Mesa - - - At Brett Wolfe's house it is OK to bring the game of bowling home with you. Because discussing goals you did, or did not achieve following the completion of league play is a normal routine. Everyone from his mom, Becky to his wife Angela, to his sister Brandi, and bother-in-law Mike Calderon, are all good bowlers. So, if Brett has a problem in his physical game, or mental obstacle to work around, he can go to one of them for advice. However, at the completion of the 2014-15 season, Brett was not the one in the family asking for advice. He was probably the one giving it to his family members. That's because the high average of 248, which he posted in the Virtue Classic bowling league at Brunswick Zone Mesa, was good enough to earn him high average honors in the Mesa Metro Bowling Association among the men.
Brett's 248 average narrowly eclipsed William Nedry, (247); and Jakob Butturff (239). This year, Brett is back in the Metro 880 league on Thursdays, and there is a good reason why he loves bowling in 'The 880'."I have bowled with the same guys in the Metro 880 for almost 20 years. They are like family to me, and it really helps me relax and enjoy bowling," he said. "When you get to bowl with people you genuinely love hanging out with, there's much less tension and stress which always results in better bowling. "Having the high average in the league is great, but our team is always focused on one thing, and that is winning," he added. "I'd happily average 20 pins less if it meant we won the league every year." His highest average he ever recorded in sanctioned play, is 250, for 102 games, and it was also in the Metro 880 during the 2006-07 season.
Brett was introduced to the game of bowling at age 10, when his father Bill, took him to Desert Hills to bowl in his first junior league. The family then moved to Scottsdale in 1985, and Brunswick Via Linda opened a short time later. Brett's mom, Becky, worked at Via Linda doing the league recap services, which allowed Brett to bowl for free. "I would get off the school bus every day around 3:45 right near the center, and bowl my six free games a day, before the evening leagues started," he remembers. "It was a very fun part of my bowling life and development. When I got a little older, I started bowling in the Metro All-Stars, a prestigious junior league run by Dave and Darlene Weekly that traveled to different bowling centers all over the state every Sunday. "That was where I really started to improve as the talent level in that league was well above any other junior league in the Valley," he continued. "I stayed in the junior program until the summer I turned 19, at which point I went into the adult leagues, so I could bowl with my mom and dad. At that time, there were very few scholarship tournaments, and certainly none like the ones the juniors have now. Plus, I wanted to bowl with my parents and my friends, who were all going adult at that time as well."
Brett credits much of his bowling success to Mike Landrith the head coach of the Arizona State bowling team while he was in college. And to Dave Cirigliano, the owner of Bowling Dynamics in Phoenix. "Without these two guys, I wouldn't have developed into the bowler I am now. I could always strike a lot, but they helped refine my game," he said, of their guidance. "They also taught me to manage tougher patterns properly, and helped me get equipment that complimented my game, instead of working against it." When Brett was at ASU bowling, he had older wooden lanes down in the Memorial Union to bowl on, so he had plenty of practice both on wood and synthetic lanes. "I never worried much about the lanes. I was more concerned with having good approaches. I always felt that if I could trust my footwork and not be concerned about sticking or sliding too much, I should be able to score on just about any lane surface and condition,"he said, on the difference between wood and synthetic. "It was not uncommon for me to bowl 70-80 games a week back then.
"I would practice several times a week, bowl in three or four leagues a week, and also bowl whatever tournaments I could find around town as well," he added. "I bowled in Tempe, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and pretty much wherever there was competition." Brett currently has around 150 '300' games, and probably about as many '800' series. If you had ever had a chance to see him bowl, he kind of reminds you of Steve Cook. Tall, lanky, and left-handed. A person watching him once, mentioned that he threw the ball like Steve Cook, and Brett still considers this the greatest compliment he was ever given about his bowling game. "Generally after the first four or five shots, I have a pretty good idea if I can shoot 300 that game. If everything feels rhythmic, and smooth, its usually there for me," he said, on knowing when a 300 may be coming. "Being left-handed, and often being the only one using the left side of the lane, can be a huge advantage. The lanes will transition much less violently for me than for the right-handed bowlers on my pair. "On house shots, this is a huge benefit for me. However, many of the tournaments we bowl on are a much flatter pattern than a house shot, and as a result having a shortage of lefties can make it difficult to create a shot that allows me to keep up with the right-handers," he added. "The right-handers have softened up their side of the lane thanks to having eight times as many shots thrown."
Both Brett and his wife Angela work in the financial sector. His sister, Brandi, is a paralegal at a small law firm in Tempe. Her husband, Mike Calderon, owns both 300 Pro Shop & Training Centers in Tempe and Phoenix. "My brother-in-law Mike Calderon, has been the PBA tour rep for Ebonite International for several years, and has laid out bowling balls for the best bowlers on earth. He understands far more about how today's bowling balls work than I ever will," he said, on having a family member in the pro shop business. "He is an invaluable resource for me as he will tell me point blank, if a bowling ball I am interested in will work for me, or not as he has seen the best lefties in the world throw it already. In today's bowling game, its all about having the right ball to match up to the lane condition you are bowling on. "That is the difference between averaging 210 and 240," he continued. "I've personally watched him match up PBA star Mike Fagan with the right bowling ball to win the USBC Masters on national television. Having a guy with those skills as my brother-in-law is an almost unfair advantage for me."
The state record for men is 898, which was shot by William McPherson at Brunswick Zone Gilbert in 2013. In addition to his 889, Brett also rolled series of: 861, 831, 810, 806, and 802 last year. Even though he does not have the state scoring record at the present time, he does have a couple records he is proud of. The first is holding the record for the largest margin of victory at the USBC Masters. "I won the title match 269-172 which is a 97 pin margin of victory, and is still the record. The second was holding the Phoenix City Masters, Mesa City Masters, and Arizona State Masters titles which occurred simultaneously, back in 2006," he said, of these accomplishments. "The last, and most recent, is the Sport Bowling series record. It happened in 2012, in the East Valley Open league at Brunswick Mesa. "Sport patterns are generally much tougher conditions to bowl on, so shooting a series that high on a more demanding shot was a pretty cool thing," he added, on his record breaking 886 series. "Don Caron, a good friend of mine, and an excellent bowler himself, had a plaque made with scores, individual frames bowled, and a note about the series being the world record for USBC sport bowling. Its on display right now, next to the front counter at Brunswick Mesa, and was an awesome tribute from Don."
Brett has also earned five Merit Awards from the Metro 880 league. Those coming on July 31, 2006, 07, 08 and on May 6, 2010, and July 28, 2011. "I would like another shot or two at shooting a 900 series," said Brett, on his future bowling goals. His 889 was also the highest series posted among the men in the MMA last year as well. "I probably need to get it done sooner rather than later. At age 39, I expect that within the next few years, my skill levels will start to diminish and 900 will probably be out of reach." Brett says his most memorable 300 was his first one rolled on December 7, 1995, because his father was bowling with him on his team. And his most memorable 800 was the Sport Certified 886. "I was nervous as I hadn't bowled before," he remembers, on his first trip to Desert Hills. "But, my father, who bowled quite a bit in Southern California in the 70s, 'told me not to worry. That we were just there to have fun and see if I liked the game'". Needless to say, he has liked the game ever since.