Dave Wightman reached the pinnacle of his bowling career this summer when he was inducted into the Fond du Lac Bowling Association Hall of Fame during the annual Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet held at Ledgeview Center inside Ledgeview Lanes.

Wightman got an early start to his bowling career at West Side Lanes back in the early 1950’s. “I lived near West Side Lanes and my parents bowled  there a lot,” he said. “My interest in bowling grew from being at the lanes all the time.”

Wightman’s enjoyed the sport so much he took part of his time off on weekends from school to watch some of his idols. “I grew up watching the PBA on TV in those early days,” he said. “I always wanted to bowl as good as the pros.”

Wightman has some very impressive numbers on his FBA bowling resume. He has recorded sixth 800 series, fifteen 300 games, six 299 games, and one 298 game.

Wightman rolled his first and career best 800 series on Nov. 8, 2001 at Karl Ray Lanes when he rolled games of 256, 288, and 286 for an 830 series.

Wightman made the FBA Senior All-Star team in 2008 with an impressive 225 avg. He also made three appearances on the FBA’s All-Star Second team in 2000, 2002, and 2009.

Wightman has bowled in 14 USBC Championships. He had a great year in 1995 when he recorded a career best game of 264 and 721 series in Reno, NV.  He broke the 1800 barrier in 2000 in Albuquerque, NM when he rolled an all-events total of 1,820.

Wightman didn’t waste time when asked about his three favorite moments of bowling league in the FBA. “My first 300 game in 1993 is at the top,” he said. “Then my 830 series in 2001 and rolling back-to-back perfect games last season at Parkway Lanes.”

Wightman has always put team accomplishments ahead of individual honors and he was proud last season when his Tuesday night team almost broke the association scratch series record. “We came up four pins short of breaking the record,” he said. ” It was a night I will never forget. Afterward, everybody on the team was down a little bit (for not getting the record), but I was proud of how we bowled together as a team all night. Our series was the fifth highest in the nation last season.”

Sid Silcock, Tim Lemke, Tim Zorn, and Steve Kocos were teammates of Wightman’s that night.

Wightman has been a member of the Board of Directors of the FBA since 1995 and he went out on top in 2008/09 when he was President of the association.

Wightman has been an active member in the FBA since 1960. “This season will be my 50th year in the association,” he said.”The streak is not consecutive because I took time off to serve in the military and I missed a couple of year when my children were young.”

Wightman’s wife, Sandy, along with their children, Eric and Doug (daughter-in-law Meghan), and grandchildren, Sydney and Alexis were their to support and cheer Dave on. “It was so special to have my family and friends there during the ceremony.”

Even though it was Wightman’s night, he took some good old ribbing from his two sons.  “At my ceremony, my two sons presented me for induction, he said. ”They treated it like a “ROAST” and got some good zingers in on “Dear Old Dad” that night. It was a ton of laughs.”