RENO, Nev. – When a talented two-team group of southpaws made their way to the 2015 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships in El Paso, Texas, the bowling world took notice.

Now known as the Lefty Mafia for their annual appearance at the tournament, the intrigue has remained to see whether a group of 10 left-handers could find something special on the championship lanes.

This week at the National Bowling Stadium for the 2023 edition of the event, the teams made multiple runs into the top 10, highlighted by Zachary Karr of Fremont, Nebraska, throwing three strikes in his final frame Monday to take over the lead in Regular All-Events by three pins with a 2,120 total.

Karr, 26, entered his final game of singles needing 275 to match the 2,117 score posted by Blaine Weninger of Clackamas, Oregon. He started with seven consecutive strikes, before a 3-5 combination and spare conversion in the eighth. He struck on his final four deliveries for 278 to cap his top performance in seven visits to the USBC Open Championships.

While his teammates knew the number he needed to reach in the final game, Karr didn’t realize he took the lead until he was greeted with high-fives and congratulations after the fact.

“I definitely was just in the process,” said Karr, who bowled collegiately at Midland University. “I had no idea until the very last ball was thrown. I was just trying to keep everything in front of me, make spares and keep everything simple. I didn’t want to give the pocket away, and I think I was pretty decent at doing that this week.”

Karr started his appearance this week with a 743 set in team to help Lefty Mafia 1 of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, into seventh place in Regular Team with a 3,282 total.

He added 717 in singles to move into eighth place and had 660 in doubles.

Although the big final game in singles helped push him to the number, things could have gone a different way if he didn’t make a move in doubles. After a 213 start, Karr rolled 169 in Game 2. He finished doubles with 278 to stay in contention.

“I was pinched between a rock and a hard place,” Karr said. “I was throwing a low-end ball, pin down, trying to just get it to read in the middle and maybe settle down toward the back end of the lane. We noticed they were getting tighter. I thought if I could keep everything in the front and middle ahead of me, it would be all right. It did not work in my favor that way. Kirk (Aduddell) and Richie (Wolfe) had mentioned to try balling down another one and get one out to find the friction. That worked just fine. That ball was a great choice.”

Each of Karr’s appearances at the Open Championships have been with the Lefty Mafia since his debut in 2016, and a chance encounter helped get Karr on the radar of Mark Scroggins.

Since joining the squad, he helped the team to a ninth-place finish in Regular Team at the 2019 event in Las Vegas before his big run this week in Reno.

“Mike and Mark Scroggins formulated this a couple years ago, and I’m blessed to be part of it,” Karr said. “It’s a bit of fun luck on how I got into the group. I met Mark out in Las Vegas while bowling a collegiate event. Unfortunately, their team had a guy drop out due to an injury, and Mark noticed me throwing some strikes at that event. I’m very fortunate to come out and join them.”


Lefty Mafia 1 (from left): Kirk Aduddell, Zachary Karr, Daron Hansen, Anggie Ramirez and Richard Wolfe

Lefty Mafia 1 also moved into fifth place in Team All-Events with a 9,415 total. Karr was joined on the team by Wolfe (2,000), Anggie Ramirez (1,824), Aduddell (1,773) and Daron Hansen (1,698).

Ramirez and Doug Becker, who rolled a 300 game in doubles at the 2006 event, also took over ninth place in Regular Doubles with 1,301.

Lefty Mafia A featured Becker, 2005 USBC Masters and 2009 U.S. Open champion Mike Scroggins, Will Scroggins, Chris Castro and Jason Proudlock.

The teamwork and cohesion between the team members matches the individual accolades each of them holds, and winning at the Open Championships would mean something special to them as a group.

“It would mean the world and be absolutely incredible,” Karr said. “I was just trying to keep my eyes on everyone and make sure we were all together and making the best shots we could. It would be absolutely surreal.”

The Regular Division features bowlers with entering averages of 176 and above.

The 2023 Open Championships kicked off March 4 and will conclude July 24. The 143-day tournament will feature more than 9,700 five-player teams and nearly 50,000 bowlers making their way to compete in The Biggest Little City in the World.

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