RENO, Nev. - As a former Junior Team USA member and collegiate bowler, Jason Wunderlich of Homestead, Pa., has learned about bowling from some of the best bowling coaches around. Through those experiences, the 27-year-old right-hander was able to prepare himself for the next phase of his bowling career.

Wunderlich showed how far he's come when he highlighted his second appearance at the USBC Open Championships with the 46th perfect game of the 2011 event Saturday.

After starting his sophomore campaign with a 188 game, Wunderlich put his experience to the test by making the necessary moves, which resulted in 12 consecutive strikes and a 300 game. He added 256 for a 744 total and helped his Monongahela, Pa., team to a 3,274 total. Turbo 2-N-1 Grips 1 of Madison, Wis., leads Regular Team with 3,473.

Entering this year's Open Championships at the National Bowling Stadium, Wunderlich had two major goals. The first was to eclipse the 1,900 mark in all-events again, and the second was not to let his more experienced teammates down.

"It was pretty fun because I shot 180 the game before," said Wunderlich, who bowls league at Nesbits Lanes in Pittsburgh. "This is only my second year on the team with a lot of other experienced guys, like Bruce Hollen, who now has 30 years. I just tried not to screw up, and this helped me feel like I contributed a little bit. I would rank this right up there with making Junior Team USA and making the TV show with Robert Morris at the ITC."

Wunderlich helped lead Robert Morris University (Pa.) to a runner-up finish at the 2007 USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships, where communication and team play typically are at their finest. While he doesn't get the opportunity to bowl many team events, he relishes the chance to compete at the Open Championships, where communication also is at a premium.

"Team play and communication were key today, similar to collegiate bowling," said Wunderlich, who also hones his skills at Playmor Bowl. "Some of the guys we bowled with have competed in the Brunswick World Team Challenge. A lot of them made up Pittsburgh's Team Brunswick. Bowling with them really puts me back in the team mode."

Wunderlich also is a USBC Sport member and enjoys competing on challenging conditions to help improve his skills. The Open Championships has been Sport-certified since 2008.

"This tournament is definitely something the sport needs to continue to thrive," said Wunderlich, who added 669 in singles and 623 in doubles for a 2,036 all-events total to go along with last year's 1,947 effort. "You can see the difference in skill level when you bowl on Sport conditions. It's another way for me to be measured. You can have several 300s on house patterns, but it means a lot more when you do it on Sport."

A few minutes after Wunderlich's 300 was in the books, Chad Svendsen of Monroe, Wis., was hard at work on a string of strikes of his own two pairs of lanes away.

Svendsen struggled to a 159 opening game but regrouped and fired 11 consecutive strikes in his second game before a 4 pin ended his bid for perfection. The 26-year-old right-hander added a 247 game for a 705 series and aided Warhawks of Milton, Wis., to a 3,308 total. The near-perfect effort was the 21st 299 of this year's tournament.

"It feels amazing," said Svendsen, who made his ninth Open Championships appearance. "I made a move on the last ball because I figured I would get slow. I pulled it and almost got away with it. I've never been close here before. I've had 250s and 260s, so it's a good feeling when the screen turns red."

In the past three years, Svendsen has been a regular near the top of the leaderboards. In 2009, he teamed with Jonathan Schalow for a fifth-place finish in Regular Doubles, and last year, his team gave the top spot in Regular Team a run, but eventually settled in third place.

Svendsen's teammates, along with their companion team, all competed collegiately at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Their familiarity makes communication and team play easy for the group.

"It's about working together," said Svendsen, who is a manager of Leisure Lanes. "We have 10 solid guys who work together well. It's not just our five guys. We're all making moves together. If someone sees something, everybody speaks up. We don't throw a shot without being comfortable and knowing we can do it. As a team, we look forward to scoring. We have a solid 10 guys who love the sport and love to bowl. All the practice we do contributes to our success."

Svendsen finished the year with 596 in doubles and 567 in singles for a 1,868 all-events total.

Click here to watch video highlights from the 2011 Open Championships.
Presenting sponsors for the 2011 USBC Open Championships are Circus Circus, Eldorado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno. Other sponsors include Sands Regency Casino Hotel, official brackets sponsor, Kegel, official lane maintenance provider, Humana, official registration sponsor, 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.