William Chestnut (pictured) of Cantrall, Ill., made his United States Bowling Congress Open Championships debut as a last-minute substitute at the 1961 event in Detroit, and he has been to every tournament since.

With his family by his side, the 76-year-old right-hander made his 50th march down Center Aisle and became the 128th bowler in tournament history to join the elite 50-Year Club.

The moment could not have been scripted any better as Chestnut was escorted down Center Aisle by his sons, Jim (30th tournament), Tim (22nd tournament) Mike (21st tournament) and Dave (19th tournament) as well as his daughters, Nancy Phillips (sixth appearance) and Patty Patrick (seventh appearance).

Also joining him on the lanes at the National Bowling Stadium on Sunday night were his niece, Bonnie Patterson, and his grandchildren, Greg and Sarah Chestnut. Together, the Chestnut family has more than 160 years of USBC Open Championships experience.

"It is always good to bowl with my family," said Chestnut, who bowls regularly at Kingpin Lanes in Springfield, Ill. "We bowl league together once a week, so I get to bowl with them often. We have always used the tournament as a vacation, and it is always a way for us to get together."

Bowling has linked the Chestnut family together, but it is the administrative side of the game that Chestnut really enjoys.

He has served in many facets of bowling administration, including as a league secretary and as treasurer, assistant secretary and executive director of the Greater Springfield (Ill.) Bowling Association. He also has served as vice president of the Illinois State Bowling Association, and currently is the organization's manager.

"I like administrative jobs," said Chestnut, who also spent two decades as a member of the USBC Board of Directors. "It really keeps you busy. You can make decisions, and I always like to make changes and see changes made."

Chestnut rounded out his 50th consecutive tournament appearance with 502 in doubles, 498 in team and 461 in singles for a 1,461 all-events total.

In 50 years on the championship lanes, he has knocked down 71,679 pins for a career average of 169.5.

"It was nice to get the accolades," said Chestnut, who received a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin for reaching 50 years of participation. "It is a wonderful achievement for me. Very few people have reached 50 years, so it was nice."

Also this weekend, Craig Auerbach (right) of Sunrise, Fla., cracked the top 10 in four events.

Auerbach helped STORM of Pritchett, Colo., into seventh place in Regular Team with a 3,321 total Saturday night and then teamed up with Michael Gaither of Tulsa, Okla., for a 1,446 doubles effort, which puts them sixth overall.

The accomplished right-hander, who was a Team All-Events champion in 2004 and rolled a 300 game in 2008, shot 754 in doubles, 731 in singles and 665 in team for a 2,150 all-events total, which is good for 10th place, and his performance helped STORM into fourth place in Team All-Events with 9,975.

Anthony Colosimo added 2,004 for STORM and was followed by Gaither (1,994), Jerry Casebolt (1,942) and Kevin Mitchell (1,885).

On Sunday night, Chuck Tompkins of Galloway, Ohio, moved into sixth place in Regular All-Events with 2,168 and 10th place in Regular Singles with 775. Matt McNiel of Chanhassen, Minn., and Terrence Syring of Bay City, Mich., lead with 2,326 and 833, respectively.

Presenting sponsors for the 2010 USBC Open Championships are Circus Circus, Eldorado and Silver Legacy Hotel/Casinos in Reno, Nev. Other sponsors include Sands Regency Casino Hotel, official brackets sponsor, Kegel, official lane maintenance provider, US Steltronic, official scoring system, and supporting sponsors Storm Bowling Products, UPS, Nationwide Insurance, Atlantis Casino Resort and Spa, Harrah's Reno Casino and Hotel and Peppermill Hotel Casino.

 

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107th USBC Open Championships

National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., United States (Feb. 20 - July 5, 2010)

REGULAR DIVISION

Top 10 division leaders with hometown and pinfalls

 

Team
1, Bowlers Edge Pro Shop (Brad Kuhr, Timothy Rice, Dan Paul, Kenny Kempf, Jason Wendt), Neenah, Wis., 3,408. 2, Linds Lakers 1, Minneapolis, 3,390. 3, Armstrong Printing 1, Naperville, Ill., 3,382. 4, Northern Lanes Pro Shop, Sanford, Mich., 3,355. 5, S & B Pro Shop, Clinton Township, Mich., 3,347. 6, The Bowling Store 1, Omaha, Neb., 3,343. 7, STORM, Pritchett, Colo., 3,321. 8, Lakeview Lanes, Baldwinsville, N.Y., 3,313. 9, 900 Global, Indianapolis, 3,304. 10, Turbo 2-N-1 Grips 1, Madison, Wis., 3,298.

Doubles
1, Steve Bohn, Norwood, Minn./John Kreyer Jr., Fridley, Minn., 1,514. 2, Jeffrey Mersch, Orlando, Fla./Erik Vermilyea, Mansfield, Texas, 1,507. 3, Tom Milton, St. Petersburg, Fla./David Taylor, Seminole, Fla., 1,498. 4, Jeff Nimke, Oshkosh, Wis./Chad Maas, Brookfield, Wis., 1,480. 5, Jason Waters, Macedonia, Ohio/Steve Waters, Northfield, Ohio, 1,449. 6, Craig Auerbach, Sunrise, Fla./Michael Gaither, Tulsa, Okla., 1,446. 7, Luke Voaklander, St. Bonifacius, Minn./John Eiss, Orono, Minn., 1,444. 8, Dale Williams, West Valley, Utah/Jimmy Jensen/Magna, Utah, 1,441. 9, Kenneth Stephens, Frankfort, Ky./Randall Montoya, Albuquerque, N.M., 1,434. 10 (tie), Terry Hall, Rocklin, Calif./Andrew Udahl, Elk Grove, Calif., and Scott Helm, Hartford, Wis./Dave Beres, Greenfield, Wis., 1,421.

Singles
1, Terrence Syring, Bay City, Mich., 833. 2, Eric Traylor, Cypress, Texas, 811. 3, Matt McNiel, Chanhassen, Minn., 806. 4, Jimmy Johnson, Pataskala, Ohio, 804. 5, Dan Gould, East Hampton, Mass., 783. 6 (tie), Dave Stenger, East Peoria, Ill., and Dave Smalley, Louisville, Ky., 781. 8, Marcus Parcell, Round Rock, Texas, 777. 9, Dale Hofmeister, Essexville, Mich., 776. 10, Chuck Tompkins, Galloway, Ohio, 775.

All-Events
1, Matt McNiel, Chanhassen, Minn., 2,326. 2, John Bauerle Jr., Indianapolis, 2,225. 3, John Kreyer Jr., Fridley, Minn., 2,184. 4, Sam Lantto, Eden Prairie, Minn., 2,174. 5, Matt Tomsu, Papillion, Neb., 2,173. 6, Chuck Tompkins, Galloway, Ohio, 2,168. 7, Dan MacLelland, Saginaw, Mich., 2,166. 8, John Eiss, Orono, Minn., 2,164. 9, Terrence Syring, Bay City, Mich., 2,155. 10, Craig Auerbach, Sunrise, Fla., 2,150.

Team All-Events
1, Northern Lanes Pro Shop (Bo Goergen, Derwin Pitre, Dale Hofmeister, JR Raymond, Dan MacLelland), Sanford, Mich., 10,284. 2, Linds Lakers 1, Minneapolis, 10,187. 3, Red Carpet Lanes, Greenfield, Wis., 10,131. 4, STORM, Pritchett, Colo., 9,975. 5, S & B Pro Shop, Clinton Township, Mich., 9,920. 6, Junior Team USA Support, Orlando, Fla., 9,893. 7, Armstrong Printing 1, Naperville, Ill., 9,826. 8, Team Pabst, Madison, Wis., 9,819. 9, The Bowling Store 1, Omaha, Neb., 9,814. 10, Don Johnson Memorial, Shepherdsville, Ky., 9,813.

 

CLASSIFIED DIVISION

Team
1, Huikko's Bowling Center 3 (Pam Strong, Ronda Bauman, Jeanne Schmid, Jeffrey Schmid, Dale Bauman), Buffalo, Minn., 2,730. 2, EWI/NPS/Denny's, Mentor, Ohio, 2,699. 3, Team Six, Fresno, Calif., 2,689. 4, We Don't Know, Columbia, S.C., 2,687. 5, Wothe Bait 1, Perham, Minn., 2,684. 6, Garden Center Lanes 2, Alexandria, Minn., 2,683. 7, Razorback Rollers, Stuttgart, Ark., 2,668. 8, Garden Center Lanes 3, Alexandria, Minn., 2,663. 9, Sportsman Bowling Club 5, Moreno Valley, Calif., 2,662. 10, Queen Bee's Bar/Grill 1, Paynesville, Minn., 2,651.

Doubles
1, Tyson Sims/Scott Wilcox, Georgetown, Idaho, 1,182. 2, John Bishop/Dan Mosteller, Tooele, Utah, 1,175. 3, Wayne Doney, Lamar, Colo./Jim Matusek, Hartland, Wis., 1,174. 4, Pat Fitzgibbons, Colorado Springs, Colo./Pete Fitzgibbons, Goodland, Kan., 1,173. 5, Chris Nugent, Mays Landing, N.J./Jason Campbell, Galloway, N.J., 1,171. 6, Greg Allen/Stacey Bauer, Ogallala, Neb., 1,166. 7, Joe McKee/Mark Nalan, Sheffield, Iowa, 1,155. 8, Walter Cook, Inverness, Fla./Stephen Liik, Homosassa, Fla., 1,153. 9, Tammy Illingworth/Ronald Jones, Newton, Iowa, 1,152. 10 (tie), Holly Ventura, Harwood Heights, Ill./Bob Zurek, River Grove, Ill., and Scott Lehman/Terry Reineke, Celina, Ohio, 1,149.

Singles
1, David Garcez, Merced, Calif., 669. 2, Dan Palmer, Byers, Colo., 658. 3, Blake Sandidge, Lead, S.D., 653. 4, Joseph Buggs, Honolulu, 647. 5, Mark Plute, Montrose, Colo., 644. 6, Gino Cerullo, Caspey, Wyo., 634. 7, Matt Tschann, Paynesville, Minn., 630. 8, Shelly Dunbar, Billings, Mont., 629. 9, Curt VanLaningham, Ogallala, Neb., 624. 10, Dan Dahlquist, Wheaton, Ill., 622.

All-Events
1, Harry Arnold, Falls City, Neb., 1,796. 2, Steve Miller, Roanoke, Ill., 1,775. 3, Richard Eisenhut, Downers Grove, Ill., 1,766. 4, Scott Lehman, Celina, Ohio, 1,744. 5, Harry Berg, Eau Claire, Wis., 1,743. 6, Matt Tschann, Paynesville, Minn., 1,742. 7, Paul Daniels, Bonner, Mont., 1,739. 8, Jake Acuna, Pocatello, Idaho, 1,736. 9, John Stolarski, Waterford, Mich., 1,733. 10 (tie), Tom Sellers, Barstow, Calif., and Douglas Drake, Princeton, Ill., 1,732.