lifelong dream, why wait so long? “Well,” he says, considering, “I had


some demons growing up. I’m now 13 years sober. I always knew I had the talent; I just don’t know that I always had my head screwed on straight. I’ve worked long and hard to try to change that image.” Hess laughs and adds, “It’s still not


perfect, but we’re working on it!” That wasn’t the only lifestyle


ONE SHINING MOMENT: Click on the play button (above left) for the full post- game interview with Tom Hess, immediately after he claimed the USBC Masters crown, his first PBA title.


Carter Mixed Doubles Championship, where he and partner Laura Hardeman were knocked out in the first match by Brad Angelo and Shannon Pluhowsky. But Hess still wasn’t that well known outside his home state. The Masters win changed that in a


hurry. It was the culmination of a life- long dream — a dream that took a few U-turns along the way. “I always wanted to win a pro title,


ever since I was a little kid. It’s been a lifelong dream,” says Hess. As a kid growing up in Indianola,


Iowa, where his father worked as the manager of a bowling center, Hess was crazy for the sport. He bowled youth leagues all through his childhood, join- ing scratch leagues as soon as he was old enough to compete with the big dogs.


“I used to bowl in as many as eight


leagues a week,” he says. “But that was when I was 19 or 20, single and still living with my parents. I just couldn’t get enough.” Hess started bowling nationals in


1995 and hasn’t missed a USBC Open Championships since, finishing as high as fourth in Singles in 2006. “In fact, I’m scheduled to bowl nationals in May this year,” he says. “That’ll be my last for at least the following two years,” he adds in reference to his upcoming PBA Tour exemption. But Hess didn’t join the PBA until


he was in his 30s. “I don’t really know why,” he says. “I bowled a regional as a non-member and did pretty good, so I joined in 2003 and got my first title in 2004.” But still, if winning a PBA title was a


Major Mika


Does it Again There’s a reason why they call Mika Koivuniemi “Major” Mika. After winning the $1 million PBA Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas on Jan. 22 to go along with a sixth-place finish in the PBA World Championship, the Big Finn managed a third- place finish at the USBC Masters and a second-place finish at the U.S. Open, narrowly missing a victory against Norm Duke. Koivuniemi has now made the TV show in all of the four PBA major championships this year.


20 USBOWLER MARCH 2011


change Hess initiated. He realized that to really bowl at a top level, he’d have to get physically fit. “A big part of my recent success


is due to the fact that I took the time to get in shape,” he says. “I knew I needed it. I work with a great guy, Nick Rouse from Spartan Strength in West Des Moines, who’s really helped me. I’ve put a little back on being on the road, but at my best I’ve lost 60 pounds and it feels great.” Hess is feeling great all around


these days. He’s fulfilled his lifelong dream — and did it by winning a ma- jor to boot. But now he’s pulling into Plaza Lanes in Iowa. He needs to get inside to bowl with his buddies. “This is my first night back at


league since being gone for all the Masters play,” he says. “I’ll probably go in and shoot a 570 or something!” He laughs heartily, a little embar-


rassed by the reception he’s sure to get inside. “I’ll just tell those guys I’m here


to watch,” he says. “Don’t even bother with me. I left it all in Reno!”


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