BOWLING: Venuti Woodworking wins Mesquite Merchants Men’s League Championship

The Mesquite Merchants Men’s League needed the equivalent of an overtime in a basketball game before a team could claim the league championship.

Amazingly, that unlikely scenario is exactly what happened, and one can’t help but wonder what are the odds of two teams with four bowlers each competing in a roll-off of three games to determine a league championship, and a champion can’t be crowned because both teams end up in a tie with each team winning 10 points?

And when the roll-off ended in a tie, the league rules stated both teams must roll another game before a team can hoist the championship trophy and claim bragging rights to a league championship. And after the grind of a long season, bowling another game in the hopes of breaking the tie wasn’t met with a great deal of enthusiasm by every bowler.

However, both teams knew what had to be done and bowled one more game, and when the seemingly marathon roll-off was finished, the Venuti Woodworking team emerged victorious defeating the Mesquite Chiropractic team to win the MMM League Championship for the 2024-25 season.

In the single game roll-off, young future scoring juggernaut, Jacoby Ford was instrumental in helping his team emerge victorious as he led all scoring with a scratch 214, followed by Austin Finster’s 202, Phillip Oyler’s 158 and Tyler Martin’s 157.

And Alan Jacobson led Mesquite Chiropractic scoring with a 171, Ed Hoepfner booked a 163, while Dan Aslin tossed a 159, and Bob Morgan logged a 157 as they finished with a still hekcuva good season with a 2nd Place finish and a nice pay day.

In other action, the week also saw the Monday Scratch League have a Championship roll-off but without the drama or necessity of needing an extra game to determine the ultimate champion.

And the road to winning the Championship roll-off by the Fixer Uppers team began with Bruce Hooley’s 673, followed by John Martin’s 600, Ernie Kala’s 554 and Robin Drury’s 551.

Additionally, the You’re Kidding team finished in 2nd Place with Mike Yoder’s 673 setting the scoring pace, followed by Alan Jacobson’s 590, Dennis Craft’s 552, and Gary Smith chipped in with a 489.

Meanwhile, the teams in both leagues not involved in the roll-off were also involved in a competition to win a good chuck of money in their respective leagues and there were some darn good scores rolled by bowlers from both leagues.

And it begin’s with Steve Uhrig who’s been a great addition to the local bowling scene after changing his zip code to one in Mesquite in the middle of the season. And he’s also a heckuva good bowler and fueled by 25 strikes including a nine-bagger in a clean 265 with one open he led all scoring with a 718 series.

Uhrig served in the United States Marine Corps, has a career-high 805 series, is an avid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and was a good friend of the late Los Angeles Dodgers manager, Tommy Lasorda.

In other action, Jeremy Turlington put together a torrid scoring pace the last three weeks of the season beginning with a 704 in week 25, followed by a 684 and on the final night of his Monday Scratch League fired a 702 with 20 strikes including an eight-bagger in a 267 while averaging an eye-popping 232 over his last nine games of the season and finished with a final average of 211.

Dan Aslin fired 23 strikes in a 684 set with games of 236, 234, and 214 in his MMM League team sweepers competition, and Duane Sullivan ended his season with another strong showing, a 683 with 21 strikes and only two open frames as he had marks on 10-of-12 spare attempts and finished his MMM League with a 193 average and has a great shot next season of finishing with a deuce average.

And not surprisingly, Al Gans pounded out a 676 with a 256 helping his team win some sweeper money, Scott Mattingly’s booked a 668 and he finished with the high average in MS League with a 222, and Austin Finster popped a 667 and in the same league as Mattingly finished the year with a 217 average.

Ron Vandevanter joined the MS league late in the season but he’s put up some impressive scores, including his 664 in the sweepers competition, and John Hollaway’s 655 on games of 221, 217, 217 has him finishing the MMM League with a 212 average and he’s been bowling with a torn rotator cuff. Amazing!!!

And St. George bowler and retired U.S. Navy veteran Randy Brown thumped the lanes with a 653 and finished his MS League with a 211 average,

Dan Aslin’s 684 had consistent games of 236, 234 and 214 during which he tossed 23 strikes including eight in a 234 with one open, and Duane Sullivan put together an outstanding season including a 683 with 21 strikes including a six-bagger in a clean 245 along with marks on an impressive10-of-12 spare attempts as he finished his MMM League with a 193 average, and Jeremy Telford shot a 645 in the sweepers and finished his MS League with a 213 average largely held back because of knee replacement surgery during the season, but you can bet next season will be more like his 2023-24 average when he finished with a 226 average which included rolling the first-ever 800 series in Mesquite bowling, an 813.

Dale Knight fired 18 strikes in a first-rate 630 using his two-handed delivery which generated lotsa pin action as he left a single pin 10 times when not getting a strike, and Bob Marget maintained his MMM League 202 average with a 618.

Dave Houghton (599-214) fell a stick shy of a 600, and Joshua Kaschmitter’s 523 didn’t reflect how well he was hitting the 1-3 pocket, and with any breaks from the bowling deities his 523 could easily have been a much bigger 500 or even a 600 given that in 11 of his frames when he was in the pocket on his first shot, he left a single pin, and had only four opens all night after getting marks on an impressive 21-of-23 spare attempts, and rolling his first 600 in his sophomore 2025-26 season sure looks doable.

In single game action, Milan Carr (683) ran the front 10 before finishing with a 289 gem, Sal Diaz (664) left a 10 pin in the 7th frame which may have cost him a shot at a mind-boggling 4th 300 game this season as he finished with 11 strikes in a 267 after missing the aforementioned 10 pin in his sole open frame.

And Louis Dilisio  (621) punched out a season-high 258 with one open frame but also smacked 10 strikes including a five-bagger, and Dave Pershing (609) rolled 10 strikes in a clean 258.

Meanwhile, Doug Love (654) rolled a 257 and still has a legit shot at a 3rd 300 game and he spent lotsa years living in Anchorage, Alaska after retiring from the U.S. Air Force, and Michael Ramirez (619) tossed a 253, and he enjoyed a standout season finishing with highest average in his Early Risers League with a 212, highest in his Gamblers 4 Aces League with a 210, and his 219 average in the MMM League was 2nd to Scott Mattingly’s 220.

Darren Simonds navigated the lanes for a 242, Mike Rogers (636) chucked a 236, John Martin (650) popped a 235 and finished his MMM League with a 211 average, and Chris Scott (623) is a heckuva good guy who fired eight strikes in a 234.

And Steve Serrano, a stud basketball player back in the day rolled a clean 232 with a five-bagger and pencil him in for his first-ever 700 series next season, Mike Dunlop booked a 214 and he’s also a heckuva good golfer, and Dick Lonick logged a 210 and he is a former hockey jock who finished with the most improved average in his MMM League, and Randy Carter registered a 201 and he is hoping to see his picture will finally be placed on the wall in the bowling center for the 300 game he bowled last season on lanes 23 and 24.

Finally, thee will be another column next week with more bowling info, including teams who won their league championship, and Ricky Trujillo’s team from the City High Rollers League will be one of those.