By BILL SNIER
NORTH CANTON — To say the past 12 months have been busy and difficult for Dustin Dingler is an understatement.
The 47-year-old Jackson Township resident has:
- undergone three leg surgeries to continue correcting an hereditary varicosity disease that has afflicted him since he was in his 20s;
- taken over as head coach of the Jackson High School bowling team; and
- started a new business, 3-D Sanitation, which specializes in cleaning of waste receptacles and power washing — but will be expanding.
All of this while maintaining his full-time job as a director of purchasing for Kenan Advantage Group.
“With the disease, there’s cramping and swelling and it’s really uncomfortable. Right now we’re just trying to build a solid life path,” Dingler said. “It used to be I had to have something done every seven or eight years. But I’ve had three in the last 12 months and we’re trying aggressively to get things cleaned up to where I have some longevity.”
The surgeries have taken Dingler away from bowling during the summer months. It came after he shot his sixth career 800 series, an 805 during the Stark County USBC Open Championships at Park Centre Lanes in May.
“I have to take care of myself and listen to the doctors,” said Dingler, who has lost nearly 100 pounds and had his last surgery in July. “I don’t want any complications and I have a long road ahead of me.
“It’s been tricky because I can’t lift more than 10 pounds for six weeks after a procedure. I rely on my son (Jasper) immensely for help.”
RETURN TO BOWLING
But despite the time off, Dingler started this season with high hopes.
“Things have just clicked the first couple of weeks. It was real tough shaking off the rust, but I haven’t ever felt better than I do now,” the right-hander said. “I feel like I’m 30 again.”
His confidence was heightened recently in the Saturday Night Fever mixed league at Park Centre when Dingler put together games of 276, 277 and 269 for 822, his seventh career 800.
And it came with his new Storm Ion Pro.
“The first three games I threw it, I was in the 220s and two-teens,” Dingler said. “I think it came out of the box a little sharp around the corner. I was thinking about changing the surface, but I don’t really like to do that.
“I decided to give it a couple of more games and it was the right move.”
Dingler started Game 1 with the front eight strikes before leaving a 2-4-5-8 bucket in the ninth frame.
“It was only my third week back after the layoff and, once in a while, things still get out of whack with my arm swing. It got a little outside me a little bit on that shot,” Dingler said. “I just laughed about it and finished the game off.”
It was a similar situation in Game 2 when had the front six strikes and left a 7-count spare before again finishing it off.
Game 3 started with a 10-pin spare before he ran off the next nine strikes before another 10-pin spare.
DEALING WITH BUSINESS
Dingler is spending “about 15 hours a day” on his full-time job and his new business, which will be expanding during the next two months.
“We are hitting the can cleaning and power washing pretty hard, but we also made a big investment in our future,” Dingler said, adding he has purchased three 15-yard rolloff containers to rent and added a trash compactor to begin residential trash pickup Nov. 1.
“We had over 30 committed customers in just three days so we know there is a lot of opportunity out there. With our customers, we can offer three things — bulk and residential trash pickup and can cleanup. It’s exciting and we’re really working hard. I have a clear vision of where I want to be with this.”
But, for Dingler, high school bowling season also is right around the corner.
“We have an informational meeting set up for Sept. 23 at the high school and we will be starting our open gyms the second week in October to prepare for tryouts,” Dingler said. “We are looking for big things this season.”
Bowling, coaching, running a business … can he handle it all?
“I’ve got a lot of backside help. We’re a real thing, low overhead business right now,”: Dingler said. “But we’re trying to build a solid foundation.
“It’s really the transition I’m worried about. You have to let things build and, sometimes, it takes awhile. But I know it’s going to be successful.”
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