl a single frame on each of the five animal patterns, and then repeat that process to complete a 10-frame game. After one full round, the field was trimmed to the two highest scores for

a five-frame championship game, also across all five pat- terns. In sequence, players bowled one frame each on the Shark, Chameleon, Viper, Scorpion and Cheetah pat- terns. Reuer started the qualify-

ing round with a 173. Duke followed with a 213. Page, bowling third, rallied to salvage a 223. Jurek finished with a 197 and DeVaney fin- ished with a 217. Page then went on to defeat O’Neill in an abbreviated five-frame finals, 108-104, claiming the $25,000 first-place prize. Reuer earned his way onto

the show through a national contest sponsored by USBC. He was one of six amateur USBC Sport league finalists (along with their respective league secretaries and the

PLAYERS PROFESSIONAL BOWLING

BOWL LIKE A PRO: Kevin Reuer lived a dream come true when he won a USBC-sponsored contest from among hundreds of entrants to bowl against PBA pros on ESPN during the PBA Experience Showdown.

proprietor/manager of the center that hosted the league) invited to Arlington to bowl against each other for a shot at the show. The others were: Bill

Matovina, Clearwater, Fla.; Joe Petrowski, East Syracuse, N.Y.; Patti Riddle, Palatine, Ill.; Brent Watson, Parkersburg, W. Va.; and Bobby Wenger, Wooster, Ohio. “I thought I knew what

ON TOUR: Click on the box above to See what Charger fan Rhino Page and Redskins fan Bill O’Neill say during a behind the scenes tour of Cowboys Stadium before the PBA Experience Showdown in Arlington, Texas.

pressure shots were dur- ing the qualifier, but this brings it to whole new level,” Reuer said of the experience. “Trying to execute when your heart is pumping like this and you know everyone is just waiting for you to throw the ball, it’s real hard to execute good shots.”

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