As tournaments go, this one will go down as the perfect one.
Perfect as in a record number of perfect games.
And Patrick Healey Jr. is its poster boy.
Healey fired consecutive 300 games Friday at the Earl Anthony Medford Classic at Lava Lanes, only the third time that's happened this season on the Denny's Professional Bowlers Association Tour.
He was one of two people to throw two 300s through Friday. Dino Castillo was the other, with one in Thursday's round of 64 and the other in the round of 32.
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Twice this season there have been as many as 12 perfectos in a tournament, at Vernon Hills, Ill., and Baltimore.
The all-time record has not been threatened recently, however. That distinction goes to the Peoria, Ill., event in 1995, when perfection was reached no fewer than 24 times.
Healey, who needed every bit of the gems plus a closing 278 to get past Steve Jaros in the round of 16, was tickled over the accomplishment.
His 300s came in Games 2 and 3 after Jaros had won the opener of the best-of-seven series. After he had closed out Jaros in Game 3 in the eighth frame, he let his mind wander.
"I thought, 'Wouldn't that be cool,'" he said of back-to-backers. "There was all that emotion, the people were screaming. It's something special. I've never done this before."
Healey's previous tour 300 was in 2003 at the Tournament of Champions.
"Now," he said, prior to Friday night's quarterfinals, "I hope they come in bunches."
Perfect games aren't generally on the mind of pro bowlers, he said, because they are so focused on trying to find the right shot for the conditions and changing with the lanes as the oil breaks down.
There are also fewer perfect games in head-to-head competition because once a match is decided, players often use the last few frames to try different balls and lines as practice for the next game.
Healey didn't consider that in Game 3, he said, because the lanes were still changing.
And he didn't for a second think a couple of 300s would be enough to conquer Jaros by themselves.
In fact, Jaros fell behind 3-1, then rallied to tie it with games of 258 and 286 as Healey couldn't top 200 in the fifth and sixth games.
"The pair (lanes) always change," said Healey, referring to conditions after his second 300. "I was prepared for it, I was waiting for it, but they changed more than I thought they would on the right side. I struggled with it."
He regrouped in the seventh game. Only a spare in the seventh frame stopped him from rolling a third perfect game, leaving him with a 278.
IN ONE OF THE marquee matches Friday morning, Brian Himmler took out frustration from a week earlier when he defeated Tim Criss, 4-2. In the TV semifinals here last year, Himmler defeated Criss, 259-242, on his way to the title.
Himmler wasn't thinking about that Friday.
He reflected on the Reno, Nev., event last week, when he was second qualifying, then got drummed by Chris Loschetter, 4-0, in his first match.
"I was just upset about last week, not personally against Tim," said Himmler, who lost the first two games Friday, then rebounded with 279 and 289 games to square the match at 2-2.
"Tim's bowling good," said Himmler. "He'll sneak in there next week and do it to somebody else."
Criss will have the same incentive: He was the top qualifier and No. 1 seed this week.
THERE WAS AN interesting entrant in the Tour Qualifying Round on Wednesday.
Steve Wilstein, for nearly a quarter-century one of The Associated Press' top sports writers and columnists — a book he wrote about sports writing has been on my desk for years — made his first attempt at qualifying for an event.
He finished next-to-last with a 170 average over seven games. Only six months ago, Wilstein was a 140-average bowler seeking an instructor.
He found one near his Arlington, Wash., home in Ron Hoppe, who has tutored tour star Mika Koivuniemi for 12 years and has worked on a smaller scale with many other top players over the years.
Wilstein retired from AP last year and chose to get serious about bowling, a pursuit he enjoyed as a child. He plans to enter qualifying next week in the Dick Weber Open in Fountain Valley, Calif., and possibly another stop or two before immersing himself in it next season.
The end result could be one of the most comprehensive books about the PBA Tour.
Wilstein had a colorful career with AP. He covered many of the big events of our time, including spending a month in Portland in early 1994 following the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan saga. He then covered the Lillehammer Olympics where they shared ice.
He's most notable, however, for having found a bottle of androstenedione in Mark McGwire's locker during the slugger's celebrated home-run chase with Sammy Sosa in 1998.
Wilstein wrote about McGwire's use of the anabolic steroid and his contention that "Everybody I know in the game of baseball uses the same stuff I use."
At the time, few knew what to make of it or wanted to hear about it.
CHRIS BARNES HAD one of the 300s Friday during what was shaping up to be a pretty good week for the Barnes family.
His wife, Lynda, showed once again she's no slouch of a bowler, winning her third U.S. Amateur championship Thursday at the U.S. Bowling Congress Team USA Trials.
The 10-time national team member had a 40-game pinfall of 8,816 over four days. She also won U.S. Amateur titles in 1995 and 2005.
Unfortunately, her husband's run ended Friday in the round of 16 when he lost to Jeff Carter, 4-1.
Barnes, a seven-time tour winner, has been vexed at Lava Lanes. There are seven centers on tour that have hosted events for at least five years. This is the only one in which he hasn't made the TV finals.
He's made it to the round of eight three times in Medford.
Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail ttrower@mailtribune.com
