Amelia High School sophomore Nic Huber bowled his third perfect game on Dec. 8.

Amelia High School sophomore Nic Huber bowled his third perfect game on Dec. 8.
By Chris Chaney
Sun staff

For some, bowling a perfect game is a culmination of a lifelong struggle with the lanes; a love-hate relationship that relents one time to reward an elusive 300 score to a weary alley cat.

Nic Huber isn’t weary.

In fact, he’s hungrier than ever after bowling his third perfect game in as many years on Monday, Dec. 8 in a match between his Amelia Barons and Glen Este. The perfect game came at the perfect time for Huber.

“My grandparents had come in from out of town, so I wanted to bowl well for them,” the sophomore explained. “In practice, I was just getting lined up and seeing how (the lanes) were. When the game started, I was killing it and just had a feeling I would do well.”

Opening up with a few strikes isn’t anything new for Huber, who along with his brother, Blake — a member of the Wright State University bowling team — his father, Ric — an owner of four 300 games — and his uncle, Tom — the family leader with 27 perfect games — have had widespread success on the Cherry Grove lanes.

There gets to be a certain point, Huber said, five or six frames in after five or six straight strikes, when 300 enters the thought process. And for some, that realization is the beginning of the end, but not Nic.

“I was still nervous like I was with the first two, but it wasn’t as bad,” Huber said. “(The nerves have) kind of gotten better, but you still get that nervous feeling.

“I just told myself to stay calm, take my time, don’t rush. I try to worry about the game and not other stuff going on. I just try to take my time and concentrate on every ball.”

While Nic was zeroed in on the task at hand, family, friends and competitors alike began to hear the rumble that something special might be taking place on Lane 4.

“There wasn’t an inkling on his face that he was nervous,” Nic’s father, Ric, said. “When he got up on the lane, it’s like he blocked everything out. Everybody stopped. When he had to throw the last three, everybody stopped and he was calm as could be. You could tell he was focused.”

Ric said that the biggest improvement he’s seen with his son has come in the mental capacity. With Ric’s brother, Tom, helping coach the Barons, he believes that Nic’s game has sharpened and improved due to their strong relationship.

Nic agrees.

“(My uncle Tom) has helped me since I was little,” Nic said. “He’s very good at reading the lanes and how (that affects) my game, so he can help me to move or whatever I need.”

On that day, though, Nic didn’t need any help. He was in the zone and by 4 p.m., he had his third perfect game, one behind his father, three ahead of his brother and a ways behind his uncle.

Not only does the family competition fuel Nic’s fire, but also a wider-ranging motivation to become the best bowler in the city. Currently, Nic is fourth in Southwest Ohio with an average of 218.8 per game, less than three pins behind Middletown’s Nick Deaton who leads the way. However, Huber’s best series of the season, a 536, is tops in the area.

Just a sophomore, Huber has plenty of time to claim the top spot in the city and in his immediate family.

Uncle Tom is still 24 300s ahead of his nephew, but Nic’s confidence is growing and as his maturation process on the lanes continues, no one would be surprised to see that deficit shrink in the next few months.