Bowling: Austin Finster winning accolades for his bowling talents

Austin Finster is a young bowler competing in his first year of bowling at the Virgin River Bowling Center and has been winning accolades for his undeniable bowling skills.

And in his latest round of top-notch bowling he opened King & Queens League play with a 7-bagger in a clean 255, followed with a clean 195, and finished with nine strikes in a 235 good for a season-high 685 series with a total of 22 strikes and marks on 8-of-9 non-split spare shots.

And for the season, 37 of his 51 games have been 190-plus, and his current average is 195. And in the same league this past summer he finished with a 198 average over 42 games with highs of a 716 series and 258 game.

His career-high series is an eye-popping 827 and high game of 299.

At his Leilehqu High School in Wahiawa, Hawaii he played football and honed his bowling skills over his four years on the schools varsity bowling team where one season he took 3rd place in Singles in the HHSAA State Bowling Tournament.

After high school he also played on a semi-pro football team in Richmond, Virginia where his team finished in 2nd place after losing in the championship game.

Finster is a fan of the New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders and Drew Brees is his favorite football player. Tommy Jones is his favorite pro bowler, and he gives his dad all the credit for his bowling success and knowledge of the game, and one day hopes to be as good as him.

Away from bowling he’s a barista at the Starbucks located next to Smiths in Mesquite, and also swims and plays video games.

His bucket list includes visits one day see the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the major historical sites in Rome.

In other pin action, John Hollaway averaged 222 between his T.G.I.F. (695-247) and Kings & Queens (641-265) leagues, and this column last week predicted that Mike Rogers would soon see his scores rip higher and that’s exactly what happened when he tossed a 687 series and 257 game.

Meanwhile, Mike Saldivar threw a total of 40 strikes between his 21 in the Wednesday Men’s (685-255) and 19 in his City High Rollers (624-267) leagues, and Scott Mattingly was super consistent with games of 215, 214, and 212 in a 641 outing.

And John Gerger’s impressive scoring production in a 624 included nine strikes in a clean 267 gem and 19 total strikes. By the way, he has some great memories from his days attending Chicago Cubs games at the iconic Wrigley Field.

And with each passing week, it’s looking like Dean Sheppard (616-230) is returning to his prolific scoring days when first hitting the lanes in Mesquite in the 2015-16 season.

And look for much bigger scoring output in the weeks ahead from Bob Marget (606-236) and as well as Frank Addamo who’s 596 included eight strikes in a 236 game.

In single game play, Wyoming’s Wayne Donnafield (657) has bragging rights to the week’s highest game with a 269, one stick better than Dave Pershing’s (631) clean 267 with nine strikes.

Britt Kesl’s impressive 236 included a 6-bagger, Andrew Christensen and all his revs smoked the lanes with a 5-bagger in a 236, and Rob Cormani who’s also a good pickleball player fired a 225.

Mark Brackelsberg still enjoys playing senior softball, and also enjoyed throwing a 5-bagger in a clean 224 for his Mark’s RE/MAX Ridge Realty bowling team, while Butch Loger who hails from the great state of Wyoming merits ink for a season-high 223.

David Newman is a good bowler who throws a really nice strike ball leading to a 215, Tim McNees the former race car driver who owns multiple classic cars tossed games of 214 and 213, while Ron Hendrickson booked a 202 and fell just two sticks shy of a 2nd deuce game.

Harvey Scow of the Defense Preparedness team sponsored by Peggy Pope in the Mesquite Merchants League uncorked a 202. Scow has a career-high 762 series and 299 game and also served in the United States Air Force.

And Jimmy Webb’s 202 featured six strikes, Dave Cirbo pounded out a 201, and Robin Drury’s 201 will surely be followed with even beefier deuce games.

In women’s action, Lori Jo Turner didn’t have her A-game going, but was still still good enough to finish numero uno in scoring with a 591 set and 216 game.

Sandy Sheppard (569-204) finished with the next best score, and here’s betting she’s poised to see her game zoom higher in the coming weeks and more along the line of an earlier 640 series.

Reiko Schultz put up a solid 597, Jan Quinn delivered a 504 including a season-high 193, and Debbie Hansen scratched out a 501.

Bev Cormani (551) led single game scoring with a 219.

In the Ladies Trio League, Sharon Serrano threw a season-high 479 series and 184 game … Don Coleman who served in the United States Marine Corps for 22 years picked up the 5-10 split … Polly Hendricks tossed a season-high 191 game, and she’s also been in the mortgage lending business for 17 years in Mesquite with Security National Mortgage. She was a multi-sport athlete in high school, and later was an outstanding shortstop on a team in a women’s traveling fast pitch softball team … Fran Lovelady’s 175 game was 52 over her average. She was outstanding in soccer in her playing days and still has a keen interest in the sport … Lori Donnafield decided it was about time to snare some ink so she popped a season-high 158 game. She’s a highly motivated woman who’s kept busy over the years with hobbies such as hunting, playing horseshoes, ran a flower shop, and is currently involved with the growing game of cornhole … Jedd Fisher rolled a 179 game

Dean Baum 658-233; Darren Simonds 654-225; Doug Love 621-222; Bruce Hooley 613-214; Jim Lytle 601-207; Ernie Kala 600-213; Olyyn Meyer 244; Sal Diaz 235; Steve Serrano 234; Jan Kusy 222; Dan Aslin 214; Darren Talmadge 207; Jack baker 205; Logan Hendrick 205; Gil Niimi 204; Milan Carr 204; Ricky Trujillo 202; Mike Gentry 202; Dennis Hartley 201; Mike Yoder 201; Red Powell 201; Gayle Parison 195.