34
- May 2017
Two Bowlers Celebrate 50
Years At 2017 Women’s
Championship
By
and
Hope Williams (below) of Tucson, Arizona, and
Elaine Rebatzke of Milwaukee became the latest
members of the 50-Year Club at the United States
Williams and
Rebatzke each
were honored at
t h e
Ra i s i n g
Cane's
River
Center this week
for their longevity,
and each re-
ceived a plaque,
chev ron
and
necklace to com-
memorate the
milestone.
Williams, 91,
made her 50th consecutive USBC Women's Champi-
onships appearance Wednesday, celebrating a career
that started at the 1968 event in San Antonio.
Throughout her career, she has traveled to 34 cities
and 24 states.
Williams enjoys the environment the tournament pro-
vides, but she really cherishes having the opportunity
to meet new friends every year.
"I love the people and the atmosphere," said Wil-
liams, a member of the Tucson Metro USBC Hall of
Fame. "I love meeting new people every year. I re-
member one year, we bowled with a team from Japan
and had a great time. I worked this tournament, and
I've bowled it for so long, and it's the people and the
atmosphere that make it so great."
Joined by family and friends for her 50th appearance,
Williams reminisced about several teammates who
spent many years by her side on the championship
lanes.
"Five years ago, we had a team where three of us
received our 45-year plaque, and my daughter got her
30-year plaque," Williams said.
"Unfortunately, the two who made 45 years passed
away, so it is bittersweet to be here for my 50th with-
out them."
In her 50th appearance, Williams only competed in
the team event. She had not bowled leading into this
year's Women's Cham-
pionships, but she is
ready to start putting in
the work again.
"I didn't bowl this
year," Williams said. "I
know I need a lot of
practice to get back in
shape again.".
Rebatzke, 78, had a
party in store for her
50th appearance as
friends and family
cheered on the Mil-
waukee and Wisconsin USBC Women's Bowling As-
sociation Hall of Famer.
She was joined by 15 teams in her group, including
longtime friend and colleague at the Women's Interna-
tional Bowling Congress, USBC Hall of Famer Rose-
ann Kuhn of Hays, Kansas.
"Roseann is one of my best friends, and we've known
each other for some 40 years," Rebatzke said. "We
worked together for 20-plus years at the WIBC before I
retired. We've kept in touch, even after she moved
back to Kansas. We see each other away from the
tournament. I go to see her in Kansas, and she comes
to see me in Milwaukee."
Kuhn, who presented Rebatzke with her plaque, ech-
oed the admiration shared with her friend and team-
mate.
"It's a special day for Elaine, but for me as well," said
Kuhn, who made her 43rd Women's Championships
appearance. "We've been friends for a very long time,
and it's an honor to be here today."
Rebatzke began her tournament career at the 1963
event in Memphis, Tennessee, and despite some
travel woes on her way to Memphis, a passion for the
event developed.
"We decided to take the train from Milwaukee," Re-
batzke said. "We had to switch trains in Chicago, and
when we got to Memphis we had no luggage. All we
had were our uniforms, which we packed in garment
bags. So when we bowled the team event the next
day, we had to use house balls and house shoes. For-
tunately, we had uniforms, but that was it. It was quite
a start to all of my years bowling in the national tourna-
ment."
Rebatzke went on to find success on the champion-
ship lanes, including a second-place finish in Classic
All-Events and a fourth-place finish in Classic Singles
at the 1985 event in Toledo, Ohio. The performance
gave her the opportunity to represent the United
States at the 1985 Lee Evans Tournament of the
Americas.
Rebatzke also enjoyed the chance to meet new peo-
ple while competing and working at the event as she
reflected on her milestone run..
"Well, for one thing, I can knock this off my bucket
list," Rebatzke said. "It's been a great ride. I've been to
a lot of wonderful cities and made lots of new friends
along the way, and I really, really enjoyed every min-
ute of it."
At the River Center, Rebatzke rolled sets of 529 in
singles, 479 in doubles and 475 in team for a 1,483 all
-events total.
Brian LeClair Wins Johnny Petraglia
BVL Open to Become
Season’s First PBA50 Tour
Two-Time Winner
By Jerry Schneider
LeClair defeats Ron Mohr 245-195 in title match for
third career PBA50 Tour title
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (May 9, 2017) – Brian LeClair of
Delmar, N.Y., won the PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL
Open presented by Brunswick Tuesday to become the
season’s first PBA50 Tour two-time winner.
LeClair defeated two-time PBA50 Player of the Year
and eight-time winner Ron Mohr of Las Vegas, 245-195,
in the championship match at Farmingdale Lanes to also
win his third career PBA50 Tour title.
LeClair, who was the top qualifier for the finals, domi-
nated from the start throwing strikes in the first eight of
nine frames. Mohr, who qualified second, was able to get
his ball to the pocket but had trouble with pin carry during
the match.
“I don’t know that I bowled that much better of a game
than Ron,” LeClair said. “The key for me was to keep my
hand behind the ball at release to get more forward roll.
Sometimes that’s an advantage and sometimes it’s not,
but it looked like guys were having trouble with pin carry
if they had too much side roll.”
LeClair went undefeated in the final round of match play
winning all six of his matches to earn the top qualifying
position for the stepladder finals.
“It was one of those days where it seemed like I could-
n’t bowl a bad game and my opponents couldn’t get any-
thing going,” said LeClair, who won the season-opening
Pasco County Florida Open. “All the pieces just seemed
to fit this week.”
LeClair finished second in last year’s Johnny Petraglia
BVL Open losing to reigning PBA50 Player of the Year
Pete Weber 223-204 in the title match.
In the semi-final match, Mohr, who was hoping to end a
five-year drought without a PBA50 Tour win, defeated
five-time PBA Tour and three-time PBA50 Tour winner
Bob Learn Jr. of Erie, Pa., 226-168, to advance to the
title match.
Learn advanced to the semi-final with a 243-197 win
over PBA Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli of Venezuela
in the second stepladder match.
In the opening match, Monacelli, who was trying for his
eighth PBA50 Tour title, beat John Conroy of Mahopoc,
N.Y., 224-194. Making his first stepladder final appear-
ance, Conroy earned a career-high fifth-place finish.
The PBA50 Tour travels to Woodland Bowl in Indian-
apolis May 13-16 for the PBA50 Miller Lite Players
Championship, the first major of the season.
PBA50 JOHNNY PETRAGLIA BVL OPEN
Presented by Brunswick
Farmingdale Lanes, Farmingdale, N.Y., Tuesday
Final Standings
1, Brian LeClair, Delmar, N.Y.,
$7,500.
2, Ron Mohr, Las Vegas,
$4,000.
3, Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa.,
$2,500.
4, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, $2,000.
5, John Conroy, Mahopoc, N.Y.
$1,750.
(
Continued next page)
