Dennis Walling was the fifteenth bowler inducted into the GutterAlley Hall of Fame, voted in during the Fall 2022 season. His fellow inductees were Aaron Barber and AJ Hofmann.

Dennis first joined the GutterAlley Bowling League in the 10th week of Spring 2017, filling out the long-vacant 4th spot on a team named Suckeredusintoit. This team was cobbled together in the second week of that season to fill and empty team slot. Dennis Walling and JoAnne Barber (then Gordon) both joined the league as members of this team and are the only two who are not only still with us today but who even returned for another season. Technically Dennis would be considered a sub in this career launching season, as he only rolled in 6 of the 16 weeks.

Dennis was the third league bowler to roll a 300 game, accomplishing this just 13 months after he joined. Unsurprisingly his personal best series was also set in that session, but surprisingly at 688 it did not break 700. As of this update he has been Most Valuable Bowler 14 times, #1 Power Ranked the same number of times, and has won 6 championships.

Dennis is among the league's top recruiters, bringing in roughly as many new bowlers as Aaron Barber -- the person who brought him in, and he has more than once fielded entire teams. He has also made a number of good suggestions that have been incorporated into how our league operates.

His greatest contribution to the league was saving it. After we lost our longtime home at AMF we briefly moved to Gladstone Bowl, but they did not have any availability to host us long-term. Without any prospects for a centrally-located bowling center to take us, Scoot was ready to let the league go. But Dennis happened to attend a soccer watch party at a little-known rec center in Strawberry Hill, and noticed they had 6 bowling lanes. He asked if they host leagues and learned that not only did they -- they also had our night available. Dennis arranged a meeting between the St. John's staff and several core league members, the deal was made, and the league was saved!

It is with great pleasure that the GutterAlley Hall of Fame opens its doors to Dennis Walling. (And not just because be supplies whiskey every week.)