COLUMBUS — George Gohagan III called his performance during Thursday’s Nance Construction MEGA Doubles event “good enough.”
“All I was trying to do was not to kill us,” Gohagan added.
The other part of the “us” was Jean Perez. As for his performance, Gohagan simply said “he was amazing … he’s just so good.”
With Perez, a 42-year-old native of Puerto Rico now bowling out of Indianapolis, shooting 835 during his first three games and adding 279 in the tourney finale, the duo combined for 2,068 total pinfall to claim the $2,400 first-place check at HP Lanes.
After standing second during the first three games, Perez and Gohagan shot 514 their final game to earn a 74-pin victory over Hunter Kempton and Andrew Hall (1,994). Havel Wright and Tiler Levesque, who shot 300 in Game 3, were third with 1,989.
The two left-handers, longtime friends as well as competitors, teamed up for just the first time as doubles partners Thursday.
“When we bowl next to each other in tournaments, even when we’re competing, we root each other on,” said Gohagan, a 38-year-old Cleveland native who grew up in Dayton and now resides in Las Vegas. “This is my brother. He’s just a great friend.”
So why the delay in teaming up?
“We’ve talked about it in the past,” Perez said. “We were supposed to bowl another tourney earlier this year, but it just didn’t work out.”
Perez’s run included a 290 in Game 1 (with a weak 7-pin in the first frame), followed by throwing the first nine strikes in Game 2 en route to his first 279. He added 266 in Game 3 before his big closer. Gohagan finished with 954 for four games.
“It was funny because in the practice session, I had no look at all,” said Perez, who bowls for a living. “But I made a move when we started and, after that, things just fell into place.”
Gohagan said the pair never looked at the standings.
“We just do what we do and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing,” said Gohagan, who got his Professional Bowlers Association card this season, but has not bowled a lot due to having a 10-month-old son. “We just throw the best shots we can and whatever happens, happens.”
But Gohagan isn’t backing off his quest for the 300 record. He now has 231 to his credit. The USBC record is held by Lewisburg, Pa., bowler Andrew Neuer with 267 (through 2021).
“I hurt my knee so I only bowled a couple of national stops. I’m old,” said Gohagan, who works for Amazon. “But my focus on family has been greater than bowling.”
The pair agreed that having an all-left-handed team was an advantage.
“It’s just easier. We can manage our games and make more mistakes than the righties,” Perez said.
“We can communicate better. I do things and he sees it and vice versa,” Gohagan said. “I was able to help him and he can help me. A 7-pin wasn’t a big four (split). That was the key.”
Both are bowling Friday’s team event, but with different teams. Gohagan is bowling with Brian Waliczek, Adam Barta and Andre Gonzalez. Perez is with AJ Rice, Ronnie Sparks Jr. and Mikel Holliman.
“I wish we were bowling,” Gohagan added. “He was just so good tonight.”
NOTEBOOK: The event, now in its third season, drew a full field of 72 doubles teams, with a $200 entry fee. Friday’s team event, with a $400 per team entry fee, also is full with 48 teams, and the singles event Saturday and Sunday has a full field, including 150 players on A squad. … Bowlers came out firing in Game 1 on the house oil pattern, with three 300s, 1 290 and six 279 games. There were 20 500 games shot in Game 1 by teams. … Nance Construction, out of Grove City, is title sponsor for the HP Lanes MEGA events, leading to a first prize of $12,000 for the singles event. … The format for both the doubles and team events is four qualifying games with no stepladder finals, with total pinfall determining the winners. The singles event features two shifts at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., with bowlers rolling eight qualifying games. The field is then cut to the top 50, who return at 9 a.m. Sunday for six more games before the field is cut to the top 10 for a modified stepladder finals. … The singles event oil pattern will be 43 feet with 31.8 ml volume and 2.8-to-1 ratio. … The cut to cash was at 1,901 in doubles, with Charles Bostic and AJ Wolstenholme finishing just two pins ahead of PBA pros Chris Vie and Mikey Tang for the final cash spot. … There were five 300 games overall, with C.J. Petrin in Game 2 to go along with D.J. Assaff, James Pack and Steve Pennington in Game 1 in addition to Levesque. … In addition to Perez, Brandon Novak shot 848 and Gonzalez had 803. … Former Canton resident Jen Higgins and Trisha Reid were the only all-female team, finishing 21st with 1,870. … There were plenty of best-of-five action matches going on following the tourney, 15 at last count, with bowlers putting $300-to-$500 of their own money on the line. Most were not completed at this filing.
SIDE ACTION RULES
Following the doubles event, there were plenty of side action matches bowled on the burn for between $200 and $500.
Here is a list of match results, as provided by Jody Boyd:
AJ Rice & Mykel Holliman def. Nate Stubler & Cam Crowe; Keven Williams def. Mike Jachcinski; Brent Shroyer def. Blaine Arms; Brady Adler & Jalen Mosley def. Brandon Novak & Bryan Hahlen; Jake Ciraulo def. Lance Gordon; Eli Cox & Simon Mote def. Cortnei Burks & Tyler Slaubaugh;
Charles Brown II & Brandon Mooney def. Scotty Kramer III & Nolan White; Ari Wilson def. Dominic DC Boysaw; Ronnie Sparks Jr., Frank Snodgrass & Andrew Anderson def. D.J. Assaff, Casey Cohagan & Vincent Bellar; Drake Bazzy def. Jonathan Kleer; James Grago def. Andre Gonzales; Justin Bohn def. Tyler Kelly; AJ Wolstenholme & Charles Bostic def. Quentin Collins & Jordan Hornes; Trent Marner def. Derrick Greene; Hunter Kempton def. Darrel Ratliff; Jalen Mosley def. Brent Shroyer; Ari Wilson & Matthew Anderson def. Nolan White & Jackson Stiles
Charles Brown & Brandon Mooney def. Chris Polk & Vicktor D Varner; Benjamin Sobel def. Phil Drumm; Mush Smith & Jordan Hornes def. DJ Assaff & Vinny Bellar; Justin Bohn & Bryce Oliver def Sean Martin & Mike Mossbarger; Keven Williams def. Cam Crowe
Extra matches lasted into early Friday.
NANCE CONSTRUCTION MEGA DOUBLES
Final standings
(Places based on four games)
1, Jean Perez-George Gohagan 2,068, $2,400 earnings; 2, Hunter Kempton-Andrew Hall 1,994, $1,600; 3, Havel Wright-Tiler Levesque 1,989, $1,200; 4, Brandon Novak-Bryan Hahlen 1,944, $1,000; 5, Cory Hersha-David Northouse 1,943, $800; 6, Cam Crowe-Nate Stubler 1,939, $800; 7, Dan Higgins-Chad Roberts 1,934, $800; 8, Dan Marriott-Justin O’Shaughnessy 1,934, 1,934, $800; 9, Steve Pennington-Jimmy Cook 1,925, $600; 10, AJ Rice-Mykel Holliman 1,919, $600; 11, Andre Gonzalez-Ronnie Sparks Jr. 1,914, $600; 12, Quentin Collins-Daijon Smith 1,910, $600; 13, Charles Brown II-Ryan Liederbach 1,902, $400; 14, Charles Bostic-Al Wolstenholme 1,901, $400.