St. Cloud Man Bowls A 900 Series
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It is a feat that few have accomplished. A St. Cloud man bowled a perfect series. During his Tuesday night league at Southway Bowl, Brady Stearns bowled three straight perfect games for a score of 900.
According to the national governing body of bowling, only 32 people have ever officially done this.
If you watch Stearns long enough, you may begin to think strikes come naturally for the 23-year-old.
"You just try to make the best shots you can and one leads after another and you just hope they fall down," Stearns said.
They did fall down Tuesday night ... over and over and over again. The first game he bowled: 12 strikes in a row for a perfect 300. And it was on to game two.
"I was a little bit nervous, but once I got past that I just tried to treat it like a new game," Stearns said.
He bowled a second perfect game.
"After that I realized I could shoot 900 and I just said, 'Whatever happens, happens. If you make the best shot, if they fall down, they do. If not, so be it,'" Stearns said.
Stearns began bowling at age 12. His father, the person who led him to the game, was right there watching when he bowled a 900 series -- 36 strikes in a row.
"He was a professional back in the '70s, kind of taught me everything I know. I gave him a hug afterwards and he was just kind of proud of me," Stearns said.
A 900 series is elusive, even for the best bowlers.
"Been bowling for 56 years, didn't happen to me," Richard Steffes, a bowler at Southway Bowl, said.
"That's a unicorn," fellow bowler Todd Nouis said.
Stearns believes the stars aligned on this night.
"I don't really know how to explain it. You just try to take it one shot at a time and do the best you can and hope they all fall down, and you have to have a little bit of luck along the way," Stearns said.
Stearns used a ball he's had since 2013 but he has recently changed the grip on it.
The league will turn in paperwork for his 900 series to the United States Bowling Congress. It could take a few weeks to verify it. Stearns is the second Minnesotan to bowl a 900.
