ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996            TAG: 9602190125
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT

BOWLER FINDS PERFECTION AFTER TRYING FOR 25 YEARS

Gus Henning wanted to do everything he could to ensure his bowling team took first place in its league match Friday night.

So he bowled a perfect game.

Henning, 47, rolled his first 300 game at the Viking Lanes on Franklin Road to help his team, Nutty Buddy's of the A&E League, win by three pins on his final frame.

``We were bowling for first place and we were out for blood,'' said Henning, who has been bowling for 25 years.

Henning said he wasn't really concentrating on the possibility of a perfect game until the ninth frame.

``It never really started getting really bad until the ninth frame,'' said Henning, whose average is 181. ``The pressure kind of builds. You just deal with it.''

Henning's teammates, Bobby Cockran, John Kelley, Mark Pattaglia and J.D. Davis, are glad he did.

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