By John Rittenhouse
When Ron Behr rolled his first 300-pin game at Luverne Lanes Nov. 25, 1992, the perfect performance was followed by a thunderous celebration by the appreciative members of the Wednesday Night Pinbusters League who witnessed the event.
Behr remembers that occasion well.
It was the night before Thanksgiving Day, and it ended with the Hills man producing the establishmentÕs first 300 game since the 1960s.
Behr is a member of the Hills-Beaver Creek Co-op Farm Service Grain Elevator team that competes in the Saturday Night Mixed League at the Luverne Lanes. He relived his perfect performance of 10 years ago on March 30, 2002.
Only this time his achievement went virtually unnoticed by those in the building.
"The unusual thing about it was we thought he rolled a 290," said Luverne Lanes owner John Serie. "When he threw his first ball of the game, it got stuck in his hand. His momentum carried him over the foul line, but the ball never touched the lane."
In front of teammates Nelva Behr, Lloyd DeBoer and Bev Wassenaar, Behr proceeded to roll 12 straight strikes after his unfortunate start. However, since he did cross the foul line during that first attempt of the game, he played the game like he recorded a spare in the first frame.
"I was using my new ball for the first two games, and my finger had swelled up before the third game. When I threw it (his first ball of the third game), I couldnÕt get rid of it. I figured it was a foul because my momentum carried me over the line. After that I used a different ball, and struck out," Behr said.
BehrÕs assumption that he had a spare in the first frame turned out to be wrong.
Under American Bowling Congress (ABC) rules, since the ball didn't leave his hand and touch the lane, itÕs officially considered to be a dead ball. Although he intended to release the ball, it's considered a non-throw because the ball did not touch the floor.
In the end, the game Behr thought wasn't perfect really was.
It will go down as the sixth 300-game in the history of Luverne Lanes, and the first since Larry Mulvihill rolled his on Oct. 28, 1998.
Prior to Behr's 1992 gem, the local bowling alley didn't have a perfect game recorded in two decades. In the 1960s, Charlie Zoellner rolled a pair of 300s (one was sanctioned). Ron Mulvihill also had a non-sanctioned 300 game in the 1960s.
All signs point to Behr's effort on March 30 turning into a league-sanctioned 300 game that will be recognized by the ABC.
The ABC then will award Behr with a ring for his 300 game and a watch for bowling a game 100 pins higher than his 183 league average.