FLANDREAU Bowling has been in Flandreau resident Mike Wittes blood since he was a teen, with his skills earning him recognition and championships over the decades and now its led him into the South Dakota State USBC Association Hall of Fame for superior performance.
I was pretty excited about it. As it sinks in and you realize that, Wow. This is kind of prestigious. Youve got to have certain qualifications to get in for the superior, he said.
He pointed out that the commitment includes 20 years of adult competition in associations that are under the jurisdiction of the South Dakota State USBC something he more than meets, with 32 years altogether 24 of them in Sioux Falls and eight in Madison. Beyond that, theres the 15 years of adult participation in the open state championship for South Dakota he has 18 years altogether and meeting honor scores.
Having spent a good portion of his life bowling he became enamored with it as a lad of 15, and hell turn 50 on July 6 Wittes hall of fame nomination noted that his scores have been over 200 every year that hes bowled, with an average of 220. He has 14 certified 300-score games (which are perfect), five certified 11-in-a-row games and bowled a certified 832-score series, just to tick off some of his impressive numbers.
Hes also won the State Mens Championship in Singles and All-Events in 1997 and again in 2004.
Naturally, those performances drew attention, even as achieving new honor scores became a bit more difficult as the years flew by for Witte getting married, raising a family, managing a bowling center and, now, overseeing Maynards Food Center in Flandreau.
When I threw a couple last year, a gentleman reached out (and said), Have you been nominated yet? I said, Not yet. I feel like Im past my prime, but I still can throw the ball and feel comfortable and excited to do it, he said. The nomination was made and, without any hesitation, it was a unanimous vote. I was really excited to get that accomplished and get done.
Runs in family
When Wittes love for bowling blossomed in the early 1990s, it probably didnt come as a shock to his parents. After all, they were already deep into the sport.
My parents were avid bowlers in Sioux Falls, they still are, he said. At that time, young and growing up, I really didnt want to just sit home after school, so my parents always took me to the bowling alley with them.
Witte said they bowled two nights a week, and that he would watch and practice with them. In time, he became involved with the Saturday morning youth league at Eastway Bowl. When he turned 16, he began working at the bowling alley I was there at quite a young age, and I was there quite often.
Witte said other high school sports at that time in 1991 didnt interest him, but fortunately, bowling at the high school level was just beginning to shine. He earned a spot on the team, which had eight student bowlers who represented all of Sioux Falls. As part of the ESD League, they took on teams from schools in Madison, Huron, Brookings, Watertown and so on.
We were one of the first groups to start it, Witte said. Everything was bowling.
As sort of a cherry on top, Wittes growing skills drew his younger brother into the bowling fold, and the two spent quality time practicing together.
(He) followed, basically, in my footsteps. He didnt quite get into it maybe, as I say, as severe as I did, but he does also bowl.
Seeing the country
Witte said when he was coming up through the bowling ranks in Sioux Falls in his younger years think ages 17, 18, 19 he had a sponsor that put him on the road. That allowed him to travel and experience other venues in other parts of the U.S., including Las Vegas.
Some of my first trips to Las Vegas were nothing to do with gambling, because I wasnt at that age, he said. But the sightseeing and all the bowling you have to do in some big-time centers coming up out of Sioux Falls or even in South Dakota, you dont see anything more than 32 lanes. When go there and youre seeing 100 lanes, its just spectacular just to go see all that kind of stuff.
He finished, The bowling, the adrenaline rush, it was just an amazing feeling.
Besides trips to Las Vegas, his bowling acumen has also taken him to Reno, Nevada; Syracuse, New York; the Dallas, Texas, area; the Wichita, Kansas, area; and Lincoln, Nebraska, where he attended college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Witte, wise from his years of in the lanes, had some insights for not only up-and-coming bowlers, but people curious about the sport as well.
Just stick with the game, he said. The game is evolving a lot more than it was back when I was in the day my prime.
Equipment changes were among the changes he pointed to.
Now weve got the thing called two-handed bowling, where they can really just put the mustard on with the heat, the speed, the revs more revs, more power coming through the pocket, he said. Todays generation that is able to do that, theyre going to be very successful with the bowling game.
In his prime, he said the oil was way different, along with the cover stocks and cores of the balls.
Overall, though, Witte said, Anybody that enjoys it, I recommend staying with it. Its a very healthy thing to do also with the exercise. You might feel some aches and pains, but theres ways to tweak around that.
Anybody thats interested in it, I recommend it. Its a fun sport, no matter what age you get to, Witte concluded.
Life in Flandreau
Witte is married to Nancy (Taylor) Witte and has five children. Two live in Brookings while the other three are still at home: a seventh grader, a sixth grader, and a second grader. His wife operates an in-home day care center in town.
As you can imagine, his life is quite busy, even more so with the younger children being involved in sports, including basketball, baseball and softball.
Ive gotten to that point in the bowling game that, thats second. The kids are obviously priority, Witte said. We stay really busy. Basically right now, this time of the season, were four, five nights on the field.
The bowling season typically runs from the end of August to the beginning of May.
It works perfectly for my children that we can catch the outdoor events now when its nice, he said, adding that, Ive got the freedom now with the team I bowl with in Madison to kind of pick and choose when I want to bowl at this point.
Of all of his children three boys and two girls, with Michael and Hunter being the oldest only Michael has followed in his fathers footsteps when it came to bowling.
It just seemed like managing the bowling center for quite a while in Flandreau, I was always there at nights, Witte said of the Royal River Family Entertainment Center. With running league and working, I just didnt have the kids in the bowling center near as much as I was. Then there was also other sports that they were in here, too, in Flandreau.
The center, which had a 10-lane bowling alley, was owned by the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe and was in business from 1999 until around 2015. The building is now used by Native Nations Cannabis Dispensary.
As for the younger three of his children Sawyer, Sloane and Taylor he said, Theres just not a lot interest at this point.
He said his wife used to bowl, too, when Flandreau still had the center.
She kind of just lost the flame, he said, after she bowled for two years over in Pipestone, Minnesota, following the centers closing in Flandreau.
Unfortunately for the community, it was sad that it went down because a lot of people supported it, Witte said. It was something for the kids to do.
Thats the flow of life, though: Things come and go. Right now, freshly arrived on Wittes doorstep, is being a member of the South Dakota State USBC Association Hall of Fames 2025 class. Thats something worth cherishing.
Our association is very proud of the contributions and accomplishments Michael has made to the sport of bowling, the Sioux Falls Regional USBC Association wrote in its nominating letter. We sincerely hope that you will see the dedication and love for the sport that Michael has displayed.
And in the end, the Hall of Fame selection committee certainly did.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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