Doubles partners Ralph Solan of Farr West, Utah, and Clay Rees of
Riverton, Utah, waited until singles to shoot big numbers at the 102nd
American Bowling Congress Championships Tournament, a USBC event.
Rees shot 781 to take the lead in Regular Singles while Solan had 725
in singles on his way to 2,072 in Regular All-Events to take the top
spot Thursday at the Baton Rouge River Center.
Solan, whose singles total places him fourth, shot 682 in team and 665
in doubles. Rees had 579 in doubles and 564 in team.
"I asked Ralph if we could just switch those singles scores over to
doubles," Rees joked. "It would have been hard to beat."
Solan, a 37-year-old sales representative for Storm Bowling Products,
thought he had a shot at a decent all-events score after the big start
in team event, but set no goals heading into Thursday. As the final game
was wrapping up, he knew he had taken the lead and threw a five-bagger
to finish with 247.
"I wanted to shoot something that would hold up for awhile and finish
near the top of the standings," Solan said. "I knew striking in the
ninth and 10th frames was really critical. That was 50 or 60 pins that
could have gone either way right there.
Rees, a 31-year-old pro shop owner, had a shot at the first perfect
game and 800 series of this year's ABC Tournament, but fell short in the
eighth frame of the last game. With seven in a row and everyone else in
the venue finished bowling, Rees pulled the ball and left a 3 pin.
"I threw that ball bad," said Rees, who had games of 235, 238 and 278
in singles. "It was a little strange when it gets real quiet. It added
to the pressure with more people watching."
Solan and Rees also led their team, Jack and Jill Lanes 4 of Lehi,
Utah, the top spot in Team All-Events with 9,197. Sam Wadley had 1,843
all-events, Jack Wadley had 1,782 and Molly Rees had 1,576 to add to
Solan's 2,072 and Rees' 1,924.
In addition, Jack and Jill Lanes 4 moved into fifth place with 2,979
in team on Wednesday night.
