Matt Cannizzaro
USBC Communications

Ryan Zagar

Ryan Zagar of Kenosha, Wisconsin, put together an unforgettable run during his United States Bowling Congress Open Championships debut in 2015 and jump-started that performance by pacing the field in Open Singles at the Bowlers Journal Championships presented by USBC.

The 21-year-old right-hander claimed the top prize of $10,000 with games of 266, 243 and 247 for a 766 series at the El Paso Convention Center, which included needing a double in the final frame to surpass the 757 set posted by runner-up Sean Corbett of San Antonio. Corbett earned $7,000 for his performance.

Zagar, a former Junior Team USA member, also competed in doubles during the same set to become eligible for the Dual Entry prize list. He earned an additional $1,000 for topping the Dual Entry standings.

"It's exciting, and the student loans are going to be a little better off, too," said Zagar, a collegiate standout at Robert Morris-Illinois who helped the Eagles capture the men's title at the 2013 XBowling Intercollegiate Team Championships. "It was a blessing in disguise how I even ended up at the tournament this year. It's a great group of guys, and they are very supportive. We fed off each other the entire time out there, and the fact this was the first set off the plane makes it even better. It was the start of an incredible trip."

The momentum from Zagar's performance at the Bowlers Journal Championships also translated to success at the USBC Open Championships as he nearly took home an eagle in his first appearance.

He made a run at the Regular Singles lead before settling into second place with a 787 series. His overall performance left him in seventh place in Regular All-Events (2,104), and he helped High Five Gear of Wichita, Kansas, into eighth place in Regular Team (3,214) and 10th in Team All-Events (9,628).

Two-time Open Championships titlist Bo Goergen of Sanford, Michigan, added two more trophies to his mantle after winning Senior Singles at the 2015 Bowlers Journal Championships and teaming with Jerome Penxa Jr. of Romeo, Michigan, for the Senior Doubles crown.

Goergen claimed the singles title and $4,000 with games of 231, 247 and 258 for a 736 series and was entered in doubles with Penxa during the same set. Penxa added a 621 series for a 1,357 total. The doubles win earned the pair $2,000.

"It means a lot, and it's an accomplishment I'm very proud of," said Goergen, who won the 2009 Regular Singles title at the Open Championships with a record score of 862 and returned the next year to help his team to the Team All-Events win. "I'm probably more excited for Jerry than I am myself, already having the opportunity to win two eagles at the Open. To be able to share this with someone that hadn't quite experienced something at this level is exciting."

Les Shirwindt of Las Vegas and Marcia Solberg of Webster, South Dakota, also took home singles titles at the 2015 Bowlers Journal, worth $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.

Shirwindt, a 2011 Team All-Events champion at the Open Championships, earned the top spot in the Super Senior Singles standings with a 721 effort, while Solberg finished with a 707 series to capture the 199 & Under Handicap Singles title.

Jonathan Wilbur of North Clarendon, Vermont, and Todd Lathrop of Colchester, Connecticut, took home the Open Doubles title and $7,500 with a 1,419 total, and David Armstrong of Naperville, Illinois, and Susan Schlink of Chicago won Handicap Doubles, worth $1,200, with 1,276.

A total of 27 bowlers claimed a share of the 30 Clean Jackpot at the Bowlers Journal Championships in 2015, worth $585.63 apiece. Three bowlers hit the Strike-It-Rich Jackpot, worth $5,270.67 each, and former Junior Team USA member Chris Bardol of Brockport, New York, fired a 300 game to win the High Game Jackpot and $15,812 prize.

For the third consecutive year, the Bowlers Journal was held under the same roof as the Open Championships and featured the same lane condition used during doubles and singles at the Open Championships.

Both events will return to the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada, in 2016.

For more information on the Bowlers Journal Championships or Open Championships, visit BOWL.com/OpenChamp.

Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open/Women's Championships page.

2015 BOWLERS JOURNAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Presented by USBC
El Paso Convention Center, El Paso, Texas

*NOTE: All standings are unofficial and pending final verification.

OPEN SINGLES
1, Ryan Zagar, Kenosha, Wis., 766. 2, Sean Corbett, San Antonio, 757. 3, Sean Brady, Cincinnati, 754. 4, Eric Traylor, Cypress, Texas, 753. 5, Warren Crawford, McKinleyville, Calif., 751. 6(tie), Charlie Brown Jr., Grandville, Mich., and Brian Hayes, Arvada, Colo., 749. 8, Jason Munkberg, Redding, Calif., 748. 9, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 745. 10, Chris Muldrow, Oak Forest, Ill., 736.

SENIOR SINGLES
1, Bo Goergen, Sanford, Mich., 736. 2, Noel Vazquez, Sacramento, Calif., 711. 3, Dave Welage, Cincinnati, 705. 4, Bubba Haney, College Station, Texas, 701. 5, Michael Zarnick, Fishkill, N.Y., 696. 6, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 695. 7, Mark Glover, Woodbridge, Va., 693. 8, Robert Brown, Cody, Wyo., 690. 9, Todd Lathrop, Colchester, Conn., 686. 10, Al Pote, Lake City, Ill., 685.

SUPER SENIOR SINGLES (60+)
1, Les Shirwindt, Las Vegas, 721. 2, William Nichols, Roseville, Calif., 690. 3, Jerry Toenyes, Rancho Murieta, Calif., 681. 4, Rick Minier, Houston, 680. 5, Gordon Kilpatrick, Waterloo, Iowa, 678. 6, Joseph Nuzzo, Girard, Ohio, 676. 7, Edwin Menapace, Denton, Texas, 672. 8, Michael Henry, Strongsville, Ohio, 668. 9, Emilio Mora Sr., Defiance, Ohio, 662. 10, Robert Flaws, Orland Park, Ill, 659.

199 & UNDER HANDICAP SINGLES
1, Marcia Solberg, Webster, S.D., 707. 2, Steve Stalter, Eagle Mountain, Utah, 697. 3, Susan Schlink, Chicago, 672. 4, Jon Hicks, Rainsville, Ala., 662. 5, Belle Garcia, Chicago, 658. 6, Rolfe Ludtke, Webster, S.D., 645. 7, Shawn Kos, Shelton, Conn., 642. 8, Greg Smith, Coweta, Okla., 635. 9, Gabriel Graham, Rainsville, Ala., 630. 10(tie), LaDeena Gray, Eureka, Calif., and David Gonzales, Lovington, N.M., 628.

OPEN DOUBLES
1, Jonathan Wilbur, North Clarendon, Vt./Todd Lathrop, Colchester, Conn., 1,419. 2, Todd Whitesides, Lake Wylie, S.C./Chris Arcaro, Charlotte, N.C., 1,414. 3, Craig Nidiffer, Trenton, Mich./Mario Quintero, Mexico City, 1,408. 4, Aric Alcaraz, Midlothian, Texas/Dino Castillo, Lewisville, Texas, 1,397. 5, Jeff Fehr, Cincinnati/Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio, 1,395. 6(tie), PJ Haggerty, Roseville, Calif./AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa, and Chris Drewes, Wichita, Kan./Ryan Zagar, Kenosha, Wis., 1,394. 8, Arturo Quintero, El Paso, Texas/Mario Quintero, Mexico City, 1,384. 9(tie), Dale Hofmeister Jr., Essexville, Mich./Dan Long, Bakersfield, Calif., and Jimmy Beavers, Oklahoma City/Tim Benson, Purcell, Okla., 1,378.

SENIOR DOUBLES
1, Bo Goergen, Sanford, Mich./Jerome Penxa Jr., Romeo, Mich., 1,357. 2, Rick Pollard, Versailles, Ind./Dave Welage, Cincinnati, 1,356. 3, Scott Myers, Thornton, Colo./Karl Schmidt, Arvada, Colo., 1,339. 4, Dwight Burns, Tucson, Ariz./Warren Eales, Chandler, Ariz., 1,334. 5, Sam Carter, Ben Lomond, Calif./Gordon Kilpatrick, Waterloo, Iowa, 1,324. 6, William Nichols, Roseville, Calif./Terry Leong, Henderson, Nev., 1,316. 7, Bubba Haney, College Station, Texas/Rick Minier, Houston, 1,315. 8, Mike Taylor, Haverton, Pa./William Nichols, Roseville, Calif., 1,306. 9, Terry Leong, Henderson, Nev./Greg McMahan, Dandridge, Tenn., 1,303. 10(tie), Dave Welage/Alan Runkel, Cincinnati, and Ryan Lever, Muskego, Wis./Lennie Boresch, Kenosha, Wis., 1,292.

HANDICAP DOUBLES
1, David Armstrong, Naperville, Ill./Susan Schlink, Chicago, 1,276. 2, Steve Stalter, Eagle Mountain, Utah/Edward Sam Wadley, Lehi, Utah, 1,275. 3, Belle Garcia/Susan Schlink, Chicago, 1,262. 4, Jan Schmidt, Naperville, Ill./Susan Schlink, Chicago, 1,257. 5, Brittney Harper/Gabriel Graham, Rainsville, Ala., 1,255. 6, Jon Hicks/Gabriel Graham, Rainsville, Ala., 1,246. 7, Darrell Pedersen/Michael Thielen, Eagle Grove, Iowa, 1,243. 8, John Hicks/Brittney Harper, Rainsville, Ala., 1,236. 9(tie), Belle Garcia, Chicago/Kelly Plummer, Westchester, Ill., and Lorri Lacroix/Darryl Leclair, Vassalboro, Maine, 1,230.

DUAL ENTRY
1, Ryan Zagar, Kenosha, Wis., 766. 2, Sean Brady, Cincinnati, 754. 3, Warren Crawford, McKinleyville, Calif., 751. 4, Jason Munkberg, Redding, Calif., 748. 5(tie), Chris Muldrow, Oak Forest, Ill., and Bo Goergen, Sanford, Mich., 736. 7, William Welch, Coral Springs, Fla., 735. 8, Jonathan Wilbur, North Clarendon, Vt., 733. 9(tie), Edward Rede, El Paso, Texas, and Craig LeMond, Jasper, Ind., 730.

30 CLEAN JACKPOT
1(tie), Barron White, El Paso, Texas; Jeffrey Thomas, Indianapolis; Matt Cabanski, San Antonio; Stevie Weber, San Antonio; Steve Poffinbarger, Benton, Ill.; Taylor Beardsley, Anchorage, Alaska; David Cirigliano, Phoenix; Derwin Pitre, Youngsville, La.; Dave Welage, Cincinnati; Ronnie Horton, Christiansburg, Va.; Mario Quintero, Mexico City; Franklin Snodgrass, Sterling Heights, Mich.; Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas; Ryan Lever, Muskego, Wis.; Michael Mallwitz, Grand Island, N.Y.; Tim Pfeifer, Oakdale, Pa.; Eddie VanDaniker Jr., Chatsworth, Calif.; Robert Worrall, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Rick Irvine, Little Elm, Texas; Chuck Buchert, San Antonio; Aric Alcaraz, Midlothian, Texas; Jason Conner, Princeton, W. Va.; Aaron Lorincz, Belleville, Ky.; Brett Shepherd, Louisville, Ky.; Jonathan Wilbur, North Clarendon, Vt.; Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan.; Matthew O'Grady, Matawan, N.J., 30.

HIGH GAME JACKPOT
1, Chris Bardol, Brockport, N.Y., 300.

STRIKE-IT-RICH JACKPOT
1(tie), Jimmy Cook, Indianapolis; Jeff Butler, Clarksville, Tenn.; Chad Lusche, Parker, Colo., 9.