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Bowling News USA - November 29, 2012 Storm Pro Shop Profile

Jim Kedroski is quickly making a name for himself in the Racine (Wisconsin) County bowling community.

The 47-year-old Kedroski moved to Kansasville from Rolling Meadows, Ill., in April and already has established himself as one of the best.

On Oct. 15 at Paradise West Lanes, Kedroski rolled games of 280, 279 and 300 for an 859 series to put him among the top 10 all-time in the Racine USBC Bowling Association.

While Kedroski has been part of the Racine bowling community for just over six months, he was an established talent in Illinois and well known in the Chicago area.

Kedroski has been bowling competitively since he was 20. He bowled in PBA Midwest Regional events for a few years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, finishing as high as fifth, but has had his biggest success in the Boot Hill tournament series in Chicago.

He has nine Boot Hill titles, which is tied for fourth-best in the series, and won one Grand Boot Hill title. He also is one of just 19 bowlers to average 200 or better in the series, which is known for tough lane conditions, he said. Kedroski has a 200 average in 650 games with a total pinfall of 129,775.

The seeds of his success were sown early. He began bowling at Habetler Bowl in Chicago when he was 6 years old. His family later moved to Wilmette, Ill., and he attended New Trier High School. He had his first 300 game when he was 16 and joined adult leagues around the same time.

He got sponsorship when he was 20 and began bowling in some of the biggest events in the country, including the High Rollers in Las Vegas and the Super Hoinke in Cincinnati. Along the way, he bowled against players such as Chris Barnes, Brad Angelo, Rudy Kasimakis, Robert Smith, Parker Bohn III and Pete Weber.

“I bowled with a lot of pros who are now good,” Kedroski said. “Back then, (the tournaments) were huge. There was a huge amount of entries and it was super competitive.”

He’s cut back on those tournaments in the last couple of years, but is still an avid league bowler. He bowls in three leagues, two at Paradise West and one at Towne & Country Lanes in Burlington.

Kedroski was running the pro shop at AMF Rolling Meadows, but the center was struggling, so he looked for other opportunities. He found that Paradise West and Surfside Lanes in Kenosha did not have a pro shop. He talked to Paradise owner R.J. Guarascio, who let Kedroski have the space.

A remodeling project took three months — Kedroski brought in his own ball-drilling equipment, put work counters and storage in the back and had his 15-year-old stepdaughter Robyn do some art work on the walls — and the Paradise West Pro Shop opened Sept. 1.

Business so far has not been booming, but Kedroski called it “consistent.”

“A lot of people want to give me a shot,” Kedroski said. “They will bring in a used ball and I’ll plug and redrill it, and they’ll get a new ball after that. It’s going to take a little time to build clientele.”

He’s not the only good bowler in the family. His wife, Ann, has a 300 game and six 700 series and Robyn is a freshman on the junior varsity team at Burlington High School.

(courtesy: journaltimes.com)

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November, 2012