Moses Lake High School senior Matthew Berg will continue his bowling career at the Ottawa University campus in Surprise, Arizona, in the fall.

Berg has been bowling with the high school level team sponsored by Lake Bowl in Moses Lake for the past couple of years after first picking up the sport with his older brother, Nick Berg, three years ago.

The brothers took advantage of the Kids Bowl program offered in the summer with two free games a day, and developed a love for the game.

“I like being competitive in everything I do,” Berg said. “I started seeing YouTube videos of pros and how they hook the ball so much and trying to do that and everything kind of led to where I’m at right now.”

After having a scoring average of 170 when he first started bowling competitively, Berg said he’s up to about a 235 average now, 215 in tournaments. He said it was his sixth-place finish at the Pepsi Youth Championships tournament two years ago that first opened his eyes to bowling at the next level.

Berg said he started reaching out to colleges, particularly in and around Arizona, an area he said produces a lot of professional bowlers.

Ottawa University offered Berg a scholarship. After a visit to the campus, he was sold.

Now that he has the next step cemented, Berg said he’s tried to be more strict with himself in his training and performance in tournaments. He said if he’s not winning tournaments here locally, there’s no reason to expect he’ll do much better in Arizona.

“I wanted to dig deep into bowling and see where I can be at,” Berg said. “If I need to go to Arizona, I’ll go to Arizona.”

The Moses Lake senior said his goal from the beginning has been the Professional Bowler’s Association Tour. Berg said he wants to reach the tour, win there and beat some of his idols.

“First, I’ve got my freshman year at college and I have a lot to learn,” Berg said. “But I’m ready to get started, and I’ve got high goals.”

Berg said he plans to pursue business at Ottawa University and says if his plans for the PBA Tour don’t work out, he could see himself running a bowling alley of his own someday.

Casey McCarthy can be reached via email at cmccarthy@columbiabasinherald.com.