July 5, 2024 Jill Winters

Columbus, Ohio – Getting the chance to step up and deliver a double to win your first national tour title is something bowlers dream about. Now imagine you are 64 years old; you’ve recently beat cancer and you are bowling against the player who has won the most titles and money in the history of the sport. You can’t write a plot line much better than that and this is now Bo Goergen’s story to tell.

“Who would have thought I was going to get my first national win at 64 years old,” he said. “I am trying to let it sink in.”

The championship match at the 2024 PBA60 Tristan’s T.A.P.S. Memorial Open came down to No. 2 seed Walter Ray Williams Jr. against No. 4 seed Goergen. Last year, Williams Jr. defeated Goergen on his way to winning his first PBA60 title. Throughout match play on Friday, Williams Jr. had averaged 248 over five games, while Goergen had the second highest average at 240 over five games. They were each undefeated as the final match began. As they both warmed up Goergen said he and Williams Jr. were talking back and forth.

“He had got me the last six times, and I told him it was my turn,” Goergen said. “He said, ‘Well, I am not going to give it to you.’ I said, ‘I don’t want you to give it to me. I want to earn it.’ That was our conversation before we started.”

Goergen started off by converting the 10 pin on the left lane, while Williams Jr. doubled, which included a light mixer and the 5 pin being the last to fall. He came back smiling and blowing on his right thumb. Goergen responded with a double of his own also blowing on his right thumb as he joked around with his opponent. Williams Jr. followed that up with a strike then picked up a 10 pin also on the left lane.

Goergen’s made the 2-8 sleeper and a second 10 pin. Williams remained perfect on the right lane and saw another 10-pin standing. As soon as he released his ball his body language showed he wasn’t happy as he missed to the right and came back covering his mouth. Goergen saw his opening and delivered back-to-back pocket strikes that he was confidently walking out.

Williams threw a strike and then added some loft on his next left lane delivery for a strike. In the eighth frame, again Goergen left the 2-8, which he converted. He rolled another strike in the foundation frame to set him up for the 10th. Williams threw his fifth straight strike on the right lane then left his third 10 pin on the left lane. He picked it up and patted himself on the back. He finished with a strike and sat down posting a 226 game.

Prior to his crucial final frame, Goergen spoke with Storm PBA Tour Manager Jim Callahan. They agreed he needed to do a 2-and-one move and keep the ball in front of him. Goergen calmly flushed the first shot walking it out backwards and did a fist pump. He took a deep breath and executed perfectly running his shot out with a double fist pump. Needing to basically stay behind the line, the right-hander stuck to his process, and before the ball hit the pins, he raised both arms up triumphantly. He clapped and smiled as he hugged Williams Jr. after finishing with 233.

“Somehow execute the shot you have been doing all day,” Goergen had told himself. “It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, doesn’t matter the score. You still have to get up there and beat the lanes and the pins. I was able to make two great shots to win.”

Goergen, who is a USBC Hall of Famer, defeated fellow Hall of Fame players Pete McCordic, Pete Weber and finally Williams Jr. to earn this title. It means a lot to him, especially after he beat kidney cancer in November 2022 followed quickly by knee replacement surgery about six weeks later. It was a difficult journey back to where he is today. He contributes getting himself in the gym with helping him achieve success again on the lanes from this win to his third career PBA regional title at the 2023 BowlTV PBA50 Regional Players Invitational in January. The self-described gym rat even worked out before he started bowling Friday afternoon.

“At our age, it is hard to do. It is hard to be disciplined and it’s hard to get up and go into the gym,” he said. “I just really want to treat my body as a temple, because I saw what four months of atrophy in the legs does. I had cancer surgery and then knee replacement surgery right on top of each other. When I came out of that, I was like, ‘how do I get these legs back in shape.’ Just grind, grind, grind. It all started clicking at Ron Mohr’s tournament in November, cashed in every event then won the PBA50 RPI and now this. It has been a good run.”

To get into the championship matches, Goergen defeated Pete Weber 205-193. Williams Jr. defeated Walter Schaub II 227-212. Goergen was in control of the match then back-to-back splits in the eighth and ninth gave Weber a chance. Weber struck in the ninth followed by a single pin spare and 7 count. Needing just eight pins across two shots, Goergen converted a single pin and got nine to advance, 205-193.

“Probably after a two-hour drive to Bowling Green it will be like, ‘Holy crap, what did I just do?” he said about this feeling. “Tomorrow is another tournament with a great field and a great prize fund, so let’s go out and try to do it again.”

Goergen and Williams Jr. will be back on the lanes Saturday at the 2024 PBA50 Gary Schluchter Memorial Central/Midwest Classic.  

2024 PBA60 TRISTAN’S T.A.P.S. MEMORIAL OPEN FINAL STANDINGS:

1. Bo Goergen  $8,000

2. Walter Ray Williams Jr. $4,500      

3. Walter Schaub II  $2,500

4. Pete Weber  $2,500

MATCH SCORES

Semifinal Matches –

Goergen def. Weber 205-193

Williams Jr. def. Schaub II 227-212

Championship match – Goergen def. Williams Jr. 233-226

Final standings - 2024 PBA60 Tristan's T.A.P.S. Memorial Open

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