At 81, no stopping gold-medalist bowler

PHOTO BY CHRISTINA McCUNE | DGKN

George Mishler, who lives just outside of Dalton, earned a gold medal at the National Senior Games. He and his partner, John Meyer, of Findlay, Ohio, received a gold in doubles for bowling. He will compete in the next Games in 2023 in Pittsburgh.

BAUGHMAN TWP.  George Mishler finally earned his national gold medal.

Year-round, the retired welding teacher stays busy doing jobs for companies in the welding shop behind his quiet, tidy house just outside of Dalton. He grew up in a large family and still meets for dinner about every month with six older siblings. Some people may see him in the occasional parade or joy riding with some fellow car enthusiasts on a nice day in his blue Slingshot. Every morning, he exercises.

For fitness and fun, he bowls. He bowls a lot. And he’s really good at it.

One of the best bowlers in the United States lives right here in the Dalton area. Mishler is 81 years old and he has no plans of retiring from bowling anytime soon.

Mishler bowls three days a week in three different leagues in the area through the winter season, which spans from the end of August through to May. In the summer months, he takes bowling more seriously.

For years, Mishler has bowled in the Senior Games, and making it to the state level has become the norm. He’s no stranger to bowling at the national level either. He and his bowling partner, John Meyer, of Findlay, Ohio, received a bronze in doubles in the 2019 National Senior Games in New Mexico. He also won a bronze in singles that year.

The National Senior Games are every other year but because of the COVID-19 pandemic and having to skip a year, Mishler competed this year and he qualified to compete again when the national games are in Pittsburgh in 2023. At the state level, the top four bowlers move on to nationals. He recently received a bronze in singles and silver in doubles at the state level.

This year, at the national Games in Florida, Mishler and his friend and longtime bowling partner, Meyer, received a gold in doubles in the 80-85 age group.

“We only won this by five pins,” he said. “I knew we were getting close at this one. I had a pretty good game to start with. I had started out with about four strikes in a row and that might’ve got us this medal.”

He also competed as a team for the first time and received a silver.

Read the complete story in the Aug. 3, 2022 edition.