Rookie American bowler rolls to gold

by Shannon Bertling on September 8, 2009

The U.S. Bowling Team kicked off their section of the Deaflympics on Tuesday with the singles events, and after a long day, an American male rookie claimed a gold medal. Randall Perry, of Washington, knocked down 1,228 pins in six games en route to his first gold medal, averaging a cool 204 per game. In comparison, Jonghoon Ham, the silver medalist from Korea, averaged 199 per game, ending the series with 1,197 felled pins. Perry actually was down by six points in the fifth game, but bowled a 212 to Ham's 187 in the sixth game and won. "He didn't even look at the score once the entire afternoon," teammate Darrell Stogryn exclaimed. He "just kept on bowling!" Perry's personal best out of all six games was a 241. Teammate Raimondas Doblmeier, who averaged a 171, said the lanes were slicked differently than what the Americans are used to. Perry said he had never bowled as well with lanes slicked in that manner. During practice the day before, Perry and the other bowlers struggled to find their groove, since the different levels of oil volume sent their balls careening into the gutters more often than usual. "It's a really proud moment for me," said Perry, as he basked in the afterglow of winning a medal. The doubles, trios and match play events take place later this week, and Perry said he is confident in the ability of his fellow U.S. bowlers. "We have a strong men's team," he said, "and a really good chance to win in the doubles event." Perry and his teammates begin the doubles event Wednesday afternoon.

Rookie American bowler rolls to gold

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