Sports : Steve Berry to join Iowa Bowling Hall of Fame

With 16 perfect games & many trophies, Steve Berry will join the Iowa Bowling Hall of Fame in March.

Many people who walk into Berry’s Lanes in Vinton see Steve Berry first as the guy behind the counter at the bowling alley which his father started and he continues to run. But around Iowa, he’s known for his skill on the lanes, a state champ with an impressive number of 300 games.

Steve will be among the new inductees in the Iowa State Bowling Association Hall of Fame when its members gather in Waterloo for the annual meeting on March 28.

Steve, who has bowled perfect games 16 times between 1985 and 2012, will be honored as this year’s inductee in the “Bowling Ability” category.

The late Judy Wood, a long-time local bowling enthusiast, began the process of nominating Steve for this award a few years ago. She compiled information about Berry’s Lanes, which Steve’s parents, Carl and Evelyn, began and moved to Vinton. Now Steve and his sister, Carlyn, continue to run the bowling alley.

Steve began bowling at age 7, in Muscatine. The family moved to Vinton, where his father built Berry’s Lanes, in 1977.

“He was literally raised in a bowling alley, with his folks owning both of those centers,” Wood wrote in her nomination letter.

Steve bowled in junior leagues until age 18, when he began competing in adult leagues. He has been a member of the Waterloo USBC Bowling Association since 1975, choosing to drive to Waterloo to bowl against better competition.

Steve won his first state doubles title in 1982, while bowling for the Berry’s Lane’s team, and another 11 years later, with the Fran’s Pro Shop Team. He has also finished second in the state four times. He was state champ in singles competition in 2003 and 2011; he has also finished second twice. He also has competed in many leagues as part of the Cedar Rapids USBC Association, including Cedar Mixers, Wednesday Jets, the Metropolitan and the Sunday Fall Family Fun League.

A member of the PBA from 1982 until 1997, Steve qualified for regional finals 13 times and finished in 9th place twice, in Racine and Waterloo.

Steve bowled in his first ABC tournament in 1975, in Dayton, Ohio and has competed in 38 consecutive Nationals, earning 23 Bronze and 16 Silver Medals. He has a 200.2 lifetime average.

Steve and Carl won the 1979 Eagles State Doubles title in Dubuque. He says his most rewarding experiences include competing with his dad when he won a team tournament in Galena with Roy Saub, along with bowling events with Lou Kacere and winning a District 5 team event with Clark Haddy.

In addition to his 16 perfect games, Steve has also rolled ten 299 games and has had more than three hundred 700 series and nine 800 series. Has tallied 15 “Eleven in a Row,” qualified for the Iowa State Match Games three times, won two all-events awards (in 1970 and 1971), and finished 2nd in the Buck Rogers Tournament in Platteville, Wis. He has won six titles in the C.R. leagues, two each in doubles, singles and all-events. He has also coached youth bowlers for the past 39 years.

Steve has also already been named to Bowling Halls of Fame in Vinton, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo.

In recent years, Steve has bowled in Iowa Family Doubles events with his daughters, Steph and Taylor. He was bowling with Steph in 2012 when he earned his most recent 300. Recently, he and Taylor finished first in a Family Doubles event. Steve’s wife, Rachelle, is also active in bowling leagues.

While working behind the counter as the owner of the bowling alley, Steve has been instrumental in helping establish the Vinton-Shellsburg High School bowling program.