Gerhart and Vick lead Regular Doubles at 2026 USBC Open Championships
April 14, 2026
Pictured above (from left): David Gerhart and Daniel Vick
RENO, Nev. – David Gerhart of York, Pennsylvania, and Daniel Vick of Pittsford, New York, combined for a score of 1,521 on Monday evening at the 2026 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships to take the lead in Regular Doubles.
The performance ranks ninth all-time across 122 editions of the tournament. The record score in doubles was posted in 2009 by Stephen and Brenda Padilla of Mansfield, Texas, with 1,566.
Vick led the way at the National Bowling Stadium with games of 257, 253 and 279 for a 789 series, while Gerhart had 245, 208 and 279 for 732.
Josh Blanchard of Mesa, Arizona, and Timothy Simonis of Queen Creek, Arizona, previously held the lead with 1,436.
The history between Gerhart and Vick dates back to the mid-2000s, when they were collegiate teammates at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The southpaws have built plenty of trust in each other since their time together in Western New York, and it was on display Monday through 60 clean frames and plenty of striking.
“The game plan was pretty simple – just keep it left, stay on top of each other’s moves and communicate,” said Gerhart, who made his 17th appearance at the USBC Open Championships. “It’s all about communication – talking about what’s going on and making the adjustments according to what we see. We bowled in college together in the 2000s, so we’ve had 20 years of doing this.”
Gerhart fought some carry issues in Game 2, noting, “I just had to keep filling the frames and move things forward – you can’t change things once they’re done. You just do what you can to fill the boxes and hope the strikes fall. I was hitting the pocket, so I needed to make minor adjustments because you don’t want to give the pocket away on something this tricky.”
The strikes started falling again for both in Game 3. Gerhart started with eight strikes before recording a nine count and spare in the ninth, while Vick kicked off the game with a spare before delivering eight in a row.
Vick, the owner of a 300 game at the Open Championships (2016), needed the final three hits to reach 800. After connecting for his ninth consecutive strike, he left a 7 pin and covered the spare. Gerhart struck out to close out the matching 279s.
The pair has found success in doubles in the past at the Open Championships, including an eighth-place finish in 2019 with 1,390. Vick also finished fourth in Regular All-Events in 2024 with 2,194.
“It’s pretty cool,” Gerhart said. “We’ve been out here for 10-plus years now. We’ve had a couple numbers to leave in the top 10, but this is the first time leaving with the lead. You can’t win unless you leave with the lead.
“I was just trying to stay with him and keep up. He’s one of the average leaders out here, and it’s a privilege to bowl with him and watch how he attacks things. I’ve told the guys many times, if I can fall into 700 or 730, we’d have a shot at an Eagle. Sure enough, Dan gave me 789 with it, so we’ll see what happens. To have a number like that with someone you’ve been friends with for 20-plus years is awesome. It’s definitely something we won’t forget.”
The longtime friends will begin to play the waiting game to see if they posted the number to beat in 2026, but they know it’s up to the rest of the field now to catch them.
“I’m sure we’ll check BOWL.com occasionally, but we can’t do anything about it now – it’s out of our court,” Gerhart said. “It’s out of our hands, but it would be amazing if it hangs on.”
Gerhart closed his 2026 appearance with 670 in singles and 642 in team for an all-events score of 2,044. Vick finished a pin behind at 2,043 after 628 in team and 626 in singles.
The Open Championships is celebrating its 122nd edition in 2026 and making its 15th trip to Reno, Nevada. The 2026 event is scheduled to feature more than 55,000 bowlers and 11,000 five-player teams competing across 128 consecutive days at the National Bowling Stadium.
Follow the action from the tournament’s official Facebook and Instagram accounts.
RENO, Nev. – David Gerhart of York, Pennsylvania, and Daniel Vick of Pittsford, New York, combined for a score of 1,521 on Monday evening at the 2026 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships to take the lead in Regular Doubles.
The performance ranks ninth all-time across 122 editions of the tournament. The record score in doubles was posted in 2009 by Stephen and Brenda Padilla of Mansfield, Texas, with 1,566.
Vick led the way at the National Bowling Stadium with games of 257, 253 and 279 for a 789 series, while Gerhart had 245, 208 and 279 for 732.
Josh Blanchard of Mesa, Arizona, and Timothy Simonis of Queen Creek, Arizona, previously held the lead with 1,436.
The history between Gerhart and Vick dates back to the mid-2000s, when they were collegiate teammates at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The southpaws have built plenty of trust in each other since their time together in Western New York, and it was on display Monday through 60 clean frames and plenty of striking.
“The game plan was pretty simple – just keep it left, stay on top of each other’s moves and communicate,” said Gerhart, who made his 17th appearance at the USBC Open Championships. “It’s all about communication – talking about what’s going on and making the adjustments according to what we see. We bowled in college together in the 2000s, so we’ve had 20 years of doing this.”
Gerhart fought some carry issues in Game 2, noting, “I just had to keep filling the frames and move things forward – you can’t change things once they’re done. You just do what you can to fill the boxes and hope the strikes fall. I was hitting the pocket, so I needed to make minor adjustments because you don’t want to give the pocket away on something this tricky.”
The strikes started falling again for both in Game 3. Gerhart started with eight strikes before recording a nine count and spare in the ninth, while Vick kicked off the game with a spare before delivering eight in a row.
Vick, the owner of a 300 game at the Open Championships (2016), needed the final three hits to reach 800. After connecting for his ninth consecutive strike, he left a 7 pin and covered the spare. Gerhart struck out to close out the matching 279s.
The pair has found success in doubles in the past at the Open Championships, including an eighth-place finish in 2019 with 1,390. Vick also finished fourth in Regular All-Events in 2024 with 2,194.
“It’s pretty cool,” Gerhart said. “We’ve been out here for 10-plus years now. We’ve had a couple numbers to leave in the top 10, but this is the first time leaving with the lead. You can’t win unless you leave with the lead.
“I was just trying to stay with him and keep up. He’s one of the average leaders out here, and it’s a privilege to bowl with him and watch how he attacks things. I’ve told the guys many times, if I can fall into 700 or 730, we’d have a shot at an Eagle. Sure enough, Dan gave me 789 with it, so we’ll see what happens. To have a number like that with someone you’ve been friends with for 20-plus years is awesome. It’s definitely something we won’t forget.”
The longtime friends will begin to play the waiting game to see if they posted the number to beat in 2026, but they know it’s up to the rest of the field now to catch them.
“I’m sure we’ll check BOWL.com occasionally, but we can’t do anything about it now – it’s out of our court,” Gerhart said. “It’s out of our hands, but it would be amazing if it hangs on.”
Gerhart closed his 2026 appearance with 670 in singles and 642 in team for an all-events score of 2,044. Vick finished a pin behind at 2,043 after 628 in team and 626 in singles.
The Open Championships is celebrating its 122nd edition in 2026 and making its 15th trip to Reno, Nevada. The 2026 event is scheduled to feature more than 55,000 bowlers and 11,000 five-player teams competing across 128 consecutive days at the National Bowling Stadium.
Follow the action from the tournament’s official Facebook and Instagram accounts.