By JUSTIN HAUSER
USBC Communications
RENO, Nev. – The emotions were high for two-time Eagle winner Mitch Jabczenski as he returned to the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships for his 50th consecutive appearance Wednesday at the National Bowling Stadium.
Jabczenski, of South Lyon, Mich., made his debut at the 1973 event in Syracuse, N.Y., and he was joined in his ceremonial march down Center Aisle at the Taj Mahal of Tenpins by his wife, Dee, as he was presented with a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin to commemorate the achievement.
Moments after his presentation, he was able to watch as his teammate and longtime friend – USBC Hall of Famer Bob Goike of Canton, Mich. – also was recognized for 50 consecutive years at the Open Championships.
“This event has always had a special place in my heart, since you come here to show you are the best of the best each year,” said Jabczenski, a 70-year-old right-hander. “It was a very emotional day for me trying to soak it all in. Above all things, I am so glad I was able to share this day with Bob, since he is my mentor and one of my best friends.”
Surrounded by family, friends and longtime teammates like Goike and Fred McClain of Allen Park, Mich., who made his 51st tournament appearance this week in Reno, Jabczenski was overcome with feelings of joy while reflecting on the past 50 years.
One moment that easily stands out was returning to the same building where he was able to help Lodge Lanes Too of Orlando, Florida, capture the Regular Team title in 2013 with a then-record score of 3,538.
Competing alongside USBC Hall of Famers John Gaines and John Janawicz, Vernon Peterson and Scott Newell, Jabczenski and Lodge Lanes Too were able to break a 20-year-old record at the Open Championships by a single pin (Bruegger’s Bagels of Albany, N.Y., with 3,537 in 1993) on the way to victory.
“Having my 50th year at the Stadium in Reno is really special because of the team Eagle I have here from when we broke the record in 2013,” Jabczenski said. “I was blessed to be surrounded by such great bowlers then, and honestly, all throughout my career.”
The win in 2013 was the second for Jabczenski. He also was part of the 1987 Team All-Events champion with Murdock Machine No. 1 of Detroit, which consisted of McClain, USBC and Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer Gene Stus, two-time champion Ed Marzka and Randy Pierce.
Murdock Machine No. 1 put up a score of 9,185 to take home the title in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
“Having Fred here for my 50th was great as well,” Jabczenski said. “We have been teammates for a long time, and being able to share this with him as well as reminisce on our win in 1987 will live with me forever.”
With his 50th appearance in the books, Jabczenski has his eyes set on two more goals looking ahead in his career – the 100,000-Pin Club at the Open Championships and induction to the USBC Hall of Fame.
“Now that I got to 50, I really think I can get to 100,000 pins in the next few years,” said Jabczenski, who now sits at 91,743 total pins for a lifetime average of 203.8 through 50 appearances after posting a nine-game total of 1,741 at the 2023 event. “If I can get to that 100,000-pin mark, I am hoping that would be enough to get me into the USBC Hall of Fame. Bob (Goike) is there, as he should be, and I want to be able to join him before my days of bowling are long gone.”
Through all the years and time spent with friends joining him at the tournament, Jabczenski truly cherished the moments with his family the most.
“I shot my first all-events score over 2,000 the year I bowled with my son in 2005, which is one of the four years I accomplished that,” Jabczenski said. “I also think that without my wife, none of this would have been possible. She has supported my bowling for so many years and has been on so many trips with me.”
GOIKE HONORED
It’s easy to appreciate and understand the passion Goike has for the sport of bowling, the USBC Championships and his family, and all three have played a major role in helping the USBC Hall of Famer reach another milestone in his incredible career.
Goike, a three-time Eagle winner at the USBC Open Championships, celebrated his 50th consecutive tournament appearance Wednesday at the National Bowling Stadium in a moment he was able to share with friends, family and longtime teammate and friend.
The 69-year-old right-hander was presented with a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin to recognize his longevity on the championship lanes.
“This tournament, to me, has always been the greatest tournament in the world to bowl,” Goike said. “You only get one time a year to try, and when we first started, you only got two practice balls in the team event and none in doubles and singles. You are bowling your national championship, and you only get one time every year to bowl.
“In the last 10 years, getting to 50 together has been our goal. Mitch and I were teammates for a long time, and he’s been my friend and insurance agent for 45 years. It couldn’t have worked out better. Bowling with Mitch has been phenomenal.”
He got his start at the 1973 tournament in Syracuse, New York, and his breakthrough performance took place in Reno during the 1984 event. After some struggles the previous year in Niagara Falls, New York, Goike set the tournament’s all-events record to capture his first Eagle with a 2,142 total. The score stood as the top all-events total in the Regular Division until 1989.
He rolled sets of 760 in singles, 710 in doubles and 672 in team.
“As a kid, my dream was to always win an event and have an Eagle, but I never thought I would ever attain that,” Goike said. “Then all of a sudden in 1984, it showed up.
“It’s funny how the world is. In 1983, I had my worst event to that point. I came in 1984, and I break the record. I didn’t even know I was breaking it when it was happening.”
Goike had taken the all-events lead in February, and he quickly was reminded while still in Reno about the long wait ahead to see if his score would hold against the field.
“In the older days, they had the board where they put the names at, and they always had someone watching the board in a red coat to make sure nobody played with the names or numbers,” Goike said. “I shot this score in February and am still in disbelief. We walk over to look at it, and the guy in the red coat walks over and asks if that’s my score. I told him yes. He told me it was a pretty good score, but to wait until the good bowlers get here. I’m sitting there shooting this score in February, and I have to wait until July. As it turned out, nobody really got close. That was the start of a tremendous 20-year run. The things that happened were absolutely phenomenal.”
The top-10 finishes started to add up at the Open Championships for Goike, and he quickly saw his name make its way to the top of the tournament’s multiple average lists. He became the first competitor at the event to record four sets of 2,000 or higher in all-events.
He posted 27 consecutive games of 200 or higher from 1989-1992 to set another record at the tournament, which was tied in 2012 by five-time champion Matt McNiel and surpassed in 2018 by Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion Jakob Butturff (32 games).
In 1996, he was inducted to the USBC Hall of Fame.
“It was unbelievable,” Goike said. “I personally never had thought I would get into that hall of fame. Now, I’m in that hall of fame and my plaque is downstairs (at the satellite location for the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame inside the NBS). I look at my numbers every time I doubt myself, and the numbers say I should be in. They put me in with one Eagle. I broke every average record. But, the biggest honor of all was getting elected by my peers. That honor will never be topped.”
Prior to his induction, Goike earned a spot as the first alternate to Team USA in 1995. His experience with Team USA also allowed him to meet an up-and-coming star in Chris Barnes, which eventually led to one of the greatest runs in the history of the Open Championships.
The members of Lodge Lanes won back-to-back Team All-Events titles in 1997 (10,293) and 1998 (10,421), with Barnes also winning Regular All-Events (2,151) and John Gaines earning the Regular Singles title (814) at the 1998 tournament in Reno.
The team featured Goike and three future USBC Hall of Famers in Barnes, Gaines and Patrick Healey Jr., with 1990 PBA Rookie of the Year Brad Kiszewski helping round out the team.
Although the team had a different look in 1999, they finished as the runner-up in Team All-Events by a single pin, and new addition and future PBA Hall of Famer Tommy Jones captured the Regular All-Events title with a 2,158 total.
“It’s pretty funny how life happens,” Goike said. “You have a 42-year-old guy meet a 20-something Chris Barnes on Team USA. We got to know each other and were riding the bus one time, and he asked me if I ever thought about putting together a team. I had been with the same group from back home for years, but he asked if we could put a team together. Basically, that’s what happened. The first year, we didn’t bowl that great in Salt Lake City, and then, we went nuts for two years. Even the next year, when Chris went on tour, we picked up Tommy when he was like 19 years old, and he won all-events that year.
“As I look back, two of my best friends now are Chris and John. Here’s a kid from Wichita, a 42-year-old guy from Detroit and a guy who now lives in Florida but used to live in Baltimore. A friendship that you never would have thought of.”
Through his continued success on the lanes, Goike also has had great support from his family at home. He and his late wife, Gloria, had four children – Bobby, Michael, Justin and Kristin (Jacobs) – and one of Goike’s favorite experiences at the Open Championships was getting to bowl with all of his children at the 2012 event in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
All four of his children, along with Bobby’s wife, Nicole, were in Reno to celebrate his 50th tournament.
“My daughter is here, and I’m glad she got to be here for it, especially with losing my wife eight years ago,” Goike said. “I was able to bowl with my three sons, and one of my biggest thrills was when I bowled with all four of them in Baton Rouge. That always was a dream – to bowl with my kids, so I could introduce them to this.
“To have that happen as a father … I love my children and live for my children. Family is the most important thing to me.”
Goike continues to stay busy at home with a pair of bowling centers – Lodge Lanes and Town N Country Lanes – and he’s proud of the history he’s built locally with both facilities and the success the Lodge Lanes name has had at the Open Championships.
In addition to the success the name has had with Goike at the helm, the bowling world was able to see it in lights once again at the 2013 event in Reno as Lodge Lanes Too – featuring Gaines, Jabczenski, USBC Hall of Famer John Janawicz, Vernon Peterson and Scott Newell – was able to win the Regular Team title with a then-record total of 3,538.
Throughout it all, Goike admits to having some superstitions during his career, and it was important for him to make sure his team was only getting their photo taken at one place.
“In 1983, I had my worst year,” Goike said. “We always had taken a team picture, and I had always taken a picture on the stub lane. In 1984, I decided to change things up and not take any pictures, and then I shoot 2,142. So, I didn’t take a picture again until I bowled with my kids in 2012.
“We used to tell them the only way you’re taking our picture is when we’re holding up the trophy, but it was just the superstition of it, nothing else but that. We’re all superstitious in our own ways, and when things are going well, you really don’t want to change it.”
In his 50th appearance at the Open Championships, Goike had a 1,650 all-events total to bring his career pinfall to 89,827 for a lifetime average of 205.