Novak bowls 100th perfect game, continues success

CHILLICOTHE - According to some mathematicians, the odds of an average adult male bowling a perfect game is 11,500-to-1.

Brandon Novak is certainly not your ordinary adult male.

Novak, a 2006 graduate of Zane Trace High School, recently bowled his 100th career perfect game — 12 consecutive strikes, ending with an overall score of 300 — ending with a 783 series that day for good measure with scores of 216, 267 and 300 during league play.

"I rolled my first one back in 2006 and I've bowled five nights a week for five-plus years since then. That makes it a little easier to get to number one-hundred," Novak said. "I've practiced every day pretty much and it just comes naturally. It was a great feeling to finally get it."

Novak rolled his first 300 on January 16, 2006. A little over nine years and 1,188 strikes later, the former standout Pioneer has developed into one of, if not the best bowling products to ever come out of Ross County.

"You have to be accurate when bowling a 300 but you also have to have a lot of luck on your side," Novak said. "Not all 300 games are going to be 'perfect'. You have to have a lot of breaks and each one of those breaks has to fall your way."

As a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), Novak is sponsored by Ebonite and has cleared the lanes with legendary figures in the sport; including Jason Belmonte, Chris Barnes, Walter Ray Williams, Jr., Norm Duke and Pete Weber.

"I started competitive bowling at 17 and won the high school state team title with Zane Trace, back in 2006," Novak said. "Then I started bowling in PBA tournaments in 2012 where I received the PBA Central Region Rookie of the Year. I have three regional titles and recently just bowled in Reno, Nevada in the World Series. I have two PBA 300 games and one Sport 300 game. It's been an awesome ride so far."

Novak's most recent win came Jan. 10 in the 37th Bradley Open in Lexington, Kentucky. There, the 27-year old defended his 2015 title by beating Chris Via; 154-192, 205-167 and 194-84.

The prize? Just a $10,000 check and an entry into the 2017 USBC Masters Tournament.

"The Bradley Open has been forever and it's only had one back-to-back winner and that was in 1994-95," Novak said. "Now they have two. It was a good feeling during the first year and everything just fell back into place this past year. I had all the breaks go my way."

Along with the two Bradley Open victories, Novak has also taken home a first place finish in the Lenawee Recreation Adrian Open in Adrian, Michigan and second place finishes in the Eastland Lanes Columbus Open and the Town N' Country Westland Open and in Westland, Michigan.

Aside from winning titles, Novak also enjoys helping out the area's high school bowlers when needed.

"(Chillicothe's Shawnee Lanes) is like my second home," Novak said. "I try to help out some of the younger area bowlers when I can. I've helped out with Zane Trace, Unioto and Chillicothe's high school teams as recently as this year. It's a lot of fun for me. One day, I'd like to coach but I'm too competitive right now and I don't want to come down too hard on anybody. I just hate to lose."

Currently, Novak is participating in five different leagues — two in Chillicothe and three in Columbus — and bowls 5-7 days a week. On average, he bowls around 75-100 games per month.

That's a positive thing, considering he will be in Indianapolis from Feb. 7-14, participating in the 2016 USBC Masters Tournament.

"My ultimate dream is to bowl on national television, at least, one time," Novak said. "Hopefully, I get that break. But next week is the Masters and the following week is the Players Championship in Columbus. First place, since the Masters is like a major in the bowling world, is $50,000. If you just the make the cut, you can win around $2,000 to $3,000. In order to make the cut, you'd have to place in the top 64 of around 380 bowlers."

In his career, Novak has made one of two cuts — finishing 33rd in 2014 after falling to Walter Ray Williams, Jr. bracket 664-632.

"It involves a lot of nerves," Novak said. "I pretty much just try to show one shot at a time, relax, focus and just try to tune everything out. I've dedicated myself to the sport. I'm hoping for the best."

dwebb@chillicothegazette.com

Twitter: @dw1509