Bowling Well Together: Military Championships
Since moving to Northlake from Alaska in 2020, Sonia and Thomas Holguin have spent plenty of time in Las Vegas competing – and succeeding – in major bowling tournaments. It started with winning the Classified Doubles division in the 2021 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships. Last year, they were on the top team in the August Military Team Classic. Then this August, they captured the Military Team Classic doubles. Thomas rolled 712 for his three games while Sonia added 627. Added to their combined 252 handicap pins, their 1,591 total netted them a $10,000 first prize.
“It’s something we get to do together, and it’s great when we bowl well together because there have been times when one of us will bowl well and the other won’t,” said Sonia, 43. “Whenever we bowl in those tournaments, we don’t go with the mindset we’re going to win. We just want to bowl well.”
Sonia averages 169 and Thomas 196 in their weekly Wednesday night league at AMF Lewisville. The USBC was Sonia’s first national tournament and sixth for Thomas. He won the Division 3 Texas All-Events title in 2021, and they were on the best team in Denton County this year.
“They’re all great, but we really like the military one. It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “You bowl well and feel you at least have a chance to do well and see your name on the list.”
They met in New Mexico in 2016 where she started bowling competitively. Their first tournament together was the 2017 Military. Two years later, he proposed to her on the South Point Bowling Plaza Lanes, and they married later that year. They bought a home in Pecan Square after San Antonio native Thomas, 46, retired following 20 years with the U.S. Air Force. They both work as contracting officers for separate entities.
Thomas lost his mom Gloria to Covid-19 in 2020, and they started a tradition of wearing flamingo shirts to honor her at the 2021 USBC. The couple had their first child together – daughter Ava – in March 2022. His 16-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter live with their mother in McKinney.
