After helping their team into fourth place at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships on Friday, Skip Wolfe of Dixon, Ill., and Tom Carter of Rockford, Ill., also found success in doubles at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Saturday.

The duo combined to shoot 1,462, which included the highest doubles game of the year (547), but still fell five pins short of John Socha of Oak Creek, Wis., and Dennis Rakauskas of Apopka, Fla., who lead Regular Doubles with 1,467.

"This is absolutely wonderful," said Wolfe, a 43-year-old right-hander who is a salesman for Bobs' Business. "Every league bowler in the nation that finds his way to the Open Championships, whether it's every year or a few times in their lives, hopes to have an opportunity to win an eagle. I mean, that's what we're all here for. Tom and I were really, really close in doubles, and it was exhilarating and fun."

Wolfe led the duo's effort with games of 235, 289 and 268 for a 792 series, while Carter contributed games of 225, 258 and 187 for 670. These were the best doubles sets for each on the tournament lanes, and the best overall series for Wolfe in 17 trips to the USBC Open Championships.

Wolfe added 695 in team and 599 in singles for a 2,086 all-events total, which left him just six pins shy of the top 10. Carter had 646 in team and 621 in singles for 1,937, his best performance in 23 appearances at the Open Championships.

"Just like in team event, we took the same approach in doubles," Wolfe said. "We approached it together and worked through the difficult spots. At times, when we were a little concerned about our ball reactions, we helped each other stay lined up."

Wolfe has been bowling since he was a young child, and Carter picked up the game as a teenager. The two have been bowling together on the tournament lanes for more than a decade.

"I just wanted to help him out," said Carter, a 51-year-old right-hander. "He was bowling so well, and was just pure on every shot off his hand. I was just trying to stay out of his way and hopefully fill enough frames to make it good for us."

ILLINOIS BOWLER ROLLS PERFECT GAME AT USBC OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

When Victor Parra of Alsip, Ill., joined his team on the lanes at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships on Sunday night, some of his thoughts were still at home.

In order to compete with his team this weekend at the Albuquerque Convention Center, Parra was forced to miss his son's 13th birthday. His fiance, also a bowler, was on his mind, too. Earlier in the year, she asked him to roll a 300 for her, but while he had come close a few times during the league bowling season, he had not been able to roll a perfect game.

When he finished his team event with 12 consecutive strikes on bowling's grandest stage and recorded the 15th perfect game of this year's USBC Open Championships, his thoughts immediately were of his son and fiance.

The 45-year-old right-hander started out slow with 172 and improved to 183 before a small adjustment and a brief discussion with his teammates helped him to perfection. He finished with a 655 series, his best team set in 14 trips to the Open Championships.

"This feels good," Parra said. "The first two games, I was kind of lost, but I felt I wasn't too far off, and everything fell into place on the last game. It is an honor to shoot a 300 here at the Open Championships and be included with all the other people who have done it here, including some of the greats. I'm definitely not in that caliber, but I'm glad I was for at least that one game."

2008 USBC OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Albuquerque Convention Center, Albuquerque, N.M.
(Top 10 regular division leaders with hometown and pinfalls as of May 19, 2008)

Team
1, Rhino for President (David Haynes, Steve Kloempken, Ted Hannahs, Bill Hoffman, Rhino Page), Pleasant View, Utah, 3,298. 2, Bowlingfordumdums.com, Pritchett, Colo., 3,284. 3, Bluemound Bowl, Milwaukee, Wis., 3,268. 4, Bowlers Universe 1, Rockford, Ill., 3,249. 5, Marcor Technologies, Gaylord, Mich., 3,235. 6, Armstrong Printing 1, Naperville, Ill., 3,231. 7, Clone Huskers, Milwaukee, 3,228. 8, Drillsheet.com, Rochester, N.Y., 3,219. 9, KR Strikeforce, Warrensburg, Ill., 3,218. 10, K & K Bowling Service 1, Henderson, Nev., 3,208.

Doubles
1, John Socha, Oak Creek, Wis./Dennis Rakauskas, Apopka, Fla., 1,467. 2, Skip Wolfe, Dixon, Ill./Tom Carter, Rockford, Ill., 1,462. 3, Robert Slayton, Apple Valley, Minn./Jason Lutgen, Brooklyn Park, Minn., 1,445. 4, Todd Koehler, Appleton, Minn./Doug Blood, Montevideo, Minn., 1,444. 5, Erik Mattingly, Puyallup, Wash./Robert Hanson, Tacoma, Wash., 1,441. 6, Steven Levering, Landisville, Pa./Jim Rutherford, Coatesville, Pa., 1,428. 7, Ron Case, Oakley, Calif./Sam Carter, Ben Lomond, Calif., 1,422. 8, Mike Granberg, Batavia, Ill./Dave Rodak, Naperville, Ill., 1,419. 9, Brian Corley, Piedmont, Okla./Brett Erickson, Oklahoma City, 1,409. 10, Robert Wenger, Wooster, Ohio/Kerry Barbera, Dalton, Ohio, 1,407.

Singles
1, Jason Price, Grand Island, Neb., 817. 2, Wilbert Moorer, Dover, Del., 784. 3, Warren Crawford, McKinleyville, Calif., 779. 4, William Uthoff, O'Fallon, Mo., 775. 5, Alexander Shand, Myrtle Beach, S.C., 774. 6, Alan Pecora, Drums, Pa., 773. 7, Don Pyle, Wilmington, Del., 768. 8, Mike Preston, High Springs, Fla., 764. 9, Greg Benefield, Lees Summit, Mo., 763. 10, Mike Leonard, Front Royal, Va., 762.

All-Events
1, Mike Rose Jr., Rochester, N.Y., 2,161. 2, Randy Weiss, Columbia, S.C., 2,160. 3, Warren Crawford, McKinleyville, Calif., 2,159. 4, Edward Gallagher, Clarksville, Tenn., 2,141. 5, Chris Gibbons, Madison, Wis., 2,122. 6, Don Pyle, Wilmington, Del., 2,118. 7, Brian Diede, Huron, S.D., 2,113. 8, Jeff Jensen, Fall River, Kan., 2,111. 9, David Beres, Waukesha, Wis., 2,094. 10, John Gaines, Orlando, Fla., 2,092.

Team All-Events
1, Team Pabst (Jeff Prein, Troy Cox, Scott Erickson, Kevin Thompson, Chris Gibbons), Madison, Wis., 9,977. 2, MoRich Enterprises, West Bend, Wis., 9,901. 3, Rhino for President, Pleasant View, Utah, 9,801. 4, Bowlingfordumdums.com, Pritchett, Colo., 9,794. 5 (tie), S & B Pro Shop 2, Sterling Heights, Mich., and Pam's Boys 1, Salem, Ore., 9,736. 7, Pollard's Bowl, Versailles, Ind., 9,708. 8, J & S Auto Supply Inc., Valparaiso, Ind., 9,684. 9, Buddies Pro Shop, Congers, N.Y., 9,667. 10, Lodge Lanes 1, Saline, Mich., 9,664.