Just another game, Boone County sophomore bowler Luke Hug thought.
Until it wasn’t.
On Dec. 14 at Strike & Spare Family Fun Center in Erlanger, Hug rolled a perfect 300 in the Rebels’ win over Cooper.
“That’s just one thing I always wanted to do,” Hug said.
Hug’s 300 was the second in program history. Coach Paul Vickers saw them both – his son, Zachary Vickers, rolled one several years ago.
“(Hug) was totally focused, a little more than I’ve seen him in the past,” Paul Vickers said.
You could thank Hug’s mom, Molly Zeigelmeyer, for what happened; she told her son Boone County had a bowling team. Hug picked up his first bowling ball at age 4, but until he joined Boone County’s team three years ago, he only hit the lanes about once a year.
“My mom just told me there was a bowling team, and I figured I’d do it to meet new people,” Hug said.
Once Hug began bowling regularly, a change in delivery became necessary – switching from one- to two-handed because he “wasn’t good” at one-handed.
According to flobowling.com, throwing a bowling ball with two hands became a thing in 2004 when Osku Palermaa qualified for the U.S. Open. In 2009, Jason Belmonte won his first career Professional Bowlers Association event.
The right-handed Hug uses his middle and ring fingers; his ball has no thumb hole. His left hand is underneath the ball as he approaches the foul line.
“You’ve got more control on the ball,” Hug said. “It’s not as easy as it seems.”
Hug had rolled a 280 four or five weeks before the 300.
“It was a new high, but it’s also frustrating not bowling 300,” he said. “I think I threw the spare in the second frame. I struck the rest of the game.”
High school matches consist of two individual games plus two Baker games, in which team members alternate frames. Hug’s 300 was the first individual. (He rolled a 198 in the second.)
Coach Vickers didn’t think about Hug hitting 12 strikes until the eighth or ninth frame.
“I just thought, ‘Ooh, I think he’s got the opportunity’,” Vickers said. “I just kind of let him be and let him do his thing. I just let him stay in his zone.
“All three in the 10th were solid, all in the pocket; I couldn’t get too excited, I had to keep him focused for the next game.”
Hug doesn’t remember much about the last strike.
“All I can really say (is) I saw the pins fall, and I just turned around,” he said. “I couldn’t think; I just got bombarded by my entire team. It was a good feeling.”