Johnny Petraglia (b. March 3, 1947) was born in Brooklyn, New York, and now hails from Jackson, New Jersey.^[1] He is best known as a left-handed bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), where he won 14 tour titles. He has also won eight Senior PBA Tour titles. He is a member of both the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame.^[2]

Petraglia joined the PBA in 1965, and won his first tour title at Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1966 when he was just 19 years old. A week later, Petraglia left the PBA Tour to join the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He served as an Army Spec 5 in Long Binh and Bien Hoa from 1967-68.^[3]

His best season as a pro came in 1971, when he won five titles in all. That year included consecutive wins in the last three tournaments of the season—culminated by a major championship in the Firestone Tournament of Champions. Petraglia would win two more majors: the 1977 BPAA U.S. Open and 1980 PBA National Championship, making him one of only six players to earn the PBA career "Triple Crown." (Billy Hardwick, Mike Aulby, Pete Weber, Norm Duke and Chris Barnes are the others.) The 1980 event featured one of the more dramatic final matches in major tournament history, as Petraglia rolled four consecutive strikes in the 9th and 10th frames to secure the victory.

In 1994, after many figured his regular tour career was over, the 47-year old Petraglia rolled the PBA's seventh televised perfect 300 game to defeat Walter Ray Williams, 300-194. He did not, however, go on to win the title match.

Petraglia is one of only two bowlers (joining Dick Weber) to win at least one regular or Senior PBA Tour title in six different decades.^[4] However, Weber's final title was in a PBA Regional event. After his victory in the PBA Senior Dayton Classic on May 17, 2012, Petraglia is the only bowler in history to win a national PBA Tour title in six different decades.^[5]

In the media[link]

In a sport where most bowlers frequently change equipment affiliations, Petraglia has remained associated with Brunswick Corporation since 1971. Numerous Brunswick bowling balls and other products have borne his name over the years. There was also a recent PBA Tour stop named after him—The Johnny Petraglia Open in North Brunswick, NJ.

Awards and recognition[link]

• Inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1982
• Inducted into USBC Hall of Fame in May, 2009
• Served three terms as PBA President (1979–80, 1989–90 and 1997–98)
• Was ranked #16 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years"

References[link]

Mike Aulby (born March 25, 1960, in Indianapolis, Indiana) is a left-handed bowler and former member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He is one of only three PBA bowlers to win both a Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year award. (Tommy Jones and Chris Barnes are the others.)

PBA career[link]

Mike Aulby joined the PBA Tour in 1978 and captured his first title and Rookie of the Year honors in 1979. He would go on to win 18 titles in the 1980s, nine in the 1990s, and one more in 2001, giving him 29 titles in all for 8th place all-time. The victory at the 2001 Silicon Valley Open also made him the first bowler in history to win at least one regular PBA Tour title in four decades. (Dick Weber and Johnny Petraglia have PBA titles in six decades, but each needed PBA Senior Tour wins in the fourth, fifth and sixth decades.) Pete Weber became the second by winning the 2012 U.S. Open.

Mike was named PBA Player of the Year in 1985 and 1995. In 1989, he collected a then-record $298,237 in winnings.

Among Mike's 29 titles are eight major championships. The eight majors place him in a tie with Walter Ray Williams Jr. for 3rd most all-time. Only Earl Anthony (10) and Pete Weber (9) have won more major titles. Aulby is one of only six bowlers to capture the PBA career "Triple Crown" (winning the U.S. Open, PBA National Championship and Tournament of Champions) -- and along with Norm Duke and Billy Hardwick, the only of the six to add the ABC Masters title for a career "Grand Slam."

In the 1993 Wichita Open, Aulby rolled a nationally-televised 300 game to win the title over David Ozio, 300-279.^[1] This marked just the second time a nationally-televised 300 game was rolled in a title match (after Bob Benoit).

Mr. Aulby was known as a true gentleman on tour. "Reserved, thoughtful, and pleasant, he's as polite when he's losing as when he's winning."^[2] This led to him winning the PBA's Steve Nagy Sportsmanship award two times.

Awards and recognition[link]

• PBA Rookie of the Year (1979)
• PBA Player of the Year (1985, 1995)
• Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award (1994, 1995)
• Best Bowler ESPY (1996)
• Elected to PBA Hall of Fame, 1996
• Elected to USBC Hall of Fame, 2001
• Ranked 6th on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years"

References[link]

1. ^ Feldman, Michelle. "Paying the price for III-timed perfection...The Match I'll Never Forget." Bowling Digest, April, 2003.
2. ^ "Not Fade Away: Mike Aulby, Champion Bowler Interview", Lyle Zikes, Bowling Digest, June, 2001.

• PBA.com, official site of the Professional Bowlers Association

David Ozio (born April 3, 1954) of Beaumont, TX is a right-handed ten-pin bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He won 11 titles on the PBA Tour. He was the 2004 Senior PBA Rookie of the Year, winning the 2004 Senior U.S. Open. Through 2008, he has won five titles on the Senior and Generations tours.^[1] He is currently the General Manager of the Bowling Division for Etonic Shoe Company.^[2]

Ozio won one major on the regular PBA Tour: the 1991 Tournament of Champions. He was also named PBA Player of the Year in 1991, and was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1995.^[3] He was ranked #34 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the last 50 years."

In a 1995 PBA event in Richmond, VA, Ozio broke the TV record for four-game pinfall with 1,070 pins, topping the mark of 1,050 set in 1984 by Nelson Burton Jr.. The record would stand only one year, however, as it was shattered by Bob Learn, Jr.'s 1,129 four-game total in a 1996 Erie, PA event.^[4]

In the media[link]

• Ozio authored an instructional book (with Dan Herbst) in 1992 called Bowl Like a Pro.^[5]

References[link]

1. ^ PBA Senior Tour news at www.pba.com
2. ^ http://www.etonic.com/company/management.php
3. ^ Hall of Fame bios at www.pba.com
4. ^ Perfection! Learn Delights Hometown Crowd With 300 Game And Title, mrbowling300.com, June, 2006
5. ^ Bowl Like a Pro review at www.powells.com

Parker Morse Bohn III (born July 13, 1963) is a left-handed American professional bowler and has been a member of the Professional Bowlers Association since 1984. He currently ranks sixth all-time with 32 career PBA titles, and has earned over $2.7 million in PBA events—good for fourth on the all-time list. Bohn also won the $150,000 winner-take-all prize in the 2008 Motel 6 Roll to Riches event, but the earnings in this event do not count toward PBA career totals. Through the end of the 2010-11 season, he has thrown 86 career perfect 300 games in PBA competition, including one of the PBA's 19 nationally-televised 300 games at the 1998 ABC (USBC) Masters in Reno, Nevada.^[1]

Bohn's best career stretch was from 1997 through 2001-02, during which he won 18 titles overall and at least one title each season. His best single season came in 1999, when he won five titles and earned PBA Player of the Year honors. The '99 season featured a streak in which Parker won eight consecutive televised matches. His 1999 single-season average record of 228.03 ranks third all-time (topped only by Norm Duke's 228.47 in 2006-07 and Walter Ray Williams' 228.34 in 2007-08). He would also be named Player of the Year in the 2001-02 season, a year highlighted by his only major championship title (2001 ABC Masters). Bohn is a four-time winner of the PBA's Steve Nagy Sportsmanship award. He is a member of both the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame.

Highly active in promoting youth bowling, Bohn has established an annual Parker Bohn III Youth Scholarship Tournament. Since its inception in 1999, the tournament has awarded over $33,000 to junior bowlers in the form of college scholarships.

Personal[link]

Bohn was born in Jackson Township, New Jersey. He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife, Leslie, and three children, Justin, Brandon, and Sydney. He has two adult sons from his first marriage. He is the brother-in-law of fellow PBA bowler, Doug Kent (Doug's wife Chrissie and Parker's wife Leslie are sisters). Parker Bohn (the first), PBIII's grandfather, was a five-time stock car (Modifieds and Sportsmen) racing champion at Wall (NJ) Stadium near his home at the Jersey Shore.

In the media[link]

Besides making regular appearances on ABC-TV, CBS-TV and ESPN during his years on the PBA tour, Bohn has authored a book (with text by Dan Herbst) called Bowling: How to Master the Game (Universe Publishing).

A bowling arcade game also bears his name: Parker Bohn III Pro Bowler. The full-motion video game features audio voice-over by Parker himself.

Bohn appeared in the movie Kingpin with Woody Harrelson for a brief scene. He also appeared as Frank Cache in episode 10 of the Japanese television drama Golden Bowl, bowling against Shu Akutagawa (played by Takeshi Kaneshiro.) He even bowled right-handed, deliberately throwing the game to show his disdain for his opponent.

Awards and recognition[link]

• Inducted into PBA Hall of Fame, 2000
• Inducted into USBC Hall of Fame, 2007
• PBA Player of the Year (1999, 2001-02)
• Harry Smith PBA Points Leader award (1999, 2001-02)
• George Young PBA High Average award (1999, 2001-02)
• Steve Nagy Sportsmanship award (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993)
• Ranked #10 in the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years"
• Won the 2011 BPAA Dick Weber Bowling Ambassador award^[2]

References[link]

1. ^ Exempt player bios at www.pba.com
2. ^ Vint, Bill. "Bohn Receives BPAA’s Dick Weber Bowling Ambassador Award." Article at www.pba.com on July 5, 2011.

External links[link]

• Official Parker Bohn website
• Official website of the Professional Bowlers Association