Rolling with it: Brunswick's Callahan, 19, overcomes long odds, long day to bowl back-to-back perfect games

Aug. 18—Anthony Callahan couldn't believe what was happening at the tenpin alley on the night of July 6. He couldn't believe he was on such a hot streak after a long day and a lackluster warmup.

And he couldn't believe the older woman next to him, who had been bowling ahead of him the entire evening to that point, was suddenly waiting for him to go first this time.

He knew why; he just didn't like it. She was operating under an unwritten rule: When someone has thrown nine strikes in a row, everyone else should stop in their tracks to watch that person bowl their last frame, within reach of a coveted perfect game.

To heck with etiquette, Callahan thought.

"It's like telling a baseball pitcher who's throwing a perfect game through eight innings, 'Now go throw the ninth inning left-handed,'" the 19-year-old from Brunswick said.

Callahan did not want his rhythm interrupted.

"If I miss this," he said to himself as he reluctantly followed her cue, "it's all your fault, lady."

Strike. Strike. Strike.

There would be no need for blame that night at Bowlero in Gaithersburg.

Unbroken by annoying courtesies and with all eyes fixed on him, Callahan polished off his first perfect game — then followed it up with another for a staggering total of 24 straight strikes.

The odds of an adult bowler achieving a perfect game are said to be 11,500 to 1. For someone like Callahan, a talented amateur, the odds figure to be quite a bit lower, but remain long. Very long.

And two in a row?

"I still don't think he understands how rare that actually is," said Kelly Wilner, Anthony's mother. "Most people don't even get one perfect [game] in their career."

A family sport

Callahan began bowling in a youth program at Frederick's Terrace Lanes 10 years ago. Jon Wilner, his grandfather and a 30-year bowler, drove the boy's interest in the sport. It's not a stretch to claim that Callahan might not exist if not for the sport. Because Jon and his eventual wife, Phyllis, met in 1970 at Wheaton's Fair Lanes Bowling Alley.

Callahan absorbed lessons from his grandpa and grew in his own ability. He has only participated at the competition level since 2017, when he also began playing in partner events with Wilner around age 14.

After spending time as a youth baseball player, Callahan enjoyed the team element of league bowling. But from the beginning, he was set on topping his grandfather, even once they became teammates.

When Terrace Lanes shuttered in May 2022, Callahan had to find a new home bowling house. After he turned 18 and could compete in adult leagues, he ended up at Bowlero because it was somewhat equidistant between his home in Point of Rocks and Wilner's in Silver Spring.

So that is where he'd continued to hone his skills. And later on the night of July 6, a Bowlero announcer informed everyone there — about 75 people — that Callahan was on the verge of back-to-back perfect games.

"It's like you're on TV," said Callahan, a communications student at Frederick Community College. "Everybody's watching you and no one's doing a thing."

This was not how he'd expected to perform when he'd arrived earlier in the evening. "I was running on like no sleep," he said. "I'll be honest with you."

That's because he'd gotten home from a trip to New York City that morning at 8 o'clock. Then, he went to the Nationals' afternoon home game against the Reds. It included a rain delay of an hour and 43 minutes. Eventually, with his mother texting him to leave early — and against a hardcore Washington fan's better judgment — he bolted from his club seats in the sixth inning and arrived at Bowlero on time.

His practice round was not encouraging.

Then the first game started. Callahan didn't quite know how to grasp what began happening. He felt his technique was off. He felt like he was "getting lucky."

"It didn't feel right," he said. "I didn't have it locked down. I was kind of searching."

But down fell all of the pins. Again and again.

He rolled with it.

"One [strike] turns into two turns into eight," he said.

Staying calm

Along with continuing to develop his skills at the lanes, Callahan has started devoting time to teaching kids how to bowl, becoming the same kind of mentor in the sport that his grandfather has been to him. With his students, he emphasizes maintaining focus — something he needed to do himself as he was amid a stunning run of strikes.

Nothing had ruined his game through nearly 20 frames over two games. Needing to keep his nerves in check, he turned to — who else? — Wilner.

"My grandfather mostly helped me stay calm," Callahan said. "He said during the last shot to go up there and breathe, just let it happen."

Since his accomplishment, Callahan has received a pair of trophies from the United States Bowling Congress — one to commemorate his 300, another for an 815 Series after he had scores that night of 313, 313 and 215 for a total of 841 (his handicap of 13 is added to each of his scores).

He even started his third game with four more consecutive strikes for 28 in total.

After the second perfecto, Callahan got a little hug from his grandfather, who isn't normally one to show much emotion.

Jon Wilner laughed when asked how he felt about Callahan beating him in a game he taught him. For years, it was always the boy aiming for his grandfather, his bowling idol.

It's true that now, many times at the alley, the bowling shoe is on the other foot.

Said Wilner, "Now the tables have turned kind of, and now, that's my goal every week — just to keep up with him."