Weber Matches Dad’s Bowling Victory at Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS —  Twenty-two years after his father won the same pro bowling tournament, 22-year-old Pete Weber won the $175,000 Showboat Invitational, 176-170, over Art Trask Saturday afternoon.

Weber took over the PBA money lead by picking up the $33,000 first-place check. When his father, Hall of Famer Dick Weber, won the event in 1963, he earned $3,000.

The younger Weber, now holder of five Professional Bowlers Assn. titles, trailed Trask by three pins going into the final frame. He rolled a clutch double and had to wait until Trask failed to roll the necessary two strikes for the victory in his half of the 10th.

Finishing behind Trask in third was Joe Hutchinson of Scranton, Pa., followed by Marshall Holman of Jacksonville, Ore., who flirted with a perfect game in the opening match, and Guppy Troup of Neptune Beach, Fla.

“In the 10th frame, I went up and probably threw two of the best shots of the day,” Weber said.

The win also ended a streak of five straight losses from the No. 1 position for the younger Weber in his brief career.

“I said it couldn’t avoid me forever,” he said of a victory from the No. 1 position. “But because my dad won this tournament in 1963, that was one of the reasons this win is so special.”