Pin pals: Siouxland bowlers bond over decades of playing together

He'd been bowling for about two decades, hurt his ulnar nerve (which helps grip things and is important to fine motor skills such as writing) and then had to quit. Sorensen, who has bowled eight perfect games in his life, was sidelined for 15 years until a doctor helped make him right as rain. 

The 76-year-old Sorensen isn't alone in sticking with bowling at this age.

For the past 10-plus years, he's been showing up to Plaza Bowl on Hamilton Boulevard in Sioux City and knocking pins down with pals Bob Beargeon, Arnold Wittmaack and Al Ralston. All of them are over 60 and two of them have bowled together, in one form or fashion, since the first Reagan administration. Their Tuesday night team, "Double D," is marked by their highlighter yellow shirts. As it stands, they're almost two months into the season (which runs for 32 weeks) and in the middle of the pack.

"Never thought I'd still be doing this at this age," Sorensen reflected. 

In 2019, Bloomberg reported that in the late 1970s, about nine million Americans were in bowling leagues. By the 2017-2018 season, the number had dropped to 1.34 million. 

There was no evidence of that dip at Sioux Plaza Bowl on a Tuesday league night. The lot was almost totally filled with cars winding from the front of building to around the corner.

With four minutes left until the 6:30 p.m. start, nearly every one of the 24 lanes had a bowler on it who was trying to get in a final few practice bowls before the serious business of league play began.

Folks are seated on any number of blue and red oval-shaped tables and helping themselves to the pitchers of beer that pepper the place. One long table near the final few lanes had a card game going (the action within the action). Other opportunities for entertainment on the main floor, such as a NASCAR arcade game, weren't being utilized. The house balls were more or less accounted for, still sitting on the racks underneath the various tables. When these players come through the door, they're bringing their own equipment. Sorensen says he has five bowling balls in his locker at the alley and a dozen more in his basement. 

"Ninety percent of the people in here are out for a good time and 10% are out for blood," Sorensen said. Through the first four frames of the initial game, Sorensen seemed to belong in the latter camp as he had four strikes. 

Once the first of three games began, some bowlers stepped right up to the line ball in hand. Others paused, gave their ball a good wipe down and then lined up their approach. The website for the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) explains: The location of your target on the lane affects how your ball will hit the pins. The USBC tells novices bowlers to the use second arrow in from the gutter as a target.

There are other considerations for bowling, too. The weight of the ball matters as does the spin one puts on it and how the pins will interact. But that's not all. Oil patterns are important as more oil in the middle can allow for more hook. 

Temperature is worth considering as well.

"The heat can make sliding harder. Colder, just the opposite," longtime league bowler Ken Vonderleith said.

Beargeon, 69, said the good times have kept him invested for more than four decades of bowling. In between frames, members of the Double D quartet played poker ($1 bills only) with a deck of cards bearing old centerfold models on them. 

"It's social. Do a little bit of drinking. You meet different people and you're moving," Beargeon said. 

He and the other gents do other leagues together including one for seniors on Fridays. Beargeon met Ralston in 1981 at Cargill and the two have been bowling together since. 

"Teammates that have come and gone. Not all dead. Some have quit. Some we’ve been with forever," Beargeon remembered. "Me and Al went through a lot of different bowlers over the years. We were one of the first teams at the Sunset Eight ... We bowled there for 10 or 12 years. That's long gone."

That sort of continued camaraderie appeals to Wittmaack. He said it's nice to get out and see people.

"It's coming out and getting something done," he remarked. Sorensen echoed: "This is just the way to get out of the house, do something and enjoy it."

Jeff Hawkinson, a 65-year-old postal worker, said he's bowled in leagues with Sorensen since 1978. By that time he'd already been bowling for about 11 years. 

"Something to do in the winter. I'm not one of them snow people," Hawkinson said. "I hate working outside but I still do it. I don't know, I just got into it." 

The lefty bowler said he's made either 41 or 42 trips to the USBC nationals. This past year, Jeff and his son Todd finished eighth in standard division doubles at the 2024 USBC Open Championships in Las Vegas. That finish netted them $2,560 each. Not that the money was the biggest thrill for Todd.

"I just like the fact that I get to bowl with my dad," he said.

If bowling for more than a half century weren't enough, Hawkinson said he's also logged countless hours watching bowling on TV. He doesn't think he picked up much from doing that, though.

"If you watch how I bowl, you would say: Nothing," Jeff said.

"Watch his hand, it's not a normal motion," Todd noted.

Clearly the irregularity hasn't hurt him too much given all the nationals trips and the fact that he's achieved a series high of 825 across three games. 

Like Hawkinson, Steve Gonshorowski has been bowling since before he could legally drive.

He grew up in northern Minnesota and the bowling center in his hometown had eight lanes on one side and a dancehall on the other. For the past 13 years, he's coached bowling at Morningside University. And he's in the Tuesday night league at Plaza Bowl. Oh, and he's on a state board for bowling and is a member of the Iowa Bowling Hall of Fame. 

"Hit the head pin and pick up your spares. It's not rocket science," he joked about how one coaches bowling at the college level. 

Gonshorowski's on a league team with Brett Hansen who coaches for Morningside as well. As a collegiate bowler for Morningside, Hansen holds four sanctioned 300 games and has won the Sioux City Masters' Tournament twice. By the standards of the league, he's one of the younger guys. 

Hawkinson pointed out the split in who comes out for league nights. 

"There’s an old group and a young group," he said.

Eventually, given time, the young group will become the old.