Arizona bowler competes in 50th consecutive USBC Open Championships
March 04, 2024
LAS VEGAS – For Michael Friedrichs, his annual trip to the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships is more than just a tournament.
From the thrill of competing in a championship venue to the acclaim for a memorable performance on the lanes, there’s always been something special about being part of the event for the 68-year-old right-hander.
Friedrichs, from Glendale, Arizona, elected to add a little more excitement and something new to his trip in 2024 by signing up for the same squad as the tournament’s opening ceremony to celebrate his 50th consecutive tournament appearance Saturday at the South Point Bowling Plaza.
Joined by his wife, Jean, while donning a custom Arizona Diamondbacks bowling jersey with the No. 50, Friedrichs was able to take his honorary march across the lanes as part of the opening festivities and was presented by a chevron, plaque and diamond lapel pin to recognize his longevity at the event.
“It was pretty cool,” said Friedrichs, a Metro Phoenix USBC and Arizona State USBC Hall of Famer. “Everybody marches out, then I come out, then ‘Joe Bowler’ – it just adds to it. When (USBC Deputy Executive Director) Jason (Overstreet) asked me about it during the presentation, I said this is an event. It’s no longer just a tournament. This has become an event, and you just have to be here for that. You can’t describe it to anybody – you just have to be here.
“Jean doesn’t come to very many events, but I think she wanted to be here for this one. It was a big deal to her. She was involved with the team shirts and surprised everyone with those. Those were in the works for two years.”
His journey at the USBC Open Championships started during the 1974 event in Indianapolis, where he was able to take in his first experience alongside family.
“I was in college during my freshman year, and my dad called and said they needed a bowler for Indianapolis,” Friedrichs said. “We drove, and to get there and just see everything for the first time was special. You could read about it, you could look at the pictures, but it’s different to be there. I go back to the time when they still had the guys up above doing the scores by hand. That was pretty cool to see.
“One of the big things I remember about that trip was that my grandfather was also there, and I think he bowled doubles and singles with my dad. His car got towed. That’s one of the things I’ll always remember. My first trip to Indianapolis, and his car got towed.”
As his appearances started to add up, Friedrichs started to see his scores go up, too. He capped his trip to the 1989 event in Wichita, Kansas, with a 300 game in singles.
“It was one of those unexpected things,” said Friedrichs, who rolled one of the 44 300s games at the 1989 event. “I made a huge adjustment the last game and threw 12 strikes. I went from playing fourth arrow to playing outside of first arrow for that one game.
“At that time, American Airlines used to give two round-trip tickets for a 300 at nationals. There were a lot of them in Wichita, so that was the last year of it, but we got to take advantage of that.”
Friedrichs added his name to the record book again at the 1995 event in Reno, Nevada, when he paired with Mike Procaccino to tie the tournament’s top doubles game with 578. Procaccino fired a 300 game in the performance, and Friedrichs added 278.
Although they were passed the following year in Salt Lake City by USBC Hall of Famers Rick and Ron Pollard (580) on the way to the Team All-Events title, the score still is tied for second all-time at the Open Championships nearly 30 years later.
“I’m big on teammates doing well,” Friedrichs said. “I was spending more time rooting for Mike to shoot 300. We weren’t really paying attention to the record. We were just rooting each other on. After we finished, we wondered what the record was and had no idea we tied it. It was pretty cool to have a teammate shoot 300.”
Looking ahead, Friedrichs has a long-term goal of reaching 100,000 pins at the Open Championships and no plans of stopping his annual appearance at the event.
“I’m just going to keep going,” Friedrichs said. “We travel together and have a good time, and I’m just going to keep bowling. Even if I don’t bowl well, it doesn’t matter – you’re not happy with the score, but all in all, you have a good time. We’re already working on dates for next year.”
In his 50th appearance, Friedrichs had sets of 524 in doubles, 488 in team and 475 in singles for a 1,487 total to bring his career pinfall at the tournament to 86,083, a 191.2 average.
The 2024 Open Championships got underway Feb. 23 and will run through July 29 at the South Point Bowling Plaza. The tournament is scheduled to feature more than 11,000 teams and 55,000 bowlers making their way to compete in Las Vegas.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.
From the thrill of competing in a championship venue to the acclaim for a memorable performance on the lanes, there’s always been something special about being part of the event for the 68-year-old right-hander.
Friedrichs, from Glendale, Arizona, elected to add a little more excitement and something new to his trip in 2024 by signing up for the same squad as the tournament’s opening ceremony to celebrate his 50th consecutive tournament appearance Saturday at the South Point Bowling Plaza.
Joined by his wife, Jean, while donning a custom Arizona Diamondbacks bowling jersey with the No. 50, Friedrichs was able to take his honorary march across the lanes as part of the opening festivities and was presented by a chevron, plaque and diamond lapel pin to recognize his longevity at the event.
“It was pretty cool,” said Friedrichs, a Metro Phoenix USBC and Arizona State USBC Hall of Famer. “Everybody marches out, then I come out, then ‘Joe Bowler’ – it just adds to it. When (USBC Deputy Executive Director) Jason (Overstreet) asked me about it during the presentation, I said this is an event. It’s no longer just a tournament. This has become an event, and you just have to be here for that. You can’t describe it to anybody – you just have to be here.
“Jean doesn’t come to very many events, but I think she wanted to be here for this one. It was a big deal to her. She was involved with the team shirts and surprised everyone with those. Those were in the works for two years.”
His journey at the USBC Open Championships started during the 1974 event in Indianapolis, where he was able to take in his first experience alongside family.
“I was in college during my freshman year, and my dad called and said they needed a bowler for Indianapolis,” Friedrichs said. “We drove, and to get there and just see everything for the first time was special. You could read about it, you could look at the pictures, but it’s different to be there. I go back to the time when they still had the guys up above doing the scores by hand. That was pretty cool to see.
“One of the big things I remember about that trip was that my grandfather was also there, and I think he bowled doubles and singles with my dad. His car got towed. That’s one of the things I’ll always remember. My first trip to Indianapolis, and his car got towed.”
As his appearances started to add up, Friedrichs started to see his scores go up, too. He capped his trip to the 1989 event in Wichita, Kansas, with a 300 game in singles.
“It was one of those unexpected things,” said Friedrichs, who rolled one of the 44 300s games at the 1989 event. “I made a huge adjustment the last game and threw 12 strikes. I went from playing fourth arrow to playing outside of first arrow for that one game.
“At that time, American Airlines used to give two round-trip tickets for a 300 at nationals. There were a lot of them in Wichita, so that was the last year of it, but we got to take advantage of that.”
Friedrichs added his name to the record book again at the 1995 event in Reno, Nevada, when he paired with Mike Procaccino to tie the tournament’s top doubles game with 578. Procaccino fired a 300 game in the performance, and Friedrichs added 278.
Although they were passed the following year in Salt Lake City by USBC Hall of Famers Rick and Ron Pollard (580) on the way to the Team All-Events title, the score still is tied for second all-time at the Open Championships nearly 30 years later.
“I’m big on teammates doing well,” Friedrichs said. “I was spending more time rooting for Mike to shoot 300. We weren’t really paying attention to the record. We were just rooting each other on. After we finished, we wondered what the record was and had no idea we tied it. It was pretty cool to have a teammate shoot 300.”
Looking ahead, Friedrichs has a long-term goal of reaching 100,000 pins at the Open Championships and no plans of stopping his annual appearance at the event.
“I’m just going to keep going,” Friedrichs said. “We travel together and have a good time, and I’m just going to keep bowling. Even if I don’t bowl well, it doesn’t matter – you’re not happy with the score, but all in all, you have a good time. We’re already working on dates for next year.”
In his 50th appearance, Friedrichs had sets of 524 in doubles, 488 in team and 475 in singles for a 1,487 total to bring his career pinfall at the tournament to 86,083, a 191.2 average.
The 2024 Open Championships got underway Feb. 23 and will run through July 29 at the South Point Bowling Plaza. The tournament is scheduled to feature more than 11,000 teams and 55,000 bowlers making their way to compete in Las Vegas.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.