Bowling: Koa Paka Ned wows Mesquite bowlers with strike ball in 601 series

Koa Paka Ned is the latest of a growing number of talented young bowlers at the Virgin River Bowling Center in Mesquite,

Nevada who generate a ton of revs delivering a bowling ball using a two-handed delivery resulting in explosive pin action.

And if you’ve seen him launch one of his rockets to the pocket you can’t help but notice a seemingly extra pop when it hits the 1-3 pocket. And prior to joining a league in Mesquite this season, he bowled in leagues at Santa Fe Lanes in Las Vegas

And he’s being featured in the mesquitelocalnews.com online newspaper because he just racked up his first 600 series competing in a VRBC League. The road to his 601 series began with a 196, followed by a 210 with seven strikes, and closed it out with a clean 195 and a total of 18 strikes.

His bowling resume includes a career-high 710 series, a 299 game, and his favorite bowler is Jason Belmonte.

Away from bowling he loves to spend time with his kids, play video games like his favorite, Apex Legends,and also binge-watch programs like Next Level Chef, Mandalorian and Last of Us.

He was a two-sport athlete in high school playing football and volleyball, and the University of Hawaii Warriors are his favorite football team.

Koa was born on Fathers Day, is employed at Danville Services in Mesquite, travel the world is a top priority on his bucket list, and he’s a been a great addition to the local bowling scene.

In other pin action, young bowling sensation Michael “Smurffzzz” Ramirez led all scoring last week with a humongous 698 series that featured 26 strikes, including 10 in a 277 along with games of 219 and 202. And one day earlier he tossed another 22 strikes in a 679 set including a clean 231 and a pair of 224 games.

Meanwhile, Jeff Branche narrowly missed a 700 series in a standout effort en route to a 694 with 22 strikes including a 7-bagger in a 256 and games of 222 and 216.

Logan Hendrick was one of the top high jumpers in Nevada during his high school days and these days is mowing down pins like in his career-high 674 set last week which included a 10-bagger in a season-high 264, and no surprise here as John Hollaway (672-258) delivered another of his patented top-notch outings.

And Darren Simonds averaged 220 between a pair of really good performances (665-255 & 659-235), while Dean Sheppard smoked the lanes with a season-high 656 including an 8-bagger in a 256, and Jim Lytle (656-256) was such a pillar of consistency hitting the 1-3 pocket a strong case can be made had it not been for an 8-10 split on a pocket shot for his only open, odds are he would have booked an impressive 9 pin No-Tap 900 series.

And Bob Robbins who bowled for some 25 years in a two lane bowling center in Sitka, Alaska tossed a season-high 643 including eight strikes in a 244. By the way, Robbins and Simonds finished in 1st place in a doubles tournament in Sin City and pocketed $1500.00, and Gil Niimi’s (612) umpteenth 600 included eight strikes in a clean 236

And Randy Kezior merits ink after throwing 16 strikes in his first 600 this season, a 601 on games of 210, 203 and 188, while Angel Hernandez who does a super job working the front desk at the VRBC, rang up 17 strikes in a 599 effort on games of 221, 189 and 189.

In some great single game action, Al Gans (685) ran the front 9 and went spare/strike in the 10th for a 279, while Ken Kaylor and his smooth delivery shredded the pocket with 11 strikes in a 266 gem. Incidentally, Kaylor, an artist extraordinaire was painting murals on 5th Ave & Times Square in New York City on July 16th, 1999 when the small aircraft piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr. crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

Dean Baum (665) chucked a 256, Austin Finster had 10 strikes in a 245, Josue Mendoza had 9 strikes in a season-high 235. Dave Cirbo logged a 235, and Dennis Craft who still does 10K runs bagged a 227.

Jim Rappe (590) delivered 7 strikes in a 224, while Ernie Kala (598) posted a 223, Juan Morgana rolled a nice 221, and Raul Macias (569) 221 fell two pins shy of eclipsing his season-high 222.

John Gerger is a highly skilled computer whiz who booked a 212, Alan “AJ” Jacobson an outstanding baseball player in high school registered a 212, Jimmy Webb’s 208 included six strikes, and Mike Gentry who can play the trumpet and is blessed with great artistic talent logged a 208.

Dale Davidson is an Air Force veteran with a pair of 300s on his resume delivered a 204, Rod Averett  chalked up a 203, David Houghton fired a 202, Louis Dillisio also tallied a 202 and is still looking for his first 600 of the season, and Larry McCubbin delivered 4 strikes and 7 spares in an impressive clean 200 game.

On the women’s side of the ledger, Bev Cormani’s 590 set does not reflect how how often she hammered the 1-3 pocket only to leave a corner pin and her 223 was high game for the week.

Sandy Sheppard delivered a workmanlike 582 and 203 game, Cher Erhart shot a season-high 542 on games of 193, 188 and 161 along with a total of 13 strikes and nine of them coming on a trio of turkey’s, and Bobbie Robbins captures ink for a 522 and 200 scores, while Reiko Schultz (504) tossed her umpteenth 500 series.

In single game pin action, Ashlee Yokoyama (501) had six strikes in a 222, Debbie Hanson (560) also had six strikes in a 214, and Ronnie Tsuhako’s clutch spare in the 9th frame and turkey in the 10th paved the way for a season-high 211.

And it was great seeing Mary Posey (516) book a 211 with six strikes, Cathy Hamilton’s season-high 208 blew away her 130 average.

LoriJo Turner (602) cranked out a 207, Tillie Armijo gets her first ink in this column for a 204 in which she threw five strikes. She’s previously bowled in New Mexico and Colorado, and currently bowls on teams with a daughter, grandson and granddaughter, and it was great seeing Toni Gans who does such a tremendous job running the bowling segment of the Mesquite Senior Games pop a 200 game.

Kathy Baylor delivered a clutch spare in the 10th frame of one game, and a clutch spare in the 9th and double in the 10th frame in another game enabling her team to scratch out a win in both games in T.G.I.F. League play. And the previous week in the same league she delivered a season-high 197 game along with her best series, a 486. It’s been a great two weeks on the lanes for Baylor who grew up in corn country in Illinois and works in the cages these days at The Eureka … Cindy Petersen picked up the 6-7 split in a 166 game and she began bowling at age, 9, and was on the golf team in high school … Thanh Roth spared the almost impossible 8-10 split in the 10th frame and followed with a clutch strike giving her team a narrow win. Before moving to Mesquite, Roth was a dental assistant for 30 years in Stillwater, Minnesota … Suzie Fehseke who is the coordinator for the mahjongg program at the senior center converted the 3-10 split … Betty Hunt sports a 155 average but rolled a nice 159 game … Wendy May fired a clutch double in the 10th frame of one game, and stormed back with a turkey in the 10th of the following game. May was a good volleyball player in high school, and an even better pitcher in softball where he favorite two pitches with 2 strikes on a hitter was to throw some “chin music: with a high and tight fastball, and then come back with a nasty curve ball low and outside often resulting in a swing and miss … Eddie Lopez spared the 4-5 split … Ann Weast received a 175 game award for a 177 game … Lauren Dean sports a 127 average and tossed a season-high 177.

Wayne Donnafield 675-247; Mike Saldivar 638-245; Doug Love 623-235; Jerry Holloway 623-235; Dave Maves 619-216; Orlyn Meyer 618-214; Milan Carr 612-235; Dan Aslin 245; Sal Diaz 244; Mike Rogers 226; Bruce Hooley 224; Ron Hendrickson 223; Bill Funk 222; Dave Harris 214; Britt Kesl 211; Eddie Elsner 211; Mitch Fletcher 211; Dylan Kesl 210; Dan Erhart 209; Dave Pershing 209; Ed Hoepfner 207; Fred Emmons 207; Ricky Trujillo 207; Robin Drury 205; Harold Hendrick 204; Mike Yoder 203; Robert Melendez 202; Frank Addamo 201; Kelly Williamson 201; Steve Kenyon 200.