Cisz still pin chasing

In the sport of bowling, the new "young guns" - with their powerful breaking hooks - have taken over. They roll 300 games with unbelievable frequency and huge 800 scores are not out of the ordinary. They're thinking nothing but strikes.

One Waukesha native, despite some bumps in the road over the years, is still rolling big scores and holding his own despite not being as serious about the game as he once was.

Meet Larry Cisz. Born and raised in Waukesha, the 1974 graduate of Waukesha South is of the top bowlers the city has ever seen.

"These young guys nowadays are outstanding bowlers," Cisz said. "They have the speed to blow the pins away. At my age, I can still turn the ball pretty good, but I just don't have the speed I once did. But I'm still having fun and bowling pretty well. I like the sport. It seems like I've been doing it a long time."

Cisz, 53, once bowled four nights a week and practiced constantly. Now he bowls in one league every week at Sunset Bowl and a couples league at Fracaro's with his wife of 25 years, Sue.

However, cutting back hasn't prevented Cisz from doing well. He's averaging a hefty 218 in his weekly league.

"I'm happy with the 218," Cisz said. "In today's game of bowling, guys are averaging 230 and higher. So my 218 doesn't look all that good, but I'll take it. I've had some medical issues in my life, and to be able to still be bowling and be doing as well as I am, I'll take it."

Almost five years ago, Cisz was diagnosed with diabetes, blindsiding him when he felt nothing physically wrong. After a series of tests and examinations, he eventually succumbed to the amputation of a couple toes. It only sidelined him for a little while. Before he knew it, he was back on the lanes.

"I survived that pretty well, but it changed my life a lot," Cisz said. "My balance isn't that good all the time, but I just work through it. Bowling is a sport you need a lot of balance, but I'm figuring it out. The most important thing is I'm feeling better and getting the diabetes under control. God willing, I'm going to keep bowling for a lot more years."

Cisz has thirteen 300 games to his credit, just about all of them bowled in an era when scoring was a lot tougher. He also has two 800 totals on his career ledger.

Rather impressively, Cisz has bowled perfect games in four different houses - Fracaro's Lanes and Sunset Bowl in Waukesha, Kuglitsch's in West Milwaukee and Classic Lanes in Oconomowoc. His best total, 823, came at Fracaro's, and his 803 came at Sunset Bowl.

Cisz began bowling in the Junior League at Totem Bowl in Waukesha when he was 10. He quit the sport shortly thereafter, and it wasn't until he started working at Sunset Bowl when he was 19 that he picked up the game once again.

"George Renna was my boss at Sunset and he got me bowling again," Cisz said. "George was a great guy. He loved bowling and did a great job running Sunset. He's the guy who let me practice. He got me serious about the game again."

Within two years, he was averaging 200 and has never been below 200 in 36 years since.

The former president of the Waukesha Bowling Association and board member still takes in the national tournaments when they visit Las Vegas or Reno.

"I like the national competition a lot," Cisz said. "The conditions are always something we don't normally see in league bowling. It's a big challenge to go there and do well. Plus, there's nothing wrong with going to Vegas or Reno. Those are nice places to go if you have to bowl."

Cisz has bowled with the same group of guys for a long time. Pete Muehl, Tom Rucks, Rob Lange and Dale Adamski all started together when they were about 19 years of age, and all have been outstanding bowlers.

"I've bowled with those guys for a long time, and nobody had more fun than we did," Cisz said. "They're all good friends of mine. I've been lucky. I've meet a lot of good people bowling."

Larry Cisz is one of those good people.