By JUSTIN HAUSER
USBC Communications
BATON ROUGE, La. – Nolan Hartl of Cannon Falls, Minnesota, was able to put together his best performance Sunday at the 2025 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, placing him atop the leaderboard in Classified All-Events.
Hartl rolled sets of 707 in doubles, 574 in singles and 483 in team at the Raising Cane’s River Center to get to a tournament-leading 1,764 all-events score. The lead previously was held by 2007 Classified Doubles champion Jesse Smyle of Bowman, N.D.
While Hartl was able to keep his composure game after game, his teammate and brother, Braden Hartl, became nervous for him with every shot after doubles.
“I didn’t have any clue I was in contention for a lead until I noticed my brother Braden getting antsy and more excited than usual when I was coming back off the approach,” Hartl said. “Braden keeps track of all those stats since we have been bowling this tournament, and he knew right away I had a chance at the lead when I shot 707 in doubles.”
Hartl made his fourth appearance at the USBC Open Championships this week, and he transitioned to a two-handed delivery after some struggles during his first year of bowling.
“After my first year out here, I just wasn’t getting any reaction down lane with my one-handed rev rate, so I started throwing it two-handed and continued to keep practicing with it,” Hartl said. “The 707 is the highest series of my life, so I would say transitioning to two-handed is working out well for me.”
While Nolan was the operator behind the bowling ball, he credits his brother, Parker Hartl, for helping him get better and stay lined up while bowling in league or tournaments.
“Parker has been a huge help for me and my game to get better two-handed,” Hartl said. “He was keeping me focused today and letting me know what ball would work best and where I should be standing, so I give him a lot of props for my game.”
If this score were to eventually win the tournament, Hartl would have a hard time finding the right words to describe it, but he would be appreciative and grateful.
“I have worked pretty hard trying to get better at my game, and to be able to win something like this would be unbelievable,” Hartl said. “Being able to be here with my brothers – they got a front-row seat – would make this moment even better.”
In addition to taking the top spot in all-events, Hartl also moved into third place in Standard Doubles with Justin Dahlke of Eagan, Minn., with a 1,244 total, making his trip to the River Center a huge success.
Brandyn Cox of Chesterfield, Va., and Emily Cox of North Dinwiddie, Va., lead Standard Doubles with 1,290.
Classified All-Events features bowlers with entering averages of 155 and below.
WALCHER HAS 300
A ball change late in doubles allowed Chris Walcher of Springfield, Illinois, to see the shape he wanted into the pocket as he started his singles set.
The 46-year-old right-hander started striking, too, and he was able to put together 12 strikes in Game 1 for the sixth 300 of the 2025 event Saturday.
Walcher closed the set with games of 221 and 183 for a 704 series in Regular Singles. Jeffrey Grego of Fort Wayne, Ind., leads with 786.
Walcher added sets of 504 in team and 481 in doubles to close his ninth appearance at the USBC Open Championships with an all-events total of 1,689.
In 2022, Walcher helped Dale Diamond Team 2 of Chatham, Ill., record a third-place finish in Standard Team with a 3,079 total, and he also posted top 30s in Standard Singles (tied for 14th place with 705) and Standard All-Events (27th with 1,883) during his trip to Las Vegas.
Walcher’s teammate and friend – Dale Diamond – also competed this week in Baton Rouge, and he’s in prime position to join the 100,000-Pin Club at the 2026 Open Championships in Reno, Nev.
Diamond – now with 61 appearances in the books – is 147 pins away from collecting the crystal pin awarded for the milestone. He now has knocked over 99,853 pins for his career at the event.
The Open Championships is celebrating its third trip to Baton Rouge in 2025 and scheduled to feature more than 58,000 bowlers and 11,600 five-player teams competing across 150 consecutive days at the River Center.