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Septuagenarian’s 750

Steve Stein | Contributing Writer

R

on Rycus bowled a 750 series
with 30 strikes recently in the
Greater Lansing B’nai B’rith
Bowling League. Not bad for a guy who
had just turned 70 and underwent hip
replacement surgery 13 months earlier.
Rycus rolled 247-258-245 on Jan. 17 at
City Limits in East Lansing. His surgery
was Dec. 3, 2015.
“I had two open frames in the third
game,” he said. “I missed a spare in the
first frame and a split in the sixth, or I
probably would have had my first 800
series.”
Rycus has a 300 game on his resume.
He rolled it in 2010 in the Greater
Lansing B’nai B’rith League. He’s the only
bowler to throw a perfect game in the
league’s 80-year-plus history.
“Yes, I was nervous during the last
frame,” he said. “Everyone stopped bowl-
ing to watch me throw the last two balls.
My knees were shaking.”
Neither the 30 strikes nor the 300
game is the crown jewel of Rycus’ bowl-
ing career.
He picked up a 7-10 split in 2012
while bowling as a substitute on his
brother’s team in the I.M. Harris B’nai
B’rith Bowling Association League in
Columbus, Ohio.
“I don’t remember what I bowled in
the game or what frame it was. I’m still
too shocked to remember,” he said.
A 2015 story in the online Slate maga-
zine reported that the 7-10 split, com-
monly known as “bed posts” or “goal
posts,” was made only 0.7 percent of the
time in Professional Bowling Association
tournaments dating to 2003. The 7 and
10 pins are at the opposite back corners
of a 10-pin bowling setup.
Rycus hit the 7 pin with his shot,
according to observers at Holiday Lanes
in Columbus. The pin ricocheted out
of the pit, hit the 10 pin and knocked it
down.
Believe it or not, Rycus didn’t see all
that happen. He turned around and
started walking off the lane after his ball
hit the 7 pin.
Fast forward to 2016. Rycus is averag-
ing 212 in the Greater Lansing League.
He says he practices occasionally and
will continue to do so until golf season
starts.
“I’ve always wanted to bowl against a
professional bowler to see how I could
do,” he said. “Dealing with difficult oil
patterns and the competition would be a
real thrill.”
The Greater Lansing League has a
different makeup than the B’nai B’rith
bowling leagues in the Detroit area

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Ron Rycus

because of a lack of bowlers. There are
10 teams with three instead of the usual
four bowlers. The league is open to non-
Jews and women.
Rycus has lived in East Lansing and
has been in the flooring business for
45 years. He owns a flooring store in
Lansing.
“I have lots of family in West
Bloomfield,” he said.
He and his brother Jeff Rycus grew up
in Akron, Ohio, where they both started
bowling before they were teenagers.
Jeff, a retired commercial photogra-
pher who lives in the Columbus suburb
of Gahanna, is 13 months older than
Ron. He carries a 215 average and has
two 300 games to his credit, both rolled
in the Columbus B’nai B’rith League.

FOUR WINS
Eli Falk was a four-time winner for the
Berkley High School boys swimming
and diving team in a 108-78 win over
Royal Oak in the Royal Oak Middle
School pool.
Falk won the 200 freestyle (1:56.35)
and 100 butterfly (:58.90) and he was a
member of the Bears’ winning 200 free-
style (1:35.21) and 400 freestyle (3:35.97)
relay teams.

STILL IN THE AFTERNOON
Matt Dery is continuing to co-host a 2-6
p.m. drive-time sports talk show with
Drew Sharp on WMGC 105.1 FM after
the latest shakeup in the radio station’s
weekday lineup.
The station dumped ESPN’s “Mike
and Mike” for a local show from 6-10
a.m., and changed the hours on “Dery
and Sharp” to 2-6 p.m. from 3-7 p.m. *

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May 6-8
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March 3 • 2016

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