Greg Hansen's top 10 bowlers in Tucson history
- Updated
Star sports columnist Greg Hansen counts down the top 10 bowlers in Tucson history.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
Editor’s note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything related to Tucson sports.
Today’s list: The top 10 bowlers in Tucson history.
On her 30th birthday, Bev Ortner bowled an 818 series at Harmony Lanes in Sioux City, Nebraska, becoming the first woman in history to break the long-challenged 800 barrier. That was 1968.
The record stood for 10 years, during which time Ortner won two Women’s Professional Bowling Association championships and was elected to the U.S. Bowling Congress Hall of Fame. Her series included games of 267, 264 and 287.
Ortner was a high-profile sports figure in Tucson during the 1970s and ’80s. The Star published a weekly bowling column, as well as choosing an annual Top 5 Bowlers of the Year — one each for men’s and women’s bowling — from the mid-’50s to the mid-’70s, when bowling was a popular American pastime.
The WIBC now presents an annual Bev Ortner Award for the highest sanctioned series by a female bowler each year.
Tucson overflowed with top bowlers for more than 30 years, with six bowling alleys — now called bowling centers — hopping most nights. Limiting our list of top Tucson bowlers to 10, folding men and women into the same group, was not easy.
The game has changed significantly in the last 20 years.
An advanced composition of bowling balls and more inviting lane surfaces have added about 20 to 30 points to a normal league bowler’s score per game. In the ’60s and ’70s, a 200 game was reason to celebrate. Now it’s more like 225.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
The Catalina High School grad won eight Pro Bowlers Tour championships in the 1970s. He was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1992.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
A fixture at Golden Pin Lanes, Tountas won three PBA championships, averaged 220 in 1968 and was elected to the American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
The wife of a Tucson schoolteacher won the 1969 Queens of American title — considered a “major” — and an earlier championship on the WIBC tour. Feigel carried a 187 average in 1965, No. 1 in the nation among female bowlers.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
He was the first Tucsonan to average 200 or better, in 1966. Majeske entered the Arizona Bowling Hall of Fame in 1974, when he was only 41.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
Quite a scorecard: Wallace won 19 WIBC city championships, 16 WIBC state championships and one WIBC national title in the ’70s and ’80s.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
He set a city and state record with an 803 series in 1973, a year after he averaged 202 and bowled his fourth career 300 game.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
He won 11 city championships from 1953-68 and was the fourth bowler selected to the Arizona Bowling Hall of Fame in 1969.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
Ten years after her historic 818 series, Ortner was elected to the national bowling writers’ All-American team.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
Just entering her athletic prime, the Canyon del Oro High School grad rocked the bowling world with a 300-279-300 series two years ago, an 879 series that tied the USBC record. She is a Team USA member and a PWBA national champion.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
When Wasson bowled 300 in 1961, it was the first perfect game in Tucson in nine years. The manager of Lucky Strike Lanes also bowled a 722 series to finish fourth in the 1961 American Bowl Congress finals.
More like this...
- Greg Hansen
Editor’s note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything related to Tucson sports.
Today’s list: The top 10 bowlers in Tucson history.
On her 30th birthday, Bev Ortner bowled an 818 series at Harmony Lanes in Sioux City, Nebraska, becoming the first woman in history to break the long-challenged 800 barrier. That was 1968.
The record stood for 10 years, during which time Ortner won two Women’s Professional Bowling Association championships and was elected to the U.S. Bowling Congress Hall of Fame. Her series included games of 267, 264 and 287.
Ortner was a high-profile sports figure in Tucson during the 1970s and ’80s. The Star published a weekly bowling column, as well as choosing an annual Top 5 Bowlers of the Year — one each for men’s and women’s bowling — from the mid-’50s to the mid-’70s, when bowling was a popular American pastime.
The WIBC now presents an annual Bev Ortner Award for the highest sanctioned series by a female bowler each year.
Tucson overflowed with top bowlers for more than 30 years, with six bowling alleys — now called bowling centers — hopping most nights. Limiting our list of top Tucson bowlers to 10, folding men and women into the same group, was not easy.
The game has changed significantly in the last 20 years.
An advanced composition of bowling balls and more inviting lane surfaces have added about 20 to 30 points to a normal league bowler’s score per game. In the ’60s and ’70s, a 200 game was reason to celebrate. Now it’s more like 225.
- Greg Hansen
Just entering her athletic prime, the Canyon del Oro High School grad rocked the bowling world with a 300-279-300 series two years ago, an 879 series that tied the USBC record. She is a Team USA member and a PWBA national champion.
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