Opening ceremony welcomes bowlers to Las Vegas for 2024 Open Championships
March 02, 2024
LAS VEGAS – Local and bowling dignitaries helped to welcome competitors to Las Vegas and the South Point Bowling Plaza on Saturday with the official opening ceremony for the 2024 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
A group of 47 teams took part in the festivities, as the 2024 event expects to bring in more than 11,000 five-player teams and 55,000 bowlers to compete in the 120th edition of the event through July 29. The last time the tournament surpassed 11,000 team entries was in 2012.
Competition got underway at the 2024 USBC Open Championships on Feb. 23, before taking a brief hiatus from Feb. 27-March 1 to welcome the Special Olympics National Unified Tournament to the 60-lane venue.
The 2024 event originally was scheduled to start March 2, but the early demand for spots resulted in the tournament staff opening up additional squads in February. The opening ceremony remained the same for those who previously registered to take part in the celebration.
The ceremony featured a ribbon-cutting, Mass Ball Shot and the ceremonial first ball from “Joe Bowler.” The competitor selected as “Joe Bowler” for 2024 was Jacob Mills of Rocklin, California, who donned the ceremonial crown, cape and scepter during the presentation and rolled an eight count to help usher in the festivities.
Mills was making his tournament debut Saturday and quickly appreciated the history he joined with his selection. The tradition of “Joe Bowler” dates back to 1951 at the Open Championships.
“Besides the nerves, I felt honored,” Mills said. “I was not expecting to come here my first time and get that type of award. I thought someday it would be cool to have that, but I was not expecting that to happen today. I feel honored to have the privilege to do that.”
Mills joined his group – George Ortola Team 2 of Citrus Heights, California – when a spot opened up, and he’s hoping to create a tradition of his own at the tournament moving forward.
“The team asked if I was able to bowl, since they had seen me bowl outside of league, and a spot opened up,” Mills said. “I want to someday be like Michael (Friedrichs) and have my 50th year, so I will probably be back next year and the year after that.”
The presentation also featured a ceremony to recognize Michael Friedrichs of Glendale, Arizona, on his 50th consecutive tournament appearance.
Friedrichs, 68, made his tournament debut at the 1974 event in Indianapolis and rolled a 300 game in singles competition during the 1989 tournament in Wichita, Kansas. He was presented with a chevron, plaque and diamond lapel pin for his achievement.
The crowd in attendance was addressed by Las Vegas Events President Tim Keener and South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa General Manager Ryan Growney, and entertainment was provided by Dennis Blair.
With several days of competition already in the books at the 2024 event, only one lead change took place during the opening ceremony.
The members of Maple Family Centers 2 of Rockville Centre, New York, took over the top spot in Regular Team after games of 1,043, 904 and 956 for a 2,903 total. The 2002 Regular Team champion – Bruno’s Pizza of Lafayette, Indiana – previously held the lead with 2,867.
Professional Bowlers Association and USBC Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli led the team effort Saturday with a 629 series and was joined at the Bowling Plaza by Santiago Romero (598), Richard Jones (590), David Washburn (556) and 2011 Team All-Events champion Les Shirwindt (530).
MT Chiropractic of Hardin, Montana, leads Standard Team at the 2024 Open Championships with 2,678, and Lendon Garrison Team 1 of Kansas City, Missouri, is pacing the way in Classified Team with 2,320.
During the first week of the 2024 Open Championships, USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Glenn Allison set the tournament’s participation record by competing in his 72nd tournament.
The 93-year-old from Corona, California, is a four-time Eagle winner and broke a record previously shared with USBC Hall of Famers Bill Doehrman and Joe Norris, along with Sylvester Thiel, at 71 years.
Allison remains in third place on the tournament’s all-time pinfall list with 123,341 pins. He is 430 pins away from passing Norris for second on the list (123,770) and needs 747 pins to surpass USBC Hall of Famer Bill Lillard Sr. for the pinfall record (124,087).
Friedrichs became the second bowler to celebrate 50 years at the 2024 event, as James Daniel of Dadeville, Alabama, reached the milestone during the first week of competition.
A total of 24 bowlers are expected to reach 50 years during the 2024 event, and four bowlers (Robert Brissette, Dale Diamond, Wayne Hutchinson and John Kerpan) are looking to make their 60th tournament appearance.
The Open Championships is making its seventh appearance in Las Vegas and fifth trip to the Bowling Plaza.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.
A group of 47 teams took part in the festivities, as the 2024 event expects to bring in more than 11,000 five-player teams and 55,000 bowlers to compete in the 120th edition of the event through July 29. The last time the tournament surpassed 11,000 team entries was in 2012.
Competition got underway at the 2024 USBC Open Championships on Feb. 23, before taking a brief hiatus from Feb. 27-March 1 to welcome the Special Olympics National Unified Tournament to the 60-lane venue.
The 2024 event originally was scheduled to start March 2, but the early demand for spots resulted in the tournament staff opening up additional squads in February. The opening ceremony remained the same for those who previously registered to take part in the celebration.
The ceremony featured a ribbon-cutting, Mass Ball Shot and the ceremonial first ball from “Joe Bowler.” The competitor selected as “Joe Bowler” for 2024 was Jacob Mills of Rocklin, California, who donned the ceremonial crown, cape and scepter during the presentation and rolled an eight count to help usher in the festivities.
Mills was making his tournament debut Saturday and quickly appreciated the history he joined with his selection. The tradition of “Joe Bowler” dates back to 1951 at the Open Championships.
“Besides the nerves, I felt honored,” Mills said. “I was not expecting to come here my first time and get that type of award. I thought someday it would be cool to have that, but I was not expecting that to happen today. I feel honored to have the privilege to do that.”
Mills joined his group – George Ortola Team 2 of Citrus Heights, California – when a spot opened up, and he’s hoping to create a tradition of his own at the tournament moving forward.
“The team asked if I was able to bowl, since they had seen me bowl outside of league, and a spot opened up,” Mills said. “I want to someday be like Michael (Friedrichs) and have my 50th year, so I will probably be back next year and the year after that.”
The presentation also featured a ceremony to recognize Michael Friedrichs of Glendale, Arizona, on his 50th consecutive tournament appearance.
Friedrichs, 68, made his tournament debut at the 1974 event in Indianapolis and rolled a 300 game in singles competition during the 1989 tournament in Wichita, Kansas. He was presented with a chevron, plaque and diamond lapel pin for his achievement.
The crowd in attendance was addressed by Las Vegas Events President Tim Keener and South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa General Manager Ryan Growney, and entertainment was provided by Dennis Blair.
With several days of competition already in the books at the 2024 event, only one lead change took place during the opening ceremony.
The members of Maple Family Centers 2 of Rockville Centre, New York, took over the top spot in Regular Team after games of 1,043, 904 and 956 for a 2,903 total. The 2002 Regular Team champion – Bruno’s Pizza of Lafayette, Indiana – previously held the lead with 2,867.
Professional Bowlers Association and USBC Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli led the team effort Saturday with a 629 series and was joined at the Bowling Plaza by Santiago Romero (598), Richard Jones (590), David Washburn (556) and 2011 Team All-Events champion Les Shirwindt (530).
MT Chiropractic of Hardin, Montana, leads Standard Team at the 2024 Open Championships with 2,678, and Lendon Garrison Team 1 of Kansas City, Missouri, is pacing the way in Classified Team with 2,320.
During the first week of the 2024 Open Championships, USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Glenn Allison set the tournament’s participation record by competing in his 72nd tournament.
The 93-year-old from Corona, California, is a four-time Eagle winner and broke a record previously shared with USBC Hall of Famers Bill Doehrman and Joe Norris, along with Sylvester Thiel, at 71 years.
Allison remains in third place on the tournament’s all-time pinfall list with 123,341 pins. He is 430 pins away from passing Norris for second on the list (123,770) and needs 747 pins to surpass USBC Hall of Famer Bill Lillard Sr. for the pinfall record (124,087).
Friedrichs became the second bowler to celebrate 50 years at the 2024 event, as James Daniel of Dadeville, Alabama, reached the milestone during the first week of competition.
A total of 24 bowlers are expected to reach 50 years during the 2024 event, and four bowlers (Robert Brissette, Dale Diamond, Wayne Hutchinson and John Kerpan) are looking to make their 60th tournament appearance.
The Open Championships is making its seventh appearance in Las Vegas and fifth trip to the Bowling Plaza.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.