PEORIA, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A Peoria, Illinois man bowled a perfect game, as he’s done many times before, but this time it was special.
The Hinkle Family has always been a bowling family and still is.
Before John Hinkle’s father died in 2016, he said he wanted his ashes put in a bowling ball. Recently, Hinkle found someone to do it; and because he bowls two-handed and to do that legally, a bowler can’t have three finger holes in his ball, he had the ashes put into the thumb hole and then sealed up.
"So right here is where the thumb hole used to be, so that's where the ashes are at," Hinkle told WMBD in Peoria.
Hinkle won two NCAA bowling championships at Western Illinois 20 years ago. He’s bowled so many 300 games, he’s lost count; but the one last week was special, because he used the special ball with his dad's ashes.
“I was talking to my brother and told him, ‘I’m shooting a 300 with this ball,” Hinkle said. “And Joe said, do it!”
Hinkle told WMBD in Peoria he didn’t even see the final ball, because he had tears in his eyes, but he nailed it.
"I had tears in my eyes for the 11th and 12th frame. I couldn't even tell you where that last ball went. I had so many tears in my eyes just throwing it. I was just hoping that it would strike and it did," Hinkle said.
Both Hinkle brothers said this 300 game is an incredible accomplishment for their bowling family. His brother, Joe, said it made up for all the nights they slept in the bowling as kids, waiting for their parents to finish league night.
Both brothers firmly believe their father was present for the 300 game.
“It’s special. Dad shot 298, 299, never had a 300. I had goosebumps, chills,” John Hinkle said. “He was there. This is the best (300 game), and definitely the hardest. I was shaking.”
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