By Matt Cannizzaro and Jim Schroeder
USBC Communications 

RENO, Nev. - There's no bigger stage in bowling than the National Bowling Stadium, but when Jared Zitek of Cheyenne, Wyo., found himself on the verge of perfection at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships on Tuesday, he wasn't intimidated by his surroundings.

Instead of focusing on the magnitude of the one-of-a-kind 78-lane facility and the hundreds of bowlers and guests around him, the 37-year-old right-hander pretended he was at home at his family's eight-lane bowling center, and he calmly delivered the 26th perfect game of the 2013 USBC Open Championships.

Zitek, who made his eighth tournament appearance, and first since 2010, started the night with games of 182 and 215 before things fell into place. He finished with a career-best 697 series and helped Pine Bowl 1 to a 3,190 team total. Lodge Lanes Too of Orlando, Fla., leads Regular Team with a record score of 3,538.

"This is crazy, and it's 100 times more exciting than shooting 300 back home," said Zitek, whose father, Jim, has owned and operated Pine Bowl in Pine Bluffs, Wyo., for 35 years. "I never looked up because I knew how many people were in the building, and as far as I knew, in my head, there were only eight lanes, just like back in Pine Bluffs."

Zitek and his teammates have been practicing on and off for the last few months to prepare themselves, and they used the Storm Bowlers Journal Championships presented by USBC, being held on the last 10 lanes at the NBS, to get a feel for the unique championship environment prior to their march down Center Aisle on Tuesday.

The teammates worked together and made the right moves as the lanes changed during the three games. Zitek was joined by his father Jim Zitek (671), his brother Chris Zitek (634), Darrell Jones (608) and Jimme Mckinzie (580).

"I just stayed focused and kept thinking about what I was looking at and the changes I needed to make," said Zitek, whose team average in his first seven Open Championships was 182.9, compared to 197.2 in doubles and 204.4 in singles. "The lanes started to open up the third game. I moved a couple of boards in the seventh frame just as a preemptive move. I can't even think about what just happened. I'm so excited."
 
Presenting sponsors for the 2013 USBC Open Championships include Circus Circus Reno, Eldorado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno.