Alec Keplinger is chasing that first PBA Tour title.

He finished 29th on the tour in 2025, averaging a touch higher than 216.5 for 325 games. He also had fourth place finishes in the Mike Aulby Nevada Classic and the Players Championship.

When we recorded this episode, the PBA had just announced the television schedule for the ten events with finals airing on the CW network in 2026.

Keplinger, of Coldwater, Michigan, gave his thoughts on that, and explained how he ended up bowling in Owatonna, MN this summer.

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During the summer, word started spreading about changes at Bowlero Wauwatosa. They were changes that appeared to have potential impacts on this fall's Junior Hall of Fame Tournament (http://jhoft.weebly.com), which had been held there for many years.

Those changes were no match for Tournament Director Shannon Labinski or her spirit. She has been a positive force for junior bowling in the Milwaukee area for decades, and she made sure the event that she built and has grown for 18 years would go on.

The 19th year of the Junior Hall of Fame Tournament on November 9 is at a new venue: Sussex Bowl. The format is a little different too, but support from a multitude of sponsors, and from bowlers of almost all skill levels, remains.

Registration form: https://jhoft.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/1/6/12163436/2025_jhoft_entry_form.pdf

Before Shannon became a champion FOR junior bowling, she was a champion IN junior bowling. She helped to lead a powerhouse UW-Milwaukee womens' team at the dawn of the new millenium, then hit new heights in the adult ranks with two Badger Queens championships.

She is also part of a five-woman team that shot a record high game in March 2008!

We discuss what makes the Junior Hall of Fame Tournament so popular, what you can expect in this year's event and the bowling story that made Shannon a Hall of Famer! ----------------------------------------- What’s YOUR bowling story all about?

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Bowling With The Fef! is brought to you by:

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Jerry’s Skor-mor Bowling Supply - The Eau Claire, WI area’s leader in bowling supplies, bowling ball drilling and more since 1988. Located inside Wagner’s Lanes. https://jerrysskormorbowlingsupply.com/ (715) 559-1822

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What is it like to bowl the Petersen Classic? It ends up a little bit different for each bowler...or a lot different. You never really know until you're experiencing it.

After his time inside the "Golden Gates," Steve Brinkman of Sussex, WI eventually stood alone as the 2025 Singles Major Champion. He fired an eight-game score of 1,681, which was 11 pins ahead of the runner-up.

Results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Qo7Fk2LL2DGaisg4E2BeU2VuOiaBWXbFDNSFL9hC3KA/edit?gid=1778345489#gid=1778345489

Brinkman, who hit a clutch double in the tenth frame of the final game to seal it up, is no stranger to stepping up when he's needed to in some of bowling's most prestigious events. He has been successful in World Team Challenge events, has taken home two USBC Open Championship Eagles and is among the best to come out of the Milwaukee area.

With his Petersen win, he joins greats like Ned Day, Buddy Bomar, Liz Johnson and Kevin McCune to take the top prize.

Let's learn about Brinkman's unique experience that led to his win and his incredible bowling story!

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Bowling With The Fef! is brought to you by:

Chip Magnet salsa - Raise your snack standards! https://www.chipmagnetsalsa.com/ #chipmagnet

Jerry’s Skor-mor Bowling Supply - The Eau Claire, WI area’s leader in bowling supplies, bowling ball drilling and more since 1988. Located inside Wagner’s Lanes. https://jerrysskormorbowlingsupply.com/ (715) 559-1822

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There are some interesting parallels for the content creator and livestreamer behind ZVL Bowling when you look at his success on social media and on the lanes.

Zak Lutemer got a relatively late start in both, trying out some other sports before settling into bowling, and another niche before focusing his content on bowling.

He’s more than made up for lost time in both. He even accurately predicted that SPI would announce the release of a new bowling ball the day after this was recorded.

Zak later told me that he was aware of a ball demo that had that ball out a little early, but it was still pretty cool that he was right on with it. Roto Grip announced the upcoming release of the RST Hyperdrive Pearl the very next day.

But the headline is the five-figure subscriber and follower totals Zak has on his 15-month old YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@ZVLBowling) and his three-year-old TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zvlbowling). Here is how he got there.

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Bowling With The Fef! is brought to you by:

Chip Magnet salsa - Raise your snack standards! https://www.chipmagnetsalsa.com/ #chipmagnet

Jerry’s Skor-mor Bowling Supply - The Eau Claire, WI area’s leader in bowling supplies, bowling ball drilling and more since 1988. Located inside Wagner’s Lanes. https://jerrysskormorbowlingsupply.com/ (715) 559-1822

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Confidence in bowling is kind of a funny thing.

It can be easy to tell exactly who has too much of it or even not enough, but not with every bowler out there.

If you follow college bowling, you may already know about Viterbo University’s Emily Newbauer. She appeared in the Intercollegiate Singles Championship in her freshman year and put up incredible numbers at the biggest events in her sophomore year.

Her scores don’t tell the entire story. Emily’s mindset now is decidedly different than it was before she started at Viterbo.

She describes the hard work and the great relationships she’s fostered along the way, along with some pickleball-inspired ribbing in Under Stadium Lights.

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Bowling With The Fef! is brought to you by:

Chip Magnet salsa - Raise your snack standards! https://www.chipmagnetsalsa.com/ #chipmagnet

Jerry’s Skor-mor Bowling Supply - The Eau Claire, WI area’s leader in bowling supplies, bowling ball drilling and more since 1988. Located inside Wagner’s Lanes. https://jerrysskormorbowlingsupply.com/ (715) 559-1822

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After decades in Madison, Marc McDowell has found a new home in Black River Falls, WI and a new bowling home at Strike Time Lanes.

McDowell won five times on the PBA Tour, including the 1992 Firestone Tournament of Champions. Yet, when he first went to Strike Time with his father, the others in the Neillsville, WI center did not recognize him.

The anonymity didn't last long.

Several seasons later, and just shy of his 63rd birthday, McDowell made history at the 2025 USBC Open Championships with a 299-196-300 (795) series in singles. Twelve weeks of waiting paid off. Days before this episode, USBC let him know that his series, just two pins better than the previous leader, held up.

Now, it's a celebration as McDowell earned his third eagle in a way that is the talk among the local bowlers and beyond! ----------------------------------------- What’s YOUR bowling story all about?

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Bowling With The Fef! is brought to you by:

Chip Magnet salsa - Raise your snack standards! https://www.chipmagnetsalsa.com/ #chipmagnet

Jerry’s Skor-mor Bowling Supply - The Eau Claire, WI area’s leader in bowling supplies, bowling ball drilling and more since 1988. Located inside Wagner’s Lanes. https://jerrysskormorbowlingsupply.com/ (715) 559-1822

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Chetek Lanes in Chetek, WI has a tournament that draws nearly 3,000 entries every bowling season, and this season, those bowlers will compete on USBC certified string pinsetters for the first time.

Chetek Lanes Proprietor John Law recently ditched his free-fall AMF pinspotters in favor of AMF Qubica Edge String Pinspotters for his six-lane center.

He discussed the conversion, the ways that it has changed his operations and will change the 9-pin Tap Plus tournament in the new bowling season, and the journey he’s had in bowling in World on a String/Strings in Your World.

Chetek Lanes: cheteklanes.com

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Bowling With The Fef! is brought to you by:

Chip Magnet salsa - Raise your snack standards! https://www.chipmagnetsalsa.com/ #chipmagnet

Jerry’s Skor-mor Bowling Supply - The Eau Claire, WI area’s leader in bowling supplies, bowling ball drilling and more since 1988. Located inside Wagner’s Lanes. https://jerrysskormorbowlingsupply.com/ (715) 559-1822

Visionary Video Hub: Video with IMPACT https://visionaryvideohub.com

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When Scott Olson came up to me at the Midwest Senior Classic event in April and told me I NEED to have Gene Arentz on the show, I’ll admit, I didn’t really know what to expect.

What I found in "Geno" was one of the all-time greats from La Crosse, Wisconsin’s USBC association.

As you’ll hear, along with his hall of fame bowling resume, recognized as such three years ago, he is a hunter, a softball player, he is full of positivity and has probably sold more cars than anyone else you know!

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Bowling With The Fef! podcast: https://bowlingwiththefef.podbean.com/ Join our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/855152748614347 Bowling With The Fef! on X: https://x.com/BWTFef Bowling With The Fef! on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bwtf.bsky.social

Bowling With The Fef! is brought to you by:

Chip Magnet salsa - Raise your snack standards! https://www.chipmagnetsalsa.com/ #chipmagnet

Jerry’s Skor-mor Bowling Supply - The Eau Claire, WI area’s leader in bowling supplies, bowling ball drilling and more since 1988. Located inside Wagner’s Lanes. https://jerrysskormorbowlingsupply.com/ (715) 559-1822

Visionary Video Hub: Video with IMPACT https://visionaryvideohub.com