Colorado bowler rolls perfect game at USBC Open Championships

RENO, Nev. - Ron Hosler of Denver never spends more than a few weeks bowling the same way, and his adjustments this week helped him to the seventh perfect game of the 2010 USBC Open Championships.

The 59-year-old left-hander started his team event with 12 consecutive strikes and added games of 178 and 224 for a 702 series, which helped Coach's Corner 2 to a 3,138 team total and a spot in the top 20 in Regular Team. Bowlers Edge Pro Shop of Neenah, Wis., leads with 3,408.

"I haven't been throwing the ball all that well lately, so I decided to change a few things," said Hosler, who bowls league at Bowlero Lanes in Lakewood, Colo. "The last thing I did was get my hand more behind the ball, and things fell into place. I threw the 11th shot about as well as I could ever throw a bowling ball, and that gave me a lot of confidence for the last shot. I was nervous, and I don't know if I was shaking or not, but I felt like I was."

Although he's bowled for most of his life, Hosler says he's a work in progress and didn't really learn to bowl until he attended a seminar with legendary coach John Jowdy in 1996.

"I tell people that it took me 35 years to learn how to bowl, and I didn't have a lot of talent when I was a kid," Hosler said. "After that seminar, I started to improve a lot. I bowl because I love it. I keep working at it, and I'm a better bowler now at 59 than I've ever been."

Hosler often varies his style, footwork, swing and everything in between, and Friday, it paid off at the National Bowling Stadium.

"I always change things, and I have never bowled the same way for more than a few weeks," Hosler said. "It took me this long to get this narrowed down, and now, it has paid off."

Presenting sponsors for the 2010 USBC Open Championships are Circus Circus, Eldorado Hotel Casino and Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada. Other sponsors include Sands Regency Casino Hotel, official brackets sponsor, Kegel, official lane maintenance provider, US Steltronic, official scoring system, and supporting sponsors Storm Bowling Products, UPS, Nationwide Insurance, Atlantis Casino Resort and Spa, Harrah's Reno Casino and Hotel and Peppermill Hotel Casino.