George N. Pappas (born March 3, 1947) is an American former professional bowler from

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, who has also served as an official in the PBA. He won ten

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 ...

titles between 1970 and 1984, including one major championship in 1979. He was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1986 and the USBC Hall of Fame in 1989. Pappas was ranked #33 in a "Top 50 Bowlers of the Last 50 Years" poll conducted by the PBA for its 50th anniversary season (2008–09).

PBA career

Pappas joined the PBA in 1969, and quickly won his first two titles early in the 1970 season, at the Miller High Life Open and Greater Buffalo Open. He then had a drought of nearly four years, which included a heartbreaking 233–224 loss to

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in the final match of the 1972 U.S. Open. He finally got back on track with his third title at the King Louie Open in January, 1974. Pappas recorded the biggest triumph of his career when he captured the 1979 Firestone Tournament of Champions, leading that event wire-to-wire (from opening match through the finals). It was his sixth title, as well as his first and only major championship win. He had his best season in 1984, collecting his ninth and tenth PBA titles and earning over $100,000.

PBA Tour titles

Major championships in bold type. # 1970 Miller High Life Open (

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) # 1970 Greater Buffalo Open (

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) # 1974 King Louie Open (

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) # 1976 King Louie Open (Overland Park, Kansas) # 1977 Tucson Open (

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) # 1979 Firestone Tournament of Champions (

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) # 1982 AC-Delco Classic (

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) # 1983 Kessler Classic ( Indianapolis,

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) # 1984 Showboat Invitational (

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) # 1984 Buffalo Open (Buffalo, New York)

Career after bowling

Pappas served as chair of the PBA's Tournament Committee and as PBA president for two years. He is currently the proprietor of George Pappas Victory Lanes (incorporated 2006), a 40-lane bowling center in

Mooresville, North Carolina Mooresville is a large town located in the southwestern section of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and is a part of the fast-growing Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 50,193 at the 2020 United States Census making it ...

References

American ten-pin bowling players 1947 births Living people {{US-tenpin-bowling-bio-stub