BOWLING PBA TOURNAMENT AT TORRANCE : Ozio’s Big Rise Began With This Competition

A year ago today, David Ozio was about to make it big in pro bowling.

He had come here from home in Vidor, Tex., and checked into Torrance lodgings. Bowling bag in hand, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound father of two headed for Gable House Bowl.

There, Ozio won the opening PBA tournament of 1991. That was nice, but really nothing unusual for him. He had won before--six scattered titles in 13 years.

But the very next week in Las Vegas, he won again. And in April, he took pro bowling’s most prized title, the Firestone Tournament of Champions. And yet another victory followed in the fall at Rochester, N.Y.

At year’s end, he had the most individual tournament triumphs on the PBA tour, four; the money title, $225,485; the best championship rolloff record, 11 victories and only four defeats, and ranked among the highest in game average, 215.64 for 1,053 games, and tournaments cashed, 24 of 32.

Here on Monday, he was announced as PBA player of the year.

“It all came together, finally,” Ozio, 37, said Tuesday as he practiced on the Gable House lanes for today’s start at 9 a.m. of the 1992 tournament tour.

“It was the kind of year you always hope for, but never seems to come. I made key delivery adjustments on angle and speed. Concentrated on having more faith in myself at the line. Well, whatever, it worked. The pins started falling my way.”

Ozio’s life on the lanes has been up and down, but his personal experiences have taken a much bigger toll.

He quit the tour after a dismal start in 1978 and took a job in construction.

In 1981, his wife, Sharon, died while giving birth.

“I needed readjustment, felt a calling to rejoin the pro tour and did,” he said.

Ozio remarried in 1983.

“Lisa has been an inspiration to me,” he said. “I’d not be where I am today without her encouragement. We have two great kids. They like their dad to win. When I make the TV show, they invite young friends over and raise a racket rooting for me.”

To win the $175,000 AC-Delco tournament title again, Ozio must beat a field of 160. Among them are Pete Weber, Marshall Holman, John Mazza, Del Ballard Jr., Norm Duke, John Handegaard and Jess Stayrook, all champions of note.

Stayrook, of San Diego, and Handegaard, a Texan recently moved to Thousand Oaks, are in the longshot category for this event with a $37,000 first prize.

Stayrook is a left-hander, and no southpaw has ever won in the eight PBA events at Gable House.

Handegaard never won a title when he bowled the regular national tour, but his success on the over-50 tour in 1991 made him a bowling notable. He was voted PBA senior player of the year.

The pros each will bowl 42 games in day and night sessions through Friday. The top five then will meet in a championship rolloff at noon Saturday.

ABC will televise the final with sportscaster Chris Schenkel celebrating his 31st consecutive year of announcing the pro bowlers’ tour, second-longest running live sports series on network TV.

Southern Californians in the field: Rick Berry, Delano (Hobo) Booth, Jimi Bridges, Bill Bruno, Victor Camou, Ray Cobb, Ricky Corona, Russell Eseltine, Tom Everitt, Tony Figuiera, Mark Fisser, Eric Forkel, Mike Fowler, Dave Frame, Jack Frost, Joe Gutierrez, John Handegaard, Jeff Hickenbottom, Phil Kapsimallis, Cecil Knighton, Bob Knipple, Scott Kraye, Rich Maldonado, Bob Markiewicz, Rick Meneley, Joe Merrill, Dan Natarelli, Robert O’Connor, Rick Polzien, Dominic Rheinhardt, Dan Roche, Tony Rodriguez Jr., Steven Salatti, Steve Salzman, Tim Scott, Bob Skarbek, Ron Soffel, Jess Stayrook, Larry Stephens, Darrel Stogryn, Rich Taylor, Robert Taylor, Jim Tilton, Kirk Von Krueger.