Arizona bowler rolls 300 at 2026 USBC Open Championships
Justin Hauser
July 11, 2026
Story And Photo From Bowl.com.
RENO, Nev. – Aaron Yamamoto of Phoenix checked off a longtime goal Thursday at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, rolling his first perfect game at the tournament during doubles competition at the National Bowling Stadium.
The 33-year-old right-hander opened with games of 201 and 197 before closing with the 41st 300 of the 2026 event for a 698 series. He joined Justin Sims of Ventura, California, during the set to post a combined score of 1,300 in the Regular Division.
The accomplishment didn’t come without adjustments.
Yamamoto began doubles with his typical strategy of starting farther right on the lane before gradually moving left as the pattern transitioned. However, seeing multiple competitors throwing urethane on his pair caused him to make a more aggressive move than originally planned.
“I always try to start right at nationals and chase it left as the lanes break down,” Yamamoto said. “We had a couple guys throwing urethane on our pair, so I moved farther in and got a little more direct to the pocket.”
The adjustment proved to be exactly what he needed.
“I told my doubles partner I was just going to give it a shot,” Yamamoto said. “I was going to throw it as hard as I could, be a little more direct and not give the lane away. It paid off.”
The perfect game marked Yamamoto’s first at the USBC Open Championships, a milestone he has been pursuing since becoming a regular participant.
“I’ve been coming out here for about five years now,” Yamamoto said. “Shooting an honor score, whether it was a 300 or an 800, has always been on my bucket list.”
While the perfect game earned him a place among the tournament’s honor score recipients, Yamamoto said the annual trip to the Open Championships has always been about more than scores.
“I really come to nationals because it’s like a vacation,” Yamamoto said. “I get to see friends from California that I don’t get to see throughout the year. This is just kind of a little reward on top of that.”
Along with a place in the tournament’s record book, Yamamoto also earned one of the traditions reserved for those reaching the achievement – he’ll be recognized as a tournament celebrity every year he bowls the event.
For Yamamoto, however, the lasting memory will simply be accomplishing one of the goals he set for himself when he began competing at the Open Championships.
He finished his appearance with a 633 series in singles and added 620 in team to finish the year with an all-events total of 1,951.
The Open Championships is celebrating its 122nd edition in 2026 and making its 15th trip to Reno, Nevada. The 2026 event is scheduled to feature more than 55,000 bowlers and 11,000 five-player teams competing across 128 consecutive days at the National Bowling Stadium.
Follow the action from the tournament’s official Facebook and Instagram accounts.
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July 8, 2026
TUCSON METRO USBC UPDATE
By Mark Kerr, President
WHY WE DO THIS: On Tuesday, July 7, Tucson Metro USBC presented Anthony Cruz, a sanctioned league bowler, his USBC 800 ring for his 800, on the nose series he had bowled in league at Bowlero Tucson. Anthony was so excited to get his ring and then bowled his summer league. A total of 15, 800 series were thrown, as well as 43, 300 games during the season. Tucson Metro USBC Board members had the privilege of presenting those who bowled these honor scores for the first time, their respective USBC rings, as well as receiving Tucson Metro USBC local awards for their achievements.
Recently, members of the Tucson Metro USBC Board have also presented bowlers their high scratch team series, singles and all events awards for recent Tucson Metro USBC tournaments. In addition, Tucson Metro USBC Board Members handed out the new Tucson Metro USBC 11 In A Row Challenge Coins (49 in total for this past season). Tucson Metro USBC also awarded more than 3,150 Tucson Metro USBC keychain awards forhonor scores (games and series) for this past season.
Tucson Metro USBC took the step to ensure that these scores are recognized and congratulated for our bowlers. It is so nice to see them on bowling bags, as bowlers take part in leagues and tournaments.
Anthony’s reaction, as well as the all the other bowlers getting recognition through the awards and even notice in this column or on social media, makes it all worth while, in terms of the purpose of Tucson Metro USBC, to serve the bowlers who take part in leagues and Tucson Metro USBC tournaments at the five centers in the Tucson area, to show our thanks for being a part of the Tucson bowling community. Thank you bowlers for your support.
UPDATE: Tucson Metro USBC is in the process of finalizing the dates and bowling centers for
the 2026-2027 tournament schedule, as well as for the Tucson Metro Youth bowling tournaments. Last season, Tucson Metro USBC offered new events, as well as a new Youth bowling tournament and Tucson Metro USBC is in discussions with management for the centers for the upcoming season.
Some bowling tournaments will be moved on the calendar, as well as format changes. Tucson Metro USBC evaluated the tournaments for the past season and to make the experience for our bowlers an even better one, including the ability for bowlers to consider registering and paying for Tucson Metro USBC tournaments completely online The Tucson Metro USBC 2026-2027 tournament schedule will be posted online shortly and will be featured in next month’s Desert Bowler. Tucson Metro USBC wants to thank bowlers who used Zelle to make payments for their tournament registration, making it a big success. Zelle will be part of the 2026-2027 Tucson Metro USBC tournaments.
CONGRATULATIONS TO: Congratulations to Mario Ruiz, bowled a 300 game in the Dynamic Duos league at Lucky Strike Bowl on July 1.
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EVENT RECAP: Southwest Bowling Tour.
Event Took Place At Lakeview Lanes in Sun City On July 19.
News From Southwest Bowling Tour.
Sun City - - - The inaugural Seniors & Women Shootout at Lakeview Lanes in Sun City, AZ proved to be a smashing success with 148 entries rolled by 120 bowlers vying for the $1,500 top prize. Charlie Price, of Phoenix, battled through a hard-fought championship match to take home his first SBT title! SBT paid out $15,402 in cash and prizes in this one-day special event with a low $89 entry fee, and has already paid out over $192,000 across nine events so far in 2026!
The 44-foot 2024 PBA Salvino pattern brought challenging lane conditions to Lakeview with cut scores a bit lower than most SBT events. The average cut score across all divisions and cuts was +34. With a 5.0:1 ratio and 29.1mL of volume, most of the advancing bowlers found success playing more toward the middle of the lane on the inside half of the track. Generally speaking, bowlers who attempted to play straight and closer the gutter, which is usually in play at this high-friction center, found it difficult to get to the pocket.
Price, the 61-year-old Quality Engineer from Phoenix representing the Super Senior Division, made the cut from the first squad of the day with a +81. He advanced through the Cashers Round as the number at +40, then defeated Paul Mahar and Robert Havers III in the Division Championship match, 248 (247+1) to 173 (155+18) and 167 (140+27).
In the three other division finals:
Andrew Lomuscio of Tempe shot 224 (224+0) to defeat Paul Bierly with 191 (171+20) and Ron Schloss with 169 (169+0) to win the Senior Challenger Division.
Pete Ligouri of Sun City scored 244 (201+43), beating Paul Schuler with 168 (112+56) in the Senior Foundation Division.
Tayler Clark of Tucson rolled 224 (212+12) to triumph over Melissa Schneider with 197 (161+36) and Katie Hurley with 188 (176+12) in the Women's Division.
In the championship match, all four bowlers stayed clean through the first half of the game, but with the right lane hooking a bit earlier than the left for these right-handed finalists, stringing strikes was proving difficult. With his big handicap advantage, Ligouri held a solid lead at the halfway point. Price, the only bowler to have three strikes in a row to that point, stretched that to five in a row, while Lomuscio put strikes together in the 4th through 6th frames but missed right in the 7th to leave an 8-pin. Ligouri continued making spares, with only Clark having an open to that point, having missed a 7-pin in the 6th frame.
The match took some twists and turns from that point forward. Price, who was in position to take the lead if he could continue his string of strikes, hit some early friction in the 8th frame, leaving the 4-6-7-9-10 Greek Church, which put Ligouri back in the driver's seat. Heading into the tenth frame, all four bowlers had a strike up and Lomuscio had a double up, with Ligouri holding an 11-pin advantage over Lomuscio, 19 pins over Price, and 32 pins over Clark. Price, up first, doubled in the tenth and got 8-count on the fill to finish with 239 (238+1), while Clark had spare-strike to finish with 208 (196+12). Ligouri needed the first two strikes in the tenth to seal the victory, but went high and left the 4-7-10, creating an opening for Lomuscio. But Lomuscio's first ball in the tenth was a bit fast and picked up late, leaving the 2-10. Neither bowler was able to convert, giving Price the victory over Ligouri with 226 (183+43) and Lomuscio with 213 (213+0).
SBT would like to thank all the bowlers who came out to Lakeview Lanes for this special event. It was a terrific turnout in a small bowling center which was BUZZING all day long. We'd like to extend our thanks also to Reid Gibbs and his staff for hosting SBT for this tournament. We hope to make this an annual event!
Our continued thanks to all of our outstanding sponsors, many of whom provide prize giveaways for our bowlers which are awarded randomly during the tournament. Laura Roybal won a free high performance bowling ball in our 10:00 squad, courtesy of Brunswick. John Bouwens won a free SBT jersey from EFX in the 8:30 squad, while Michael Hannah won a free single entry for any SBT event in the next year. Alec Smith, Sr. won a B3 Performance lane package with Specto, and Paul Bierly won a one-year subscription to Tenpin Toolkit!
Thanks also to our local Arizona sponsors Chuck's Painting, Melody Rane with Rane Family Insurance, weightloss-peptides.com, and Jake's Bethany Auto Repair, all of whom are stepping up to support bowling in our community. Please show your appreciation to our sponsors by patronizing these businesses and letting them know how much you appreciate their support of SBT!
Our Mystery Score pot paid out $725 in this event, including a $500 prize won by Kaylene Almy. About $1,170 carries over to our next Saturday Shootout at AMF McRay Plaza Lanes!
High qualifiers from each division in our 8:30 squad won $50 in SBT credit toward a future event. Congratulations to Brian Katz, Charlie Price, and Melody Rane!
The championship match is available for streaming on YouTube. Subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/@bowlsbt to be notified of future event postings. You can watch a playback of that event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwnBrS09psU. Full results are posted at bowlsbt.com/results.
Our next Saturday Shootout is on August 1st at AMF McRay Plaza Lanes in Chandler, Arizona. Register online at bowlsbt.com/portal for all our events. Thanks to our great sponsors, we will again have many additional prizes available for bowlers, including a free ball from Brunswick, a free SBT jersey from EFX, and $50 in SBT credit to the high qualifiers from each division from the first squad of the day.
Finally, a shout-out to our staff for this event: Amanda Larson, Dylan Taylor, and Robin Verbil. Every event runs smoother than the last, and our staff is a major reason why.
Tournament Results
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Championship Match
Charlie Price, Super Senior Division, Champion, $1,500
Pete Ligouri, Senior Foundation Division, 2nd place, $750
Andrew Lomuscio, Senior Challenger Division, 3rd place, $600
Tayler Clark, Women's Division, 4th place, $500
Advancers from the Cashers Round, all winning $250:
Senior Foundation: Paul Schuler
Senior Challenger: Paul Bierly, Ron Schloss
Super Senior: Paul Mahar, Robert Havers III
Women's: Melissa Schneider, Katie Hurley
Other cashers -- all winning $200:
Senior Foundation: Ray Mobilia, Tom Kosik, Jason Dehmer
Senior Challenger: Matt Parks, Mike Barcus, Brandi Calderon, Brian Katz, Clint Hall, Gary Roff
Super Senior: Pat Lombardo, Kurt Gries, Roland Franklin, Ken Friedrich, Chuck Lucas, Rich Strowman
Women's: Steph Sell, Kaylene Almy, Michelle Hadley, Melody Rane, Tina Mei
Optional Doubles - 420 Division
Steph Sell & Brandi Calderon $60, Roland Franklin & Kaylene Almy $30
Optional Doubles - 370 Division
Christine Leslie & Mike Leslie $108, Kaylene Almy & Maria Vargas $54, Laura Roybal & Alec Smith Sr. $36, Jim Eilenberger & Theresa Anderson $30, Matt Parks & Kim Parks $24.
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