Ice in their Lanes

This past season bowlers got hot at Freeze Frame

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

GREENE — Clark Freesemann may not be in a class by himself, but whatever class he’s in, it doesn’t take long to call roll.

After accumulating more than his share of 279s during decades of league bowling, Freesemann finally bowled his first 300 game on Jan. 26 in Thursday Night Pin Buster League action at Freeze Frame Bowl, the six-lane “house” he co-owns with wife Shayne.

“It looked like for a second that I left the 10-pin,” Freesemann said. “You could hear the groan from the people watching because they thought the same.

“But the pin slowly fell backwards, so I finally got one.”

The following week, Freesemann got hot again and rolled his second 300.

“Then on the week after that, I started out with a string of strikes in one of my games,” Freesemann said. “People were coming up to me and saying, ‘You can’t bowl another one … my liver can’t stand it’. There was a lot of celebrating here after I bowled my first two.”

Freesemann came up short of getting his third perfect game in as many weeks.

“I had a good feeling I was eventually going to get one,” Freesemann said. “There were times when I would finish a game with six in row then start the next game with eight in a row. I just needed to string 12 in the same game.”

When he finally did string 12 in a row … or nine going into the 10th … Freesemann said that he wasn’t out of his element.

“I’m the anchorman for my team, so a lot of times there’s a lot riding on how I finish the game … if we’re going to win or lose,” Freesemann said. “So I’m use to the pressure.”

Even with his two 300s, Freesemann was a more accomplished golfer in his prime than a bowler. He has three holes-in-one.

“The first one was kind of like my first 300 … at first I didn’t know I got it,” Freesemann said. “I was fighting for the lead in the Dows (Iowa) Men’s Amateur, and I thought my shot went off the green. It was long and I couldn’t see it when it went over the pin. There were spectators standing around the green, and a lot of them were your typical golf gamblers, betting on who was going to get the ball on the green. I heard that same type of groan when it looked like I left that 10-pin.

“But it rolled back from the edge of the green and into the cup. I didn’t see it, but I could see they were all cheering.”

So Freesemann has the distinction of bowling multiple 300 games and hitting multiple holes-in-one. There’s a registry that lists about 40 others with the same distinction.

“There are probably more because — like me — they haven’t contacted them yet to get on the list,” Freesemann said.

Whatever the actual worldwide number, it’s safe to say that if this exclusive club ever chartered a flight to the Bahamas for a members-only getaway, likely no one would get bounced off the plane due to overbooking.

Last week, the fall-winter bowling season came to a close at Freeze Frame Bowl. By way of being the first- and second-half champs, Cooper Motors was the outright champions of the Thursday Night Pin Buster League.

As for the coronation of the Wednesday Night Hot Shot League champions, there was still some unfinished business to attend to.

Wyffel’s Hybrids was one pin shy of Cornelius Seeds, which took the first-half title. Wyffel’s responded by winning the second half by a game and a half.

In a best-of-five series with each match bowled on a different pair of lanes, Wyffel’s Hybrids won it all with a 3-0 sweep.

“We’re not the defending champs, but this team has won this league many times before,” said Matt Katcher, one of the original members of Wyffel’s Hybrids, which also includes Marvin Enabnit, John Martin, Mike Salge and Dave Smith.

During a tournament Freeze Frames held earlier this year, Steve Inman bowled a 300 for the third perfect game of the fall-winter season.

Until 2015, there hadn’t been a 300 bowled at the house since it opened 50 years before.

The Freesemanns purchased the bowling alley 10 years ago.

“We had a great year for bowlers … a lot of career-best series and averages were recorded here,” said Freesemann, who admits there’s a friendly shot at Freeze Frame.

“People come here to have a good time, and bowling high scores helps,” Freesemann said. “But even though we put a good shot out there, you’ve still got to hit them to get them.”

Freeze Frame will hold its annual awards banquet for the aforementioned leagues on Wednesday starting at 6 p.m. There will also be a “King of the Hill” tournament.