BOWLING: Mesquite bowling salute’s Ron Sheets, the person

Ron Sheets is the only bowler I’ve met in both Mesquite and St. George who’s been an umpire in a college world series, competed in the calf roping event in rodeo’s, both pulled and picked cotton, and who also was driving a farm tractor when he was six-.years-old and a pickup truck at age nine.

As a reader of this column you will notice a change from the usual format of first covering the bowling exploits of the featured bowler followed by some personal items of interest away from bowling. Well, this week we reversed the format by first chatting about some of the many unique and interesting chapters and achievements in his life that will resonate with readers of this column.

Now if you don’t know Sheets, he’s a totally authentic guy who’s very thoughtful and considerate of others and his humility stands out in spite of a wealth of achievements. But he’s not the type who’s gonna toot his own horn, so we’re gonna a little of it here.

Truth be told, we could feature him for three consecutive weeks with the numerous interesting things and stories from his life, but will limit it to a handful in this column. It begins with him growing up on a family farm in Oklahoma with a mom, dad and three sisters. Farming is a hard life in many ways including at times working from dawn till dusk whether its planting season or harvesting a crop under a scorching sun or tending to livestock in a bitter cold winter morning.

However, on the positive side, he’ll also tell you his growing up on a farm was also a relentless teacher which instilled in him many invaluable character traits and intangible qualities whether it was an unwavering work ethic or tenacity needed in completing a farm chore.

And one of those farm chores involved his family’s cotton fields where at age 12 he was pulling (not a typo) 500 pounds of cotton a day, and a few years later was breaking and training horses used for tending cattle. And his skill at riding a horse and experience working with cattle helped him earn money for his higher education expenses by entering the calf roping event for 12 years in rodeo’s held in both Oklahoma and Texas.

Amazingly, with all his farm chores, he still played on his high school’s baseball and basketball teams, and not many years later began driving a school bus as another source of money for college. And the tenacity he picked up on the farm helped him get both a Bachelor’s and Masters Degree’s along with an administration certificate all of which led to both teaching and school principal jobs in Oklahoma.

He eventually left the the education profession for work in the private sector which included 14 years traveling in five western states as a sales/service representative for the giant Rockwell Corporation

Now lets pivot back for the scoop on the aforementioned tease about his impressive umpire feat. He was a high school and college baseball umpire for 11 years, including an assignment as an umpire in the annual National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division 2 College World Serie. And on a related note, he was also a basketball referee for high school college basketball games.

He’s an avid fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Golden State Warriors, and his favorite basketball player is still the Hall of Famer, Larry Bird.

Finally, let’s chat briefly about his bowling this season which includes a season-high 203 game with five strikes and only one open frame, and his season-high series is a 488.

Sheets will be the first to admit he bowls to have a good time, and as a bowler will never be a marquee player in Mesquite bowling. But as a person, he has a rare quality that sets him apart. He has complete and unwavering decency as a human being, and in my world, that trumps 300 games, 800 series scores and basically everything else in life.

Shifting gears here, it’s true that while the final chapter of the 2023-24 season has already been written for bowlers in several leagues, five others are in the final weeks and still delivering some blistering pin action. And that includes bowlers like Scott Mattingly who’s Monday Scratch League and City High Rollers leagues are finished for the season, but he’s still in attack mode for the 1-3 pocket in his Mesquite Merchants Men’s League.

And he ended roughly a month of scoring woes two weeks ago with a 698, and last week, the Mattingly scoring juggernaut we’re accustomed to seeing was back in action again as he bookended a clean 214 second game with a 238 first game, and after beginning his third game with a spare, followed with 11 straight strikes for a 290 gem paving the way for an always impressive clean series, a 742 with 24 strikes and marks on 10-of-10 spare shots.

And Angel Hernandez threw his first-ever 600, a 616 in February 2023, and in February 2024 slammed his first-ever 700, an impressive 759. And last week, after recalling the adrenaline rush in the aftermath of his first 700, he wanted another. So, with soaring confidence in his game and powered by 26 strikes and only two open frames in games of 258, 244 and 224, he fired his second, a 726 in Gamblers 4 Aces League action.

Hernandez is having an outstanding season, and before the sun sets on the 2023-24 campaign he will also have thrown almost 25 600s in his various leagues, and while not a slam dunk, another 700 is certainly doable given the way his game has rocketed higher in just his junior season on the lanes.

Meanwhile, Chase Evans continues winning accolades in Mesquite for both his passion for the sport and explosive strike ball which can wreak havoc on the lanes like in his 710 series last week on games of 254, 232 and 224, and Mike Dunlop, fueled by nine strikes in a clean 256, a 6-bagger in a clean 243 along with a 203 eclipsed a previous season-high 687 with a standout 702 series.

And Michael “Smurffzzz” Ramirez (678-256) delivered another top-notch effort and if he trips out a couple of single pins we’d be talking about another 700 here. Incidentally, earlier this season Ramirez was a sub in league outing in Cedar City where they have string bowling and hammered out a career-high 736 series.

In other league action, Chris Scott who sponsors the CSG Commercial Cabinets team out of St. George, Utah put together a total of 21 strikes, clean games of 255 and 235 along with a 177 for an impressive season-high 667 series, Harry Uncles tattooed the 1-3 pocket for 20 strikes in a season-high 661 set and he was a heckuva good softball player back in the day, and Bob Wells is a good bowler who’s averaging 202 in the Mesquite M.M.M. League popped a 650 with a high game of 245.

Norm Ritchie raised his Early Risers League average to 196 with a competitive 634 effort including two darn good games of 246 and 234, Dave Cirbo punched out 14 strikes and marks on an impressive 15-of-16 non-split spare shots in a 627 effort on games of 232, 227,168, and Roman Perez who’s game has continued gaining altitude during the season fell a couple marks shy of a 600 with a 587 which included beginning a 234 with a 5-bagger..

On the single game front, Doug Love (664) ran the front 10 in a great run for his third 300 before finishing with a 278, and not surprisingly, he still bleeds the Black and Gold of the Blitzburg Steelers going back to his days growing up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania, Duane Sullivan (652) tossed a 266 and has a season-high 279, and Jedd Fisher (599) began his second game going strike/open/spare and next ran the table with nine straight strikes for a 258, and he has some celebrity in his family as his daughter married the drummer in the band of Mr. Las Vegas, Wayne Newton.

Sal Diaz (691) chucked a 256, Randy Carter (631) threw a season-high 251 gem, while Bob Marget (631) tallied a 246, and Dave Newman popped a 242 in the 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning Early Risers League.

And it is great seeing avid Utah Utes fan Steve Kenyon back in deuce country with a 233, Jerron Linge hammered out a 220, while Ken Thompson booked a 216, and the man from Idaho, Wade Heileson cruised to a 211, and along with being a super nice guy, he’s also a darn good pickleball player.

Dave Houghton’s 209 is his fourth consecutive week of at least one deuce game, Bill Smith grabs some ink for a 207, Jacob Martinez who lives in Veyo, Utah tossed a 206, and Dennis Woolsey logged a 203 and he’s a retired truck driver and has been bowling pretty darn good since a total shoulder replacement almost three years ago.

And Robert Melendez thumped the lanes for a 202 and he’s an amazing guy who competed in marathons and 50-mile races before, and in 2008 enjoyed one last Marlboro before abruptly quitting a smoking habit, and Paul Buntin’s two-handed delivery helped deliver a 201, and he’s also a big hockey fan of the Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights and has been spotted winning some big bucks playing the machines at the Virgin River Casino after bowling.

Finally, Stan Benally merits ink for a 201, Max Burgess booked a 200 game and was an excellent softball player back in the day, and later changed his zip code to Mesquite after retiring from his dental practice in California, and Red Powell’s 200 marks a third straight week of at least one deuce game, and he’s  in the Salt Lake City Hall of Fame for superior performance.

On the women’s side of the ledger, southpaw MaryAnn Davis set the scoring pace with a competitive 574 set on games of 201, 191,182 and she’s still passionate about the sport that’s taken her all over the country competing in the National Tournament over her many years of bowling.

Amazingly, like Davis, Vickie Martinsen is another left-handed bowler who began Gambler 4 Aces League play with an anemic 139, but building on the momentum of a turkey in the 10th of her opening game she followed with a 202 and finished with a 214 for a 555 series which included a total of 14 strikes. Approximately 10 years ago, Martinsen chalked up a 686 set in Mesquite bowling.

And in the Wednesday morning E.R. League, Judy Heileson’s nice hook ball paved the way for a 545 series on consistent games of 189, 186,170, and Sherry Williamson who served in the United States Air Force gets her first ink of the season after throwing 11 strikes in a 524 set on games of 189, 179 and 157.

Meanwhile, Cheryl Jackson (511-202) delivered a first-rate effort in Ladies Trio League play which continued a nice scoring run of late, and Debbie Oldham (510-199) captured her first ink after throwing her two best scores this season. Oldham hails from Idaho and along with bowling, also enjoys going on cruises. One of her favorites was a trip to Russia, and Saint Petersburgh in particular. Another favorite was a cruise to Australia and seeing the harbor in Sydney was a sight to behold. She’s having a really good time bowling in the Ladies Trio League and the same goes when playing pickleball.

And world traveler Nancy Egge peppered the changing lane conditions with another 500, a 510, and she’s likely one of a fairly small group of Mesquite bowlers who’ve ever traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, and for the second straight week, Charlene Heiden navigated her way around changing lane conditions for a 501, including a 201 game, and she’s a great resource about the history of bowling in Mesquite.

In single game action, Bev Cormani (561) set the pace with a 221, Lee Ann Harmes (539) delivered a 214, and Mary Posey (532) continued her good bowling of late with a 211.

Sonja Robinson who’s employed with the Mesquite Fire Department and was on her high school rodeo team finished her Ladies Trio League on a positive note with a six strikes including a turkey in the 10th frame in a 160 game … Sue Loe’s season-high 474 is an impressive 105 pins over her 369 series average in her E.R. League … Dell Cammack booked a nice 523 last week which is 92 pins over his 441 series average.

John Hollaway 653-235; Orlyn Meyer 651-237; Dennis Craft 650-246; Milan Carr 644-238; Mike Gentry 644-229;Angel Hernandez 627-236; Bryan Pierce 626-222; Al Gans 610-229; Jerry Holloway 610-225; John Martin 610-208; Dylan Kesl 604-235; James Hartley 603-212; Skip Hayzlet 242; Mardon Connelly 231; Harold Hendrick 228; Josue Mendoza 228; Mike Saldivar 228; Gary Smith 226; Bruce Hooley 225; Dale Davidson 225; Jim Rappe 219; Ken Meacham 219; Jorge Munoz 218; Dan Aslin 216; Ken Thompson 216; Austin Finster 214; John Gerger 212; Brent Schlesinger 210; Mike Bock 210; Dave Harris 207; Ken Zimmerschied 207; Chance Evans 204; Bob Davis 204; Jim Lytle 204; Rob Cormani 204; Randy Kezior 203; Fred Foerster 202; Stan Benally 201; Nick Paul 200.