BOWLING RIVERSIDE PBA TOURNAMENT : Close Wins Give Title to Wiseman

A longshot from Baltimore won the Pro Bowlers Assn. Kessler Open tournament Saturday.

Danny Wiseman, in his first year as a full-time touring pro and one of youngest in the competition at 22, collected the first prize of $24,000 at Town Square Lanes in Riverside.

“It wasn’t easy,” the 5-foot-10 right-hander said in appraising the two close matches it took him to win his second title of the year.

“I couldn’t keep my hand dry,” he said. “A couple of times, the ball slipped out of my hand completely.”

Wiseman first beat Warren Nelson in a two-frame rolloff, 39-37, after tying at 200-200.

In the showdown for the title, “I needed some breaks and got them,” he said after beating Ron Palombi Jr., 221-210.

Nelson came from behind to win both of the opening matches, first disposing of Wayne Webb, 192-178, and then Randy Pedersen, 210-184.

Webb, one of pro bowling’s most successful performers with 17 titles, averaged 223 over 42 games to reach the finals. He said the lanes for the TV show were “exceedingly tougher” than they were the three previous tournament days.