BOWLING: Former Bulldog star athlete Humberto Urias now winning accolades in Mesquite bowling

Humberto Urias is one of the best three-sport athletes to ever don a uniform in football, basketball and baseball for the Virgin Valley Bulldogs. However, since this a bowling column let’s first take a quick peek at what he’s doing on the lanes for his Bulldog Towing team in the Mesquite Merchants Men’s League.

For starters, one of the most coveted goals in bowling when first beginning is chasing that first-ever 600 series. And that’s exactly what Urias did after kicking off league play with eight strikes including a six-bagger in a 241, followed by  some great shot making in a clean 201 game which included picking up two splits, along with four more spares and four strikes en route to an impressive clean 201 game.

Next, continuing with the momentum from his first two games, he went right to work tossing four strikes and four spares in a 181 game paving the way for his first-ever 600 series, a riveting 626 with 17 total strikes with only three open frames.

And was he done throwing 600s? Nosiree! in fact, he followed his first with a 608 series fueled by throwing 17 total strikes in games of 239, 197 and 172.

Meanwhile, let’s switch gears here and chat for a minute about his illustrious sports career at Virgin Valley High School. For starters, in football he played halfback in his freshman season. However, during his sophomore season injuries at the quarterback position had the coaches switch him to playing the most demanding position on a football team, quarterback, again, as a sophomore. And on defense he also played strong safety and in his junior and senior years he made the all state team at that strong safety position where he was a fearless tackler.

In basketball, not surprisingly, his coach informed me that he was the point guard who ran the offense and had a knack for passing to an open teammate for assists, or he could drive and kick to an open player, or with his quick first step could take it to the glass and either make a shot and draw a foul and end up shooting free throws from the charity stripe.

And in baseball he played the “hot corner” and with his top-notch defensive skills could make the long throw from 3rd to first after fielding a ground ball and also started his share double plays with a quick throw to 2nd base if a runner had been on first.

In football, his favorite player is still Vince Young the quarterback who led his Texas Longhorns football team to the National Championship. In basketball his favorite player is Allen Iverson who could blow past any defender with his quick first step and take it to the hoop, and in baseball he’s still a huge fan of Vladimir Guerrero Sr.. And he’s sporting a Las Vegas Raiders hat these days so you know which NFL football team he’s a fan of.

And switching back to other bowling action, overall, the stark reality is scoring in all Mesquite leagues has really been subdued since the arrival of new bowling pins and new oiling machine which hasn’t exactly resulted in Charmin like scoring conditions.

Consequently, in the last month if a bowler rolled a 700 series it called for a celebration, and that’s why it was a party atmosphere in the Monday Scratch League as Austin Finster rolled a 716 with a 10-bagger in a 278.

And Michael Ramarez fell just shy of one in a 696 effort with 23 strikes and only one open frame, Jeremy Turlington also had only one open in a 684 with 20 strikes including a seven-bagger in a clean 249, and Randy Brown’s 684 featured 23 strikes during games of 237, 227 and 220.

Meanwhile, Dylan Kesl put together a top-notch effort in a 682 outing which featured 20 strikes and marks on 9-of-10 spare shots paving the way for games of 247, 220, 215, Mike Yoder had a terrific outing with a 675 and 251 game, and Minnesota Twins fan Bob Marget fired 20 strikes and marks on 13-of-14 spare shots in a strong 670 effort and games of 245, 213 and 212.

Jared Bundy delivered a standout 668 with 22 strikes thrown during games of 245, 223, 200, and Tony Urias is finishing his sophomore bowling season with some outstanding outings including his latest, a 667 with only two open frames along with 20 strikes including eight in a 247. And a deeper dive into his bowling over the last 24 games shows he averaged an impressive 198.2 by mowing down 4,757 pins.

 And after Doug Love finished his work helping run a tournament in Sin City he actually found time to bowl in the City High Rollers League where he chucked a 661 on games of 237, 225 and 199, St. George bowler John Martin logged a 659 with 22 strikes including nine in a 244,  and John Hollaway continues putting up amazing scores like his 652 in spite of a torn rotator cuff he’s dealing with.

Meanwhile, James Hartley ended a minor scoring funk in emphatic style with 20 strikes in a 649 with a 231 game, Dave Pershing’s 17 strikes led to a 648 with a clean 235 helping his Bark Canine Club team looking for a top-5 finish in the Mesquite Merchants Men’s League, and Frank Addamo was a pillar of consistency in a 640 rolling games of 217, 214 and 209.

And fueled by a 230, Shaun Edwards navigated the lanes for a 624. By the way, whether it was iconic Fenway, Wrigley or Yankee Stadium, Edwards has been to a Major League Baseball game at all 30 MLB parks which is an amazing accomplishment and one most ardent baseball fans would love to do, but never will.

And David Harris is also a MLB fan who fired a 626 with two good games of 228 and224, Kelly Williamson booked a 612 with 17 strikes, and Beaver Dam’s Dave Johnson who’s tossed a 300 in Mesquite bowling rolled a 611.

Jim Lytle (608-217) hopes to continue an impressive run of finishing the season with yet another deuce average, Roman Perez pounded out 19 strikes in a 604 outing in what has to be considered a heckuva good sophomore season, Darren Simonds nabbed a 602, and Cedar City, Utah bowler Tim Brandt finished his MS League with a 600 on the nose and had a high series of 647 for the season. Brandt’s impressive resume sports a career-high 822 series, a 300 game, three 299s, a pair of 298s and a couple 290s.

In the single game scene, Jacoby Ford (640) was a strike-throwing machine with an eight-bagger and 10 total strikes in a clean 276, Scott Mattingly (683) popped nine strikes in a 268, and so did Sal Diaz (632) in his 268.

Bruce Hooley (629) chalked up a 258, Duane Sullivan’s (614) 247 came with a seven-bagger, and former Alaskan Bob Robbins put together a six-bagger in a 244.

Milan Carr’s 656 included a 246, Felix Cruz (630) tossed a 237, while Adan Lemus merits ink for a season-high 234 with a six-bagger, and Chris Scott of the CSG-Cabinets team out of St. George competing in the MMM League delivered a 233.

Dick Lonick’s been beating up on pins for years and roughed up 229 more in his best game of the week, Al Gan’s posted a 224 and with the clock about to run out on the 2024-25 season he still has one outing left for one of his patented monster games, and Overton bowler Mardon Connelly, a former NCAA pole vaulting champion at Utah State University registered a 223.

And Bryan Pierce grabs some ink for a 220, Britt Kesl thumped the lanes with seven strikes in a 217, while Dale Knight’s 217 included six strikes, and hard-throwing right-hander Brian Collins smoked the lanes with a 214.

Meanwhile, Dave Houghton’s 214 kept another string alive of at least one deuce game a week, Bob Ballard carded a 213 and he was a sprinter on his high school’s track team, and it is great seeing Ron Johnson back in deuce country with a 212.

Gil Niimi uncorked five strikes in a 211, and  Ken Meacham is thinking given how stacked his Los Angeles Dodgers are this season you can subtract 100 from his 211 game and that’s gonna be around the number of wins the Dodgers will have in the regular season.

And Ted Carter captures his first ink in this column for a season-high 210, Jimmy Webb cranked out a 205 and he has to like the fact his Boston Red Sox have the same number of wins as the Yankees have as this baby goes to press, and Dennis Burtchett merits ink for a season-high 204 that included five strikes.

Raul Macias tossed seven strikes in a 202 and four in a 200, John Gerger dialed up a 202 and Myles Benally’s 195 has motivated him to wanna end the season with a 200-plus game this week.

In women’s bowling the action begins with Cheryl Rogers. And I know, the thought alone of seeing her name can’t help but get the pancreatic juices flowing just thinking about munching down on those mighty scrumptious and mouthwatering ccc’s she’s known for, but this is a bowling article and she still put together a recipe for success on the lanes consisting of 13 strikes and 17 spares in a dang good 604 series with games of 221, 201 and 182.

In other action, Lynae Page was due for a good performance and she delivered by combining14 strikes along with a clean 223 in a 604 set, Sheila Green’s 571 is her second consecutive first-rate scoring output, and Autumn Telford’s 557, while unofficial, should see her finish with a 190 average or dang close to it.

Lexi Mattson has a powerful and athletic two-handed delivery that paid dividends to the tune of a 555 with two good games of 210 and 205, Gayle Parison’s 546 included a clean 204 with seven spares and four strikes, Laurie Dillree booked a 516 in Ladies Trio League play, and in the same league, Kim Finnegan rolled a 511, and she’s the only southpaw bowler who I’ve personally seen leave a 2-7 split and when trying to convert it have the ball go untouched between the two pins. Amazing!

In single game action, LeeAnn Harmes (572) fired seven strikes in a 237, Jamie Turlington (522) popped a 218 and she sports a career-high 289 game, Vickie Martinsen (549) rolled seven strikes in a 213, and Kim Marshall (511) chucked a 212 and she’ll be spending the summer in Alaska.

And Charlene Heiden’s 203 is her second deuce in as many weeks, Nannette Kezior (521) cruised to a 202, and Cheryl Carr fired four strikes in a 185.

Sal Diaz 590-224; Dale Knight 586-210; Alfred Oliveira V 585-205; Jacoby Ford 214; Jonny Manning 209; Kelly Williamson 204.

Dean Baum 640-246; Logan Hendrick 638-236; Mike Rogers 612-212; Jeremy Telford 612-246; Alan Jacobson 602-236; Doug Schaan 598-233; Rob Cormani 225; Bob Wells 224; Dennis Craft 223; Jessie Dixon 223; Dan Aslin 215; Dean Sheppard 213; Brent Schlesinger 212; Angel Hernandez 211; Gary Smith 208; Ernie Kala 205; Josue Mendoza 205; Jim Rappe 204; Chris Stevenson 203; Ed Hoepfner 203; Alfred Oliveira V 202; Orlyn Meyer 202; David Walker 202; Harold Hendrick 202.

Cathy Gardner 555-200; Reiko Schultz 545-199; Bev Cormani 521-191; Georgia Godfrey 515-182; Sandy Sheppard 192.