David Ozio (born April 3, 1954) of

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

is a retired right-handed ten-pin bowler and member of the

Professional Bowlers Association The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the PBA membership consists of over 3,000 members worldwide. Member ...

(PBA). He won 11 titles on the

PBA Tour The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional profess ...

, including one major championship, and was the 1991 PBA Player of the Year. He was the 2004 Senior PBA Rookie of the Year, and has won five titles on the Senior and Generations tours. Ozio is a member of both the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame.

PBA career

Ozio won his first title in 1985, and would win a second later that season. After amassing six titles by 1990, he started 1991 with titles in the season's first two events. He then won his only career major on the regular PBA Tour later that season at the 1991 Firestone Tournament of Champions, when he was living in nearby

Vidor, Texas Vidor ( ) is a city in western Orange County, Texas, United States. A city of Southeast Texas, it lies at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Farm to Market Road 105, east of Beaumont. The town is mainly a bedroom community for the nearby ref ...

. The televised finals for this Tournament of Champions was delayed 40 minutes due to a bomb threat, which turned out to be a hoax. After winning a fourth title later that season, Ozio was named 1991 PBA Player of the Year. He was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1995. He was ranked #34 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the last 50 years." Ozio's 11th and final PBA Tour win was on October 28-November 1, 1995 in the AMF

Dick Weber Richard Anthony Weber (December 23, 1929 – February 14, 2005) was a ten-pin bowling professional and a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Along with Don Carter, Weber is widely regarded as professional bowling's fi ...

Classic at the

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...

Center in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, where he broke the TV record for four-game pinfall with 1,070 pins, topping the mark of 1,050 set in 1984 by Nelson Burton Jr. The record would stand only one year, however, as it was shattered by Bob Learn Jr.'s 1,129 four-game total in a 6 April 1996

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

event. Ozio spent some time on the PBA Senior Tour (now PBA50 Tour), winning two events including the 2004 Senior U.S. Open, before being slowed by a wrist injury. He retired from professional bowling after the 2008 Senior season, having decided he wasn't as competitive as he wanted to be. 22 years after his PBA Hall of Fame induction, Ozio was voted into the USBC Hall of Fame in January 2017, and was inducted with the 2017 class on April 26.

PBA Tour titles

Major championships in bold. # 1985 AMF Angle Open (

Florissant, Missouri Florissant () is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, within Greater St. Louis. It is a middle class, second-ring northern suburb of St. Louis. Based on the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 52,533, making it the 12 ...

) # 1985 Tucson Open (

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

) # 1986 Lite Beer Classic (

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

) # 1988 Hammer Open (

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest cit ...

) # 1989 Milwaukee Classic (

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

) # 1990 Showboat Doubles Classic w/Steve Wunderlich (

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

) # 1991 AC-Delco Classic (

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...

) # 1991 Showboat Invitational (Las Vegas, Nevada) # 1991 Firestone Tournament of Champions (

Fairlawn, Ohio Fairlawn is a city in western Summit County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb of Akron. The population was 7,710 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. Geography Fairlawn is located at (41.129555, -81.618103). Acco ...

) # 1991 Chevy Truck Classic (

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

) # 1995 AMF Dick Weber Classic (

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

)

In the media

* Ozio authored an instructional book (with Dan Herbst) in 1992 called ''Bowl Like a Pro''. * ''Bowlers Journal International'' editor Gianmarc Manzione interviewed Ozio, along with fellow pro-bowlers DJ Archer, Steve Wunderlich, Pete McCordic, Paul McCordic, and Mark Williams, among others, about surviving

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest t ...

in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozio, David American ten-pin bowling players American people of Italian descent People from Beaumont, Texas 1954 births Living people People from Vidor, Texas