The United States Bowling Congress national tournament is in full swing at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev.

Dwayne Majors of Harmony led the Classified Singles division with a 609 series last week before being bested by Ken Varner of Lexington, N.C., with a 664 series.

The 69-year-old Majors was making his 21st championship tournament appearance. There is a nice article on Majors in the news section at bowl.com.

The Black Labs team of Don Nielsen, Erik Nielsen, Doug McCullough, Brad McCullough, and Todd Palmer find themselves in 50th place in the regular team division with a 2,823. The team hails from Cranberry Township.

Here are the top scores as of March 3: Regular division singles: 729; doubles: 1463; team: 3118; all-events: 2106. Classified singles: 664; doubles: 1,186; team: 2,737; all-events: 1,770.

The USBC National Tournament record for regular singles is an 874 series fired in 1997 by which one of these professional bowlers: A. Pete Weber, B. Wes Malott, C. Eric Forkel, D. Tommy Jones.

It was a great night for Bill Yusko Jr. recently in the Iarrapino Muffler League at Sherwood Lanes. He rolled his first 300 game in league play. He began the night with games of 224 and 277, good for an 801 series.

• Linda Smith took over top honors in the Coins League, rolling a 230 high game.• Troy Strezeski topped all bowlers with a 258-749 in Automotive League play. Dave Miller (266-700) and Dave Morgan (276-735) also bowled well.• Mike Hilliard rolled a 254 game and 688 series in Buckhorn League action recently. Junior Suchonic bowled a 670 series, and Jim Ford rolled a 257 game.

Whether you are heading to the USBC tournament or bowling in a tournament at a center other than the one your league plays in, expect lane conditions to be different than what you are used to.A good way to prepare for a tournament is to practice playing different lines to the pocket and forget about keeping score.If you are used to playing the second arrow in league play, try rolling shots at the third or fourth arrow, at the gutter, or even as deep as the fifth arrow.Do this before or after league play. When you get to the tournament site, try some of the lines to the pocket that you have been practicing. Don't forget about the line to the pocket that you are used to playing in league play. It just might be the best shot.

Eric Forkel holds the ABC-USBC tournament record for regular singles with a 874 series. Joe Norris holds the pin-fall record for a career with an astounding 123,770 pins knocked down.