A trip of wow for Riverton's Collin Howe at U.S. Bowling Championship in Las Vegas

Las Vegas has been the destination for those hoping dreams come true for a long time.

Collin Howe's dream of a lifetime came when he left town April 15 tied for the regular all-events lead at bowling's largest and most prestigious amateur tournament: the 120 ^th United States Bowling Congress’ Open Championship .

Howe, of Riverton, finished with a 677 series in the team event on April 13. He came back the next day and rolled a 736 in doubles with Taylorville's Tyler Vocks, then finished his nine-game trip with a 766 in singles for an all-events score of 2,179.

As of April 22, Howe's tied with Kevin McCune, of Munster, Indiana, atop the regular all-events leaderboard. The tournament, which began on Feb. 23, runs through July 29.

'Best I've ever seen'

When he threw his final ball, Howe had averaged 242.1 through nine games but didn’t know where that would land him.

“I thought I could go out there and average 225-230, make a good chunk of change and come home happy with that,” Howe said. "I threw my spare and I didn’t think I could catch Kevin McCune for the lead and the USBC representative came down and said I tied."

Howe and Vocks combined in doubles for 1,438, which puts them alone in third place.

“I’ve seen him throw the ball really well for a long time, but for nine games in a row, this is the best I’ve ever seen him throw,” Vocks said. “I knew he was capable of this, and it was very impressive to see it happen for that many games.”

Howe drove home from Vegas and had time to contemplate his achievement.

“I don’t even feel I had my best, as crazy as that sounds,” Howe said.

The hardest part now is waiting as other bowlers make their way to Las Vegas.

“It makes me a little nervous always checking scores, knowing who the good players are and watching them,” Howe said, “but it seems like this year, scores aren’t that high so there’s a chance it could hold on.

“I have to remind myself to stop (checking scores); it’s not worth getting stressed out about.”

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Quick learner

Howe, 33, began bowling in high school at Salem, where coach Steve Ludwig has won three boys high school state championships, including back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024.

“With coaching there, I developed rather quickly,” Howe said.

He went to college, first at Wichita State University then at Vincennes University in Indiana before going back to Wichita to bowl for Newman University in that city.

In 2015, he took a job with the Illinois Department of Revenue and moved to Sangamon County. He reached out to Vocks, whom he bowled against in high school and in college. They’ve been teammates ever since, including at the USBC Open Championships annually.

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Ball change leads to big games

In Vegas, Howe started with an inauspicious 173 in the team event. On his last ball of the 10 ^th frame, he made a ball change, “and it did exactly what I wanted it to do,” he said. “The next game ... it just felt really good. I got a couple little breaks ... and I really started to loosen up.”

He finished the first day with games of 236 and 268. That momentum carried over to Sunday with a 265 in the first game. Meanwhile, Vocks had a 193 in the first game of doubles.

“I was struggling a little bit that morning and I knew from the beginning, he was bowling well,” Vocks said. “I said, ‘Don’t lose faith in me; I’ll get you 680, I’ll figure something out,’ because I didn’t want to waste what I thought was going to be a special day from him.”

Vocks responded with a 264 and 245 to finish with a 702 in doubles while Howe went 235-236.

Howe’s singles games were a 220, causing another ball change, and 257, 289 to close.

“I knew once he had the 736 in doubles, I figured he’d need in the 770-range ... and I didn’t really think too much about it until he was done with his second game of singles,” Vocks said. “I knew he needed a big game, but I knew it was doable at that point.”

Winners at the USBC Open Tournaments win money and receive a trophy called The Eagle .

Last year, the all-events' winner took home $7,000.

“I really hope Collin ends up taking The Eagle home; I hope it holds up,” Vocks said. “That’s what everybody goes out there for: the money is one thing, but everybody is shooting for an Eagle. If you walk out of there with the lead, you gave yourself a chance.”

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com , Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: A trip of wow for Riverton's Collin Howe at U.S. Bowling Championship in Las Vegas