Left-handed, two-handed bowlers lead trend to Wichita State (+videos)

The two-handed bowling revolution is underway at Wichita State, left-handed.

Shockers Packy Hanrahan and Wesley Low are among the rarest of all bowlers, lefties who use both hands to propel the bowling ball toward the pins. They know because their form is met with some skepticism. A look at Low’s Facebook page proves that. Some wonder if the technique is cheating. Others object, because the one-handed approach is the tradition.

“It’s a new thing,” Low said. “I started when I was three, so it’s been basically 15 years of doing this for me. I let it roll off my back. I just read it, laugh, and call it a day.”

The Shockers start their 2015-16 season on Saturday at the Mid-States Intercollegiate Tournament, hosted by WSU and Newman. The men bowl at Northrock Lanes with the women’s teams at The Alley. Low, from Palmdale, Calif., will make his college debut and he is already one of WSU’s most well-known bowlers.

At 15, Low became the youngest bowler to win a PBA event, the 2013 PBA Non-champion West Tournament in Las Vegas. His international experience includes three years on Junior Team USA and gold medals at the World Bowling Youth Championships, the Pan American Confederation Youth Championships and the Tournament of the Americas.

Even in WSU’s storied history, Low stands out as an impressive talent.

“He’s just done some extraordinary things as a youth bowler,” WSU coach Gordon Vadakin said. “He’s incredibly knowledgeable. His game is a high-speed, high-rev game, which is kind of the contemporary game.”

Low adopted the two-handed form at 3, after his father prompted him to start rolling. Hanrahan, a junior from Greenwich, Conn., started in high school, following the lead of his high school team’s captain.

“He was scoring high, so I decided I wanted to do it,” Hanrahan said. “You usually only see it a couple of college tournaments, maybe two or three guys at most.”

Low needed to use two hands early in his career to have enough strength to launch the six-pound ball down the lane.

“Then it stuck with me,” Low said. “I don’t know why. I thought it was cool.”

The two-handed approach is rare, but growing, with Australian PBA star Jason Belmonte leading the charge. For Low and Hanrahah, it offers many advantages, primarily speed and spin. The left hand provides the pop and the right hand serves mostly as a guide hand.

“It’s easier to move up and throw bigger weights at faster speeds, with more revolutions,” Hanrahan said. “And it helps you start off bowling better (as a child).”

Vadakin landed commitments from Low and Kamron Doyle, a senior in high school in Brentwood, Tenn., last summer in Chicago. Doyle is a four-time Junior Team USA member and won the Team USA trials. A year ago, he won the PBA Marion (N.C.) Open to become the second-youngest bowler (age 16) to win a PBA event, behind Low.

“You’d have to say they are the most outstanding youth bowlers, for their age, that has ever played the game,” Vadakin said. “I don’t know of any two that are any more accomplished than these two.”

Vadakin said Low and Doyle, who bowled together on Team USA, wanted to attend the same college.

“We don’t always get the best players,” he said. “There are a lot of places for guys to bowl. We’ve kind of upped our game in terms of the overall recruiting process for these high-caliber, high-profile players.”

WSU’s men won the Intercollegiate Team Championship last season and the women finished third. Senior Daria Kovalova is the top women’s returner after winning National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association MVP last year. Sophomore Sydney Brummett was named Rookie of the Year.

This story was originally published October 7, 2015 at 8:02 PM with the headline "Left-handed, two-handed bowlers lead trend to Wichita State (+videos)."