Oklahoma group makes run at two USBC scoring records

ARLINGTON, Texas - Oklahoma’s Jimmy McMartin is no stranger to the record book and performing on bowling’s biggest stages, and the 39-year-old right-hander nearly was part of a pair of national records Saturday during the 87th edition of the famous Southwest Tournament in Wichita, Kansas.

The 2021 event is being held across nine weekends at Northrock Lanes, a center that has been the backdrop for many memorable moments and big scores.

That was the case again Saturday morning as McMartin and his X Frames Pro Shop 4 teammates started the three-game team event with a run at the highest five-player team game in United States Bowling Congress history and went on to challenge the series record, as well, ultimately falling into second place all-time in both categories.

McMartin, who was part of the team that won the Regular Team title at the 2014 USBC Open Championships with a tournament-record score of 3,720, led his group’s opening-game effort Saturday with a perfect performance.

His 300 was followed by AJ Nowak (299), Dustin Hearn (280), Mark Ward (279) and Trey Ford III (279) for a 1,437 total, just shy of the 1,457 game rolled by Shelter Insurance of St. Louis in February 2020.

XFramesProShopForWeb637x359The X Frames group continued striking in the three-game team event and added games of 1,220 and 1,292 for a 3,949 total. Hearn set the pace with an 817 series and was followed by Nowak (788), Ford (788), McMartin (784) and Ward (772). The BJ’s, also from St. Louis, rolled a record 3,986 set in March 2016.

Both of Saturday’s achievements are pending approval from USBC.

The performance did help X Frames Pro Shop 4 into the Open Team lead at the Southwest Tournament. TD’s Pro Shop 2 of Liberal, Kansas, previously held the lead with a 3,777 handicap total. X Frames Pro Shop 4 did not receive any additional pins.

The tournament kicked off in mid-February and will conclude April 11.

Earlier this season, Northrock’s own Brent Bowers, a former Junior Team USA member and two-time national champion with Wichita State, set the individual house and state record with games of 299, 300 and 300 for an 899 set.

To learn more about all USBC records, visit BOWL.com/Records.