Bowling: Mesquite’s Bruce Hooley wows bowlers in senior games with electrifying 300 game

Bruce Hooley captured the spotlight on one of the biggest stages for a senior bowler in the Mountain West, the popular Huntsman World Senior Games held in St. George, Utah which annually attract bowlers from across the country.

After beginning his second game by peeling off nine straight strikes, Hooley found himself in unchartered territory.

And that also meant with a 300 a possibility, all eyes in the house were riveted on Hooley as he stepped on the approach for the 10th frame. And seemingly unfazed by the pressure, he tattooed the 1-3 pocket for strikes on his first two shots in the 10th.

Next, realizing he was just one strike away from reaching the pinnacle of bowling success and probably the focus of the senior games with another strike, the adrenalin rush and heart-pumping were clearly palpable. However, always cool under pressure, and within what seemed like mere nanoseconds of his 12th ball exploding the pocket for a strike good his first 300 game, he was immediately mobbed by other bowlers with high-fives and congrats.

Next, toss in his other games of 246 and 212 and he also finished with an impressive 758 series.

Before retiring to Mesquite, Nevada, Hooley was with the California Highway Patrol for 28 years where he was once approached looking for answers to some questions by the late actor, Robin Williams.

Away from bowling, hunting and fishing are some of the many activities he’s involved with, and during his school years he attended the same school as the actor, Erik Estrada.

In regular league action at the Virgin River Bowling Center, Dean Baum bookended a 276 gem that included 10 strikes with games of 248 and 196 en route to a stellar 720 series at the Virgin River Bowling Center.

Baum’s season-high 720 featured 25 strikes, marks on 7-of-8 spare attempts, and his only open frame came on a nasty 7-9 split in the 2nd. frame of a 196 game in City High Rollers League action.

Before retiring to Mesquite, Baum enjoyed a long and highly successful bowling career in Utah that included a 300 game, a 299, multiple games between 290-299, numerous 700s,  and a career-high 788 series. He considers the crown jewel of all his notable bowling achievements was winning both the Utah State Men’s Scratch and handicap all events title one year in the late 1990s.

Meanwhile, Jeff Jacobson (667-245) merits major kudos for a superb effort in light of a lingering knee issue, and so does Al Gans (659-248) who’s also dealing with an ongoing balky knee problem on his slide foot also delivered a good workmanlike effort.

And without much fanfare, James Hartley (648-236) is having another good season, and Alan Jacobson (632-245) is a retired mail carrier from the U.S. Postal Service who has slowly been ratcheting up his scoring production.

And in T.G.I.F. League action from this past Friday night, it was great seeing Jack Northover finally adopt some of the good bowling advice from his wife, Katie, which in turn led to his best scoring output in over a year, a 629 series on games of 237, 223 and 169.

And Gary Moore (614-227), who like so many bowlers this season has seen his moments of cringe-inducing scores given the current scoring conditions at the VRBC. Anyway, earlier in his career he punched out a 300 and a 297 both of which can be seen on the bowling poster located inside the pro shop.

In Monday Scratch League play, Dennis Craft (607-214) who lives in St. George but commutes to bowl weekly in Mesquite and enjoys bowling on challenging lane conditions did good work under those conditions, and one has to like the consistency seen in Wayne Donnafield’s 600 (202, 199, 199) series.

On the single game front, David Pershing (687) is a new bowler in Mesquite this season who began a standout 288 with a 10-bagger. Look for more him to thump the lanes for more eye-popping scores as the season rolls on.

Michael “Smurffzzz” Ramirez (593) spanked the lanes with a 6-bagger in a 242, and it’s great seeing veteran bowler Rod Averett follow up a 203 from two weeks ago, with an even beefier 237 last week.

And Garth Turner who moved to Mesquite from Sheridan, Wyoming  a little over a year ago smacked a 236, while bolstered by a 5-bagger, Britt Kesl (583) a former standout rodeo competitor booked a clean 232.

John Collins who is one of the really good guys in local bowling chucked a nice 232 where the only open frame came after leaving the 4-7-10 split, Ken Meacham fired a 237 in T.G.I.F. League action, and it was great seeing Butch Loger who hails from Wyoming toss a 216.

Sal Diaz worked the lane for a 207, John Windberg (553) spanked the lanes in his 9:30 a.m. Early Risers League play with a pair of deuce games, a 211 and 208, and Doug Heiden is an avid Golden State Warriors fan who tossed a very efficient 211 with only one open frame.

Logan Hendrick scratched out a 204, Ken Riswick racked up a 203 on this past Friday night, Ben Carson was stoked after pocketing his first deuce of the season, a 202, and David Newman snares his first ink of the 2022-23 season for rolling a pair 202 games.

On the women’s side of the ledger, Bobbie Robbins set the scoring pace with a chart-topping 566 series, including a 205, Robin Drury peppered the lanes with a 552 set including the high game of the week, a 238, while Connie Jenkins merits ink for navigating the lanes for a season-high 503 series.

In the single game scene, LoriJo Turner (539) chalked up a 239 while still battling a back issue.

It should be noted that one of the possible reasons for the reduced number of both women and men scores this week is that as of my last check on midnight on Monday of this week, scores were not available online for the City High Rollers League, and it’s a league which produces a fair number of scores. However, the good news is once they become available, I’ll include them in next week’s column.

You wouldn’t know it by looking at her, but Marty Wilks who knows a ton about horses, must also pack some good info about health and longevity as she, along with Bessie Roberts are the two nonagenarians in the Friday morning Ladies Trio League. Anyway, Wilks fired a season-high 455 series which is 77 better than her average 378 series …  Michael Rossi rolled stepladder games of 144, 145, 146 … Mark Brackelsberg picked up the very difficult 6-7 split … Mary Posey’s been a good bowler before, so it’s not surprising she picked up the 4–7-9 split … Ken Kaylor converted the 2-9-10 split … Wally Posey spared the 5-7 split in a 178 game.

Scott Mattingly 666-246; Mike Yoder 659-246; Mike Saldivar 614-227; Darren Simonds 604-243; Maury Hardman 603-224; Dan Aslin 226; Robert Melendez 216; Sa; Diaz 213; Orlyn Meyer 211; Kelly Williamson 210; Bruce Hooley 206; Bob Morgan 204; Erick Soto 204; Frank Addamo 204; Bill Funk 203; John Hollaway 202; Fred Emmos 201; Mike Donovan 201; Jeff Branche 200; RIck Jones 200; Cheryl Rogers 525; Debbie Hansen 512.