Central Mo. bowling nemesis wins PBA event

History was made on Sunday when Kelly Kulick became the first woman to win a Professional Bowlers Assocation event. Kulick rolled 10 strikes in the final of the Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas, beating Chris Barnes by 70 pins.

The PBA opened its membership to women in 2004, after the Professional Women’s Bowling Association folded. Kulick and other women have competed in PBA tournaments, but Sunday marked the first occasion that a woman claimed the first-place check.

Kulick has a connection to Central Missouri’s bowling program, the subject of a Pitch feature story in 2008. Kulick was a member of the Moorehead State team that defeated Central Missouri in the finals of the 1998 intercollegiate championship. The match showed on EPSN2 at a time when the sports channel was trying to establish an identity different from ESPN the Original.