RENO, Nev. - Matt McNiel of Prior Lake, Minn., has been on a historic run at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships since 2010 and nearly put himself in position to add a fourth eagle to his mantle with another memorable performance at the National Bowling Stadium on Wednesday night.

He and Charles Vashaw of Deephaven, Minn., entered this year's event as the defending Regular Doubles champions, while McNiel also came in as the reigning Regular All-Events winner, but this time, McNiel shined in singles.

The 27-year-old left-hander got off to a slow start with a 612 series in team but averaged more than 247 in doubles and singles, closing with games of 258, 277 and 252 for a 787 singles set, which is second overall. Team USA member John Szczerbinski of North Tonawanda, N.Y., leads Regular Singles with 789.

"I just started seeing the lanes open up," said McNiel, who made his seventh USBC Open Championships appearance. "I had a good enough ball reaction and was throwing it well enough that I thought I could make a legitimate run at it."
 


McNiel started his final game with three consecutive strikes, before a 4-6-7-10 split ended his chance to become the first bowler in tournament history with four 800 series on the championship lanes. An 8 pin on his next shot ended his chance of adding a singles title to his resume.

"When I saw how they started setting up that third game of doubles, it was time to go," McNiel said. "That's when I started amping it up just a little bit. I love to get excited out there, and it really drives me to come back and make another good shot. The end result is what it is, but when I saw that transition happen, I got hungry again and thought it could happen."

A second-consecutive all-events title was a longshot for McNiel after his team event Tuesday, but it was a position he'd been in before. After doubles, however, repeating was mathematically impossible.

McNiel was in a similar spot after winning Regular All-Events in 2010 with a record score of 2,326, but he fell short in his first bid to repeat, settling for a third-place finish in 2011. This time, he posted a 2,099 all-events total, which is just outside of the top 10. Szczerbinski leads Regular All-Events with 2,228.

In doubles this year, McNiel and Vashaw never got into a groove and finished with a 1,252 total. McNiel led the way with a 700 series, while Vashaw added 552. Joe Conti Jr. of Liverpool, N.Y., and Derek Magno of Cicero, N.Y., share the Regular Doubles lead this year with Joe Keltner and Chris Greene of Wichita, Kan., with 1,403.

On the way to the 2012 doubles title, McNiel rolled a 300 game and 847 series, making him the first Open Championships bowler with three career 800s on bowling's biggest stage. He also shot 806 in singles in 2010 and 822 in doubles in 2011. Vashaw, a Team All-Events champion in 2002 and 2006, contributed a 642 total to the winning effort in 2012.

"It wasn't the performance I was looking for," said Vashaw, who made his 28th Open Championships appearance and finished with a 1,747 all-events total. "Knowing what Matt shoots out here, I know I have to get going from the start, and I didn't do that. I was nervous coming in as the defending champion, and I think the past two times I didn't start off well either. We'll work hard and come back next year and bowl as well as we can. We have a fantastic group of guys, and we always have a lot of fun."

Regardless of the outcome, McNiel and his Linds Lakers 1 teammates had another enjoyable tournament experience that also left them in eighth place in Regular Team with a 3,436 total and eighth place in Team All-Events with 9,953.

USBC Hall of Famer Todd Savoy added a 1,980 all-events total for Linds Lakers 1 and was followed by Luke Voaklander (1,972), John Eiss (1,966), Samuel Lantto (1,936).

"I'm proud of myself and proud of my teammates," McNiel said. "It was a great tournament, and I had a blast. That's the most important thing."

Presenting sponsors for the 2013 USBC Open Championships include Circus Circus Reno, Eldorado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno.