MANO WAS BORN IN HOUSTON, TEXAS IN 1956 TO HEBERT AND LAVERNE (NENE) GRAHAM. HE HAS 1 OLDER SISTER, A NEICE, NEPHEW, AND A GREAT-NEICE AND NEPHEW.

MANO BEGAN BOWLING AT AGE 7 @ GULFGATE LANES AND IS PROUD TO HAVE NEVER BOWLED “GRANNY STYLE”. WHILE BOWLING AJBC @ BELLFORT LANES IN 1966, MANO’S BANTAM TEAM WON THE STATE TOURNAMENT.

AT AGE 15, HIS PARENTS BOUGHT SKULL CREEK LODGE IN ALTAIR, TX. THIS WAS A 25 ACRE COMPLEX WITH A 12 LANE BOWLING CENTER, SKEET RANGE, RESTURANT, & MOTEL. MANO BECAME HEAD MECHANIC OF THE BOWLING CETER 6 MONTHS LATER, AND SAYS, “IT WAS QUITE A LEARNING EXPERIENCE, ESPECIALLY SINCE I HAD NEVER SEEN THE BACK OF A BOWLING CENTER BEFORE…” HE BOWLED HIS FIRST 300/835 IN THE COLORADO COUNTY CITY TOURNAMENT.

MANO WAS A MEMBER OF THE SW REGION OF THE PBA FROM 1981-88, AND ATTENDED PBA SCHOOL IN CLAIFORNIA WITH RANDY RAY. IN 1989, THE FAMILY SOLD THE COMPLEX AND MOVED TO PASADENA. IN MANO’S FIRST PASADENA CITY TOURNAMENT, HE BOWLED A 300 @ FAIR LANES SPENCER SQUARE AND SET THE CITY RECORD ALL EVENTS SCORE, 2218.

AFTER WORKING @ ARMADILLA LANES FOR ABOUT A YEAR, THE PRO SHOP BECAME AVAILABLE AND MANO HAS OWNED AND OPERATED, WITH NENE’S HELP, THE SHOP EVER SINCE. MANO HAS BOWLED 7 ABC NATIONALS, BUT NOW SPENDS HIS VACATIONS “RELAXING”. ESPECIALLY ON CRUISES!!

MANO HAS NEVER BRAGGED ABOUT HIS MANY HONOR SCORES. WHEN ASKED, “HOW MANY DO YOU HAVE?” HE ALWAYS ANSWERS, “I DON’T COUNT, NEVER HAVE. I JUST KNOW I HAVE THEM!" HE LISTS ALL THE MANY FRIENDS HE HAS MADE OVER THE YEARS AS THE GREATEST REWARD HE HAS GARNERED FROM BOWLING.

FOR THE RECORD, MANO HAS BOWLED: 27- 300’S, 20- 800’S, 5-299’S, 1- 298, 26-11-IN-A-ROW AWARDS. HE HAS A STATES AJBC CHAMPIONSHIP, 2-ABC MERIT AWARDS, 5-PASADENA BA CITY TOURNAMENT TEAM WINS, 1-PASADENA BA CITY TOURNAMENT ALL EVENTS RECORD OF 2218.