Mazza leads Detroit's 2001 Hall of Fame Class - News, Notes & Quotes - professional bowler John Mazza - Brief Article

JOHN MAZZA, WINNER OF eight PBA rifles, topped a list of five inductees into the Detroit Bowling Hall of Fame.

Joining him as the newest inductees in ceremonies held last November were Pierrette "Petesy" Wray, Robert "Chuck" Sunseri, George "Chico" Chicovsky (all in performance categories), and Rick Strobl for meritorious service.

Mazza nipped another PBA tour winner, Harry Sullins, by a vote on the third ballot to earn a spot in the men's category. He started bowling in Detroit's adult leagues in 1980 at age 16 and averaged more than 200 in three leagues. Soon he was bowling in the All-Star Classic leagues, and twice was on Greater Detroit Bowling Association championship teams.

Mazza won his first PBA title in 1991, then went on to win seven more, plus 11 regionals, earning more than $858,000 for his career. He came within an eyelash of quitting the tour after starting poorly and having to borrow $600 from his father, who wanted him to sell windows for a living.

Mazza had to earn a spot in his next tournament through the qualifier. He shot a first-game 140 and was at 130 in the eighth frame of the second game, when he was near tears.

"I told myself I'm not going out like this," he says, and proceeded to strike out and play well the rest of the way--including rolling a 300 game--to qualify and bowl well in the regular event.

Wray, from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, was the selection from the women's category. She has starred in Detroit's women's all-star leagues since the 1980s, usually maintaining a 200-plus average, including a 226 in the 1999-2000 season. She has three perfect games and has recorded countless 700 series. Wray was Michigan Queens champion in 1990 and won the state singles championship with a 731 in 1996. She's also won three Detroit city titles.

Veteran's category inductee Sunseri has been an All-Star Classic League member for 17 years, with four 300 games, five 299s, and two 800 series. He has averaged 198 in 17 ABC tournaments, and his titles include the ABC all-events and doubles with Bob Hart in 1974. He was second in the ABC all-events in 1976 and won a silver medal competing in the FIQ in 1975.

"I have a pulled quad muscle. I blew out my left knee. I have a wrenched back. I have a hip pointer." Sunseri says. "But this award makes all the pain go away."

Chicovsky, another veteran's selection, has enjoyed a career spanning nearly 60 years, and he's averaged in the 200s for 23 years. He was on the ABC championship team in 1964 and finished third in ABC Classic doubles with Monroe Moore. He has a 191 average over 31 years of ABC play and won the Detroit all-events in 1965.

Strobl, meanwhile, is being honored for his untiring devotion to bowling, mostly through his work as managing editor of Bowler's Digest since the death of ABC Hall-of-Famer Steve Cruchon in the 1980s. He has helped spearhead an annual tournament in Cruchon's honor, raising thousands of dollars for the International Bowling Hall of Fame and the Karmanos Cancer Institute. He has worked on many local promotions and was GDBA Director of the Year in 1993.

The hall committee also selected Herb Fach, past president of the GDBA, to receive the Thomas McKay Award for lifetime service, and gave both Howard Kracht and Jarvis Woelke the Judge John D. Watts Award for their promotion of bowling.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group