Steve Brownlee

Two area bowlers just lived in the moment on their way to bowling their first 300 games.

Both Jordan Windahl of Ishpeming and Jake Garceau of Sands Township said they didn’t even think about perfection until they reached the 10th frame of those games.

Each threw their “3” earlier this month in the Tuesday Major League at River Rock Lanes in Ishpeming.

Windahl, 24, got his 300 on Nov. 7, opening with 300 before tacking on 193 and 191 for 684 using his 16-pound DV8 Defiant reactive resin ball.

A week later, Garceau, 42, finished an otherwise forgettable night with his perfecto after opening with 127 and 194 for 621 using a 15-pound Motiv Revolt resin ball.

“I was just thinking I’d need 282 to hit my average that last game,” the lefthanded Garceau said. “I finally found the right speed. I had lots of splits the first game.

“I didn’t think about it (the 300) until the 10th (frame). Then I made sure not to look behind me. I know there’s always a bunch of guys who will stand there watching.”

Bowling with his father, Jim Garceau, he bowls as a way to relax.

“I come to have fun,” he said. “I don’t really care if I get one on a particular night.”

He said he’s rolled a couple of 299s and had a 290 last season.

Windahl, a 2012 graduate of Ishpeming High School, is the son of Steve and Diana Windahl — dad was there on that fateful night — both of whom set all kinds of area bowling records in the 1990s. They currently coach the Ishpeming-Negaunee High School team.

“There’s pressure — I’m the only guy in the family who didn’t have a 300,” he said about his younger brother, Tyler, also shooting a perfect game last year.

“I’ve had the front (first) nine (strikes) tons of times, but I always seem to leave a corner pin,” he said about 7- and 10-pins. “I figured after I got to the last ball, I’d leave one then.”

Instead, all the pins fell despite everyone stopping to watch.

“I thought, ‘Oh man! You can guys can go back to what you were doing,'” Windahl said.

He made a brief run at a big series, starting game No. 2 with five more strikes before multiple splits derailed a big series.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.