March 3, 2018
Highland captures first-ever men's bowling championship
The Cougars rallied on the final day of competition to win its first championship in program history.
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | COMPLETE RESULTS | PHOTOS | ALL-AMERICANS
Cheektowaga, NY – Highland (IL) tallied 623 pins in the second block of the Baker Competition to rally past Ancilla (IN) to win its first-ever national championship after capturing the 2018 NJCAA Men’s Bowling title. The Cougars finished with 12,849 points to eclipse the Chargers who finished the competition with 12,823 total pins.
Bryce Lawson helped guide Highland after finishing second in All-Events with 2,395 points and averaged 199.6 pins per game. Lawson finished seventh in singles competition with a 592 series (202, 175, 215) and also finished eighth in doubles with teammate Jared Johnson with a total of 1,092 points.
- Steven Welch (213, 201, 230) of Suffolk (NY) edged Alec Dudley (200, 207, 236) of Iowa Central, 644-643 to capture the singles championship.
- Walter Griffin (179, 182, 201) and Colton Baker (193, 263, 211) of Ancilla (IN) garnered the doubles crown with 1,229 pins.
- Baker’s 263 was the highest individual game of the tournament and his 667 series was also a competition best.
- Iowa Central, the 2017 champion finished third with 12,808 points.
- Erie (NY) totaled 12,575 points to finish fourth while Schenectady's (NY) 12,287 rounded out the top five.
- Highland becomes the sixth different school to win the men's championship in each of the last six seasons.
- The title is the first men's or women's championship of any sport in school history for the Cougars.