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Date Posted: June 30th, 2025

Syracuse, NY – The New York State USBC inducted five new members and honored two others at their Annual Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner at the Double Tree by Hilton in Syracuse on Saturday, June 28, 2025.

In Superior Performance Category, the newest members are Michelle Sterner from Niagara Falls, Jessica Aiezza of Mechanicsville, Matt Chetney from Baldwinsville and Dean Distin from Fulton. Barry Vee from Rochester was inducted for Meritorious Service. The owner of Midway Lanes in Vestal, Steve Miller is the Proprietor of the Year and Charles Hine was awarded the Service to Youth Award.

Sterner has bowled in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area for more than 30 years, and has consistently been one of the top bowlers in the State. She has eight state titles in the NYS Women’s Championship, five team; two doubles and one singles. Sterner has also finished in the top ten 16 times.

At the USBC Women’s Championships she has four titles, and her team is currently leading Diamond with a week left to go. Her team also set a record with a score of 3,424 in 2010.

In local tournaments, Sterner has won the WNY Regional Queens Tournament four times.  She has 12 titles in the GBUSBC Women’s Championship Tournament and two titles in the GBUSBC Open Championships.  She was the BWBA Bowler of the year in 1996 & 1998 and GBUSBC Female Bowler of the Year in 2008. She also had the second highest composite average in 2005-2006 with a 214. She won the 2015 GBUSBC Kickoff Tournament in the Women’s Division.

Other local titles include 2016 Niagara Falls City Tournament All-Events, 2016 Team and Doubles in the Buffalo City Tournament. Cream of the Crop Doubles winner in 2001. And the Lilac Mixed Team Champion in 2004 & 2005. She has rolled 32 300s and 6 800s in her career with a high series of 834.

Sterner was inducted into the Buffalo Association Hall of Fame in 2016 and Niagara Falls Hall of Fame in 2021.

Aiezza has been a top performer on the lanes since she began competing in the 1990s. In the NYS Women’s Championship, she has five team titles, two doubles titles, one singles title, one All-Events title. She also has one President’s Award and one Association Manager Award. She finished in second place at the NYS Queens in 2006.

Nationally she won the Doubles in the Diamond Division at the USBC Women’s Championships, she also has Team Title in the Diamond Division in 2021. Her team finished 2nd in 2019 and 3rd in 2018. In 2015 she broke the Women’s Nationals 9 game series record for total pin fall with 2388, averaging 265.3 for the event.

Aiezza also had success in the Empire State Games. In 2025, she won a Silver Medal in Trios Event, Silver Medal in All-Events and Bronze in the team Event. She won gold medals in the Singles and All-Events in 1999 as well as a Silver in Trios. In 1997 she won Gold Medals in Team, Trios and All-Events and Silver in the Mixed Doubles. She also has a Silver Medal in Trios in 1995.

Aiezza had the highest average for Women in the Nation in 2011-12 with a 241.98 and 2006-07 with a 237.56. At Morehead State University she has two National Team Titles, was 2000 BPAA Female College bowler of the year. She was also 2nd team All-American in for the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 Seasons.

During her career, Aiezza has rolled 300 49 times and 800 28 times. Her current average is 236 and her five-year composite average is 230. In 2017 Jessica was inducted into the Mechanicsville High School Hall of Fame. She is currently the Varsity Bowling Coach at Shenendehowa High School. Jessica is also a Brunswick Staff Member.

Chetney’s extensive bowling resume spans 35 years across two different bowling associations.  As a Junior bowler, Matt won the Pepsi Junior Masters in Syracuse in 1990. As an 8th grader, he made the Oswego High School Varsity Bowling Team and enjoyed five years on the team, last two as Captain. He was named a Section III All-Star three times and in 1991, his team won the Section III title and the NYS High School Team Championship. Their team was inducted into the Oswego High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

Chetney won several league titles in both the Oswego and Syracuse Bowling Associations. One memorable league night for Matt occurred in 1995 when his National Cleanway team broke the then-Syracuse Bowling Association city record for team series (3763). Matt led the team that night with an 801 series. Matt’s list of accomplishments includes two New York State titles, four New York State Elks titles, seven Syracuse city titles, three Oswego city titles, and one CNY USBC city title.

At the National level, Chetney has participated in the USBC Open Championships for 26 years and has a lifetime average of 203. He has three top 50 finishes in the Team event as well as three top 50 finishes in the Doubles event. He bowled a 300 at the 2002 Open Championship Doubles event.

In 2017, Chetney won the 2014 Post-Standard Masters where he beat longtime friend and fellow NYS Hall of Famer Art Alexander. He has fourteen 300 games (5 at NYS tournament and one at USBC Open Championships), and 13 800 series (five at NYS tournament) with a high of 825.  His highest average is 234 in the Guido Gonzalski Memorial league.

Chetney was inducted into the Oswego Bowling Association Hall of Fame Class in 2014.

Distin has bowled in New York State for more than 30 years is Oswego, Syracuse, Auburn and Fulton. He has competed in the Open Championship 28 times with one team champion.

He has bowled 300 62 times during his career, including one at the Bowler’s Journal Championship. He also rolled a 299 at the ABC National tournament in 1994. Distin has one 300 in the NYSUSBC Open Championships.

Distin has one New York State team title, he is also a Double Eagle Winner in 1994, winning Team All-Events and Doubles.  In 1997 Dean’s team finished in 7th Place after being evacuated for 45 minutes due to a hurricane warning.

In 2024 Dean received his 35-year participation award at the USBC Open Championship in Reno. At that time his lifetime average for the tournament is 205.1 with a total pin fall over 66,000.

Locally Distin has been a member of dozens of championship teams and has had high average at least 20 times. He won the Syracuse Post Master once and Senior Masters once. He also won the Fulton Masters twice and the Van Wie Doubles. Dean has 10 titles in the Fulton City Tournament and 5 Oswego City Tournament. He also won the Syracuse Association Tournament 4 times is a Schenectady Press Champion.

Distin is a member of CNY USBC Hall of Fame, Fulton USBC Hall of Fame and Oswego USBC Hall of Fame.

Vee's love for bowling started in the 60's when his parents would drop him off at the bowling center on Saturday mornings and he would spend the day there. That spurred a life-long affection.

In the 1990's he had an opportunity to do more. He was recruited by the then president of the Rochester BA (ABC) and was elected to the board of directors shortly after. His worked continued many years with the board and was made 4th Vice President of the Rochester ABC. After a year off, he returned to the board as the first Vice President of the newly merged Rochester NY USBC.

In 2019 he was elected as President and retired after serving his 3-year term. In 2009, the New York State BA disbanded and became the Empire State USBC, where he was elected to serve as a director to the newly created state board. In 2011, the Empire State USBC became the New York State USBC, where he continued as a director and currently serves as a director today.

Vee served as a delegate to the Annual ABC National Convention from 2001-2006 and the USBC Convention in 2014. He also competed in the Open Championships while attending the convention.  

Off the lanes Barry has been a Radio and TV personality for more than 45 years. During this time, he provided radio media coverage of the PBA at Marcel’s Olympic Bowl on WHAM 1180 AM and WHTK 1280 in the 90's. He also produced and co-hosted a half-hour weekly Saturday AM Bowling Show with PBA member Tommy Kress on Sports Radio 990 from 1995-2000. 

Miller has worked to continuously improve and make Midway Lanes into a focal point for the community to not only bowl in certified leagues but to make and continue friendships.

Midway Lanes hosts many Senior Leagues to keep our seniors active, as well as many competitive leagues for younger adults and youth bowlers. He has many contacts in the community that help with the charitable efforts of the center.

Midway Lanes works very hard to introduce and recruit new bowlers to the league concept. They invite some of the top PBA and PWBA superstars to the center during league play to help grow the sport and most importantly get them into league bowling. Midway does 100% of league record keeping with latest version of CDE League Secretary software so all rules from USBC are updated. Midway Lanes calls every bowler that bowled the previous year to ensure they will be returning for the coming season. The only two Certified Senior Leagues in the association are hosted at Midway Lanes with many past local HOF members.

Hine was a youth bowling coach for 34 years guiding the youth bowlers in the Southern Tier Region.

Chuck volunteered as a coach for the Candor Central bowling team for the past five years. He organized a fund raiser for the school to raise money for bowling equipment for the athletes. Chuck did not coach for accolades, he did it for the love of the sport and to teach the younger generation.

He began bowling when he was eight years old when his mother introduced him to the sport. When he was in high school, he went to the library not to sign out a book on history or math, but signed out the book, “Dick Weber Bowling”.

Hine introduced his children and grandchildren to the sport. And spent many Saturday mornings in Owego, Midway, Waverly, Johnson City and Riverhouse.

He was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer, even while going through treatments and having a chemo pump he did not miss a high school bowling match. Chuck passed away on October 12, 2024. His son Sean and many family members were in attendance to accept the award on his behalf.

The 2026 Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner is scheduled for Saturday, June 20, 2026 at the Double Tree by Hilton in Binghamton. The Hall of Fame Commitee will begin accepting application in August to be considered for induction. There are five categories, Superior Performance, Meritorious Service, Service to Bowling, Service to Youth and Proprietor of the Year. For more information and applications please visit our website, bowlny.com/hall-fame/ 

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