FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Ashland High School’s boys bowling team defended its national championship Saturday with a 692-685 victory over M.P. Harlem (Ill.) during the finals of the 2025 U.S. High School Bowling National Championship.
The Arrows, who captured the OHSAA Division I state title in March at HP Lanes in Columbus, were the No. 2 seed following a qualifying round of two regular games and six Baker System games with 3,452 total pinfall, 268 pins behind leader M.P. Harlem (3,720).
The field of 56 schools representing 22 different states was then cut to the top 25 for additional Baker System play, with the Arrows remaining second after the first round of three more games. The field was subsequently cut to the top 16, eight and four during three-game Baker blocks until the two teams remained to bowl for the title.
“We knew going into this day that it was going to be a grind and boy was it. We qualified second then on to the elimination rounds,” Ashland head coach Jim Brown said in a Facebook past. “When it got to the round of 8 we lost our look and the hits were not going our way. We thought we were done, but we somehow snuck into the round of 4 and these young men showed how resilient they are and had to come back from a 35-pin deficit going into the last game of the semifinals to come out on top.”
In the finals, the Arrows shot 267 in Game 1 to M.P. Harlem’s 244. They then outscored the top seed 210-207 in Game 2 and wrapped up with a 215 in Game 3 to earn the title.
Senior-to-be Max Oeken clinched it for the Arrows in their final frame of Game 3 with a 10-pin spare conversion and nine on his final ball.
“This just solidifies spares win championships,” Brown added in the post. “I can’t put into words how proud I am of the boys. Thank you all for the continued support as it means a lot.”
The tournament has not ended yet as singles competition will be held today at Pro Bowl West.
M.P. Harlem’s girls did take that division’s national title with a 560-465 win over Mascoutah (Ill.) in the finals. There were 29 teams in the girls division.
A year ago, Ashland topped Centerville to claim the national title. The event is hosted by the U.S. High School Bowling Foundation, which is based in Florida. This marks the event’s 10th year.