Lisa Caldwell takes place in Ottumwa bowling hall-of-fame
Oct. 6—OTTUMWA — Lisa Caldwell sure liked to win.
Win. Not tie. Win.
Just ask her mother, Tracy, with whom she teamed up with to win a share of a state family doubles' bowling championship. After working late into the previous night together at Strike Zone Lanes and getting up early the next morning to compete in the tournament, the Caldwells still gave themselves a chance to win the outright state championship heading into the final frame.
"I had to get at least eight pins to win," Tracy Caldwell recalled last Saturday during the Ottumwa USBC Hall-of-Fame ceremonies. "I get up there and throw my ball. I got a 5-7-10 split. I figured all I needed to do was get one more pin and I did, so we ended up tying for the state championship.
Tracy Caldwell sat down after an exhausting day on the lanes having clinched a share of a state title. Her daughter had just one question for her.
"You couldn't have gotten just one more pin?"
That type of competitive fire lifted Lisa Caldwell to great achievements in the sport of bowling, from competing in four state bowling tournaments including three state championship seasons at Ottumwa High School to impressive scores that week in and week out ranked among the best of all bowlers throughout the city and the state. On Saturday, those achievements led to Caldwell being honored posthumously as one of three newest members of the Ottumwa USBC Bowling Hall-of-Fame joining Steve Greene and Garold Ritz.
"(Lisa) lived and breathed the bowling alley like nobody I ever met before," Tracy Caldwell said after accepting the award along with Lisa's father, Todd, on their daughter's behalf. "She always wanted to be at that bowling alley. She wanted to make her coaches proud. She wanted to make (Ottumwa head bowling coach) Doug (Techel) proud. When she bowled youth, it was Dallas (Glick) and Terry (LaRue) she wanted to make proud."
Caldwell, who passed away in 2012, helped lead Ottumwa High School to three state championships including the program's first sanctioned state title in 2007 edging Muscatine that season by 11 pins.
Caldwell bowling in the high school state tournament in all four years of high school. Prior to the 2006 state tournament, Caldwell talked about what it meant to compete at the event.
"You don't stop talking about it for months," Caldwell said. "I cry every year that we've won. When everyone is cheering and you win, they're announcing your name, and it's on TV — its overwhelming."
Blaine Caldwell, Lisa's brother, was honored as a hall-of-fame inductee two years earlier becoming the youngest city bowling hall-of-famer upon induction at the age of 33. It was being pushed by his older sister that helped light the fire for both Caldwell siblings to continue pushing themselves to get better.
"Lisa loved this sport more than anything. She cherished it and she wanted everybody to be good," Blaine Caldwell said of his sister. "She helped as many people as she could with the sport. When she started getting better than me, that's when I started listening to (Terry LaRue) a lot more. That's when I knew I was really going to have to start taking this seriously seeing how hard she was working at it."
Like most of Ottumwa's hall-of-fame bowlers, Greene's love for the sport has been developed over the course of several decades. Greene started bowling in the Iowa Tech League back in 1966 before moving on to the John Deere Friday Night League the following year.
After returning home from his service in the Navy, Greene bowling for several more years competing in the Wednesday morning and midnight John Deere leagues, Sundowners, Sunday Night Mixed and Champion 55. Greene also held offices including president and secretary/treasurer for the Sundowners League, president and secretary/treasurer for the Sunday Night Mixed League and the current vice president for the Champion 55 League.
"I can remember in 1963 going to work at the bowling alley, which was right behind my house at the time," Greene said. "My oldest boy bowls. My grandkids bowl. I enjoy watching them. There's not as much hurt watching them bowl than it is bowling myself these days."
Among Greene's career achievements included a high game of 290 rolled in 2015, a high series of 783 rolled in 2013 and a high average of 203 posted in 2012. Greene also coached local youth bowlers as part of the Ottumwa YABA league in the late-1980s. and has competed in the city, state senior, John Deere interplant and nationals tournament.
"I've just enjoyed bowling over the years," Greene said. "It all started out keeping score at the bowling alley back when I was in high school."
Ritz, meanwhile, began bowling back in 1973 in the John Deere Wednesday league before joining the John Deere Friday Night league back in 1974. Ritz bowled in 26 state tournaments, bowled four separate 700 series, posted high games of 298 and 299, served on the Ottumwa men's bowling association for two years and coached his grandson's pee-wee team for three years.
"I was so close to getting that 300 game," Ritz said. "It was a 10-pin a couple times and a five-pin once. I'm definitely surprised to be honored like this. It's a great honor."
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
