The Bowling Bombers rolled north into HP Lanes for the State Finals on Friday March 6th.  The top 16 teams in the state would throw 15 individual games and 5 baker games to cut the field to the top 8, where they would compete in a bracket best 3 of 5 format to determine the winner.  In five previous visits to the State Finals, the Bombers best finish came in 2008-2009 and in 2020-2021 where the team finished 7th.  In 2004, the Bombers finished 13th, 11th in 2005, and 13th in 2013.

In game one, on the low end of the house, the Bombers would have junior Jack Kaiser and senior Joseph Geers roll games of 221 and 201.  Bradley Giuffre would add a 194, and Luke Stigall threw a 185 as the Bombers finished with a 952, putting them in 7th and 20 pins north of the cut line.  

For game two, Luke Stigall got lined up to shoot a 254, followed by Jack Kaiser with a 218, and Nolan Namaky with a 211.  Joseph Geers rolled a 192, and Bradley Giuffre shot a 164.  The Bombers 1039 pushed their total up to 1991, but they would remain locked in 7th, 59 pins above Centerville, who sat 9th.  

The Bombers rolled their best Team Game of the 2025-2026 season in game 3!  Jack Kaiser put up a large 276 with Joseph Geers throwing a 254, Luke Stigall putting up a 246, and Nolan Namaky throwing a 204.  With a 3120, the Bombers trailed first place by 92 pins and were 198 pins over the cut.  

In qualifying bakers, the Bombers shot games of  202, 175, 194, 196, and 219 for a 986 series.  The Bombers would end qualifying at 4106 and sit fourth. 

Individual Finish:

Jack Kaiser finished as the State Runner-Up with a 715 series.  Gahanna Lincoln's Kael Clous would be the individual champion with a 720. 



Luke Stigall would tie for 5th overall, finishing on the second team with a 685.  Joseph Geers' 647 placed him 17th.  

Road to the State Title:

The bracket set up #1 Centerville to face off against #8 Gahanna Lincoln, #4 St. Xavier against #5 Avon Lake, #2 Elder versus #7 Cleveland St. Ignatius, and #3 Amherst Steele against #6 Ashland.  The bracket play sees the teams rolling 

In round one, the Bombers struggled as they moved back to fresh oil.  Throwing only 2 strikes, the Bombers beat Avon Lake in game one 166 to 164.  In game 2, with 3 opens the Bombers found a way to win 176 to 163.  In game 3, the Bombers rolled 6 strikes and 1 gutter Wombat for a 220 to move on with Avon Lake rolling a 158.  This setup a match-up with Gahanna Lincoln who defeated Centerville 3 to 1.  On the other side of the bracket, Amherst Steele won 3 to 2 with a 9/10th roll off over Ashland and Elder won 3 to 2 over St. Ignatius.  

In round two, the Bombers took game one from the Gahanna Lincoln Lions 244 to 213.  The Lions got hot rolling a 260 to the Bombers 204 and in game three the Bombers stumbled with three opens to fall 201 to 164 and sit 1 and 2.  To tie it up at 2 a piece the Bombers shot a game of 180 to the Lions 171.  In game 5, the Bombers closed 9 of 10 frames to roll a 204 to the Lions 190.  Elder defeated Amherst Steele 3 to 1.

With the Panthers and the Bombers matchup in the finals, it was guaranteed that a Cincinnati Boys team would be winning a state bowling title for the first time in the history of the OHSAA.  The Bombers and Panthers traded wins in the first two games with scores of 202 and 200 for Elder and 189 and 212 for St. Xavier.   In game three, 7 strikes for the Bombers gave them a 225 to 207 victory. 

In game 4, after 5 frames the Bombers led the Panthers 139 to 84.  The Bombers then struggled in 7th and 8th with back to back opens with the Panthers rolling a double.  Both teams struck in the 9th, with the Panthers on track to shoot a 213 and the Bombers to shoot a 236. Sophomore Luke Stigall's first shot in the 10th went high, leaving a 2/10 split in the tenth.  With a conversion of the split and striking out, the Bombers could finish at 216, but with a miss, they would finish with a 200.  Elder senior, Jayden Brown, stuck his first shot.  With Stigall waiting, Brown needed two more to force the conversion but rolled the second shot of the 10th, leaving a 10 pin and a Panther max of 202.  Luke Stigall covered the 2 pin to secure a 203 to 202 victory for the Bombers.     

Bomber Strength:

This is the first title for the Bombers in 6 attempts at the state tournament.  They are now the first Cincinnati Boys team and first boy or girl GCL team to hold a state title in either Division 1 or Division 2.  Jack Kaiser's 715 series is the highest total rolled by a Bomber, and his second-place finish is the best an individual Bomber has finished.    

Record Performances: 

The Bombers' state-run included record-breaking performances.  Jack Kaiser's 715 is 7th best 3 game series in school history, and his 276 ranks 33rd on individual games.  

Luke Stigall's 685 is 18th best in school history, and Joseph Geers' 647 ranks 52nd.  Stigall's and Geers' 254 game ranks 142nd in school history.  

On a team note, the 1129 game three is the 8th best team game in school history and their 1039 is 124th.  The 244 baker game against Gahanna Lincoln is the 75th highest baker game.  

Individual Pin Season:

There have been 234 individual bowling seasons in St. Xavier history, but Joseph Geers is only the 3rd Bomber to ever cross 10,000 pins in a single season.  Jack Kaiser ends the year 15th on the list with 9,155.  

Career Pins:

With 126 total bowlers in school history, Joseph Geers ends his run at 13th all-time, crossing the 20,394 mark.  

Ending their sophomore and junior seasons in the top 40, Luke Stigall sits 25th with 12,195, Jack Kaiser at 36th with 12,195, and Bradley Giuffree with 11,328 for 39th.  

Season Average 190 + Min half of team games (56):

For the high season average for the Bombers record books, a bowler must average 190+ in at least half of the total games in the season.  Mason Carota ends the season with the regular season average total for the Bombers with 199.9, which is 34th on the list.  
 

GCL Average:

To be included in the high GCL average record books for the Bombers, a bowler must roll in over half of all league games and average higher than 190.  Luke Stigall finished 19th in school history, rolling a 208.3 average.  
 

Upcoming Schedule:

The Bombers will be rolling in the CincyBowling All-Star Event at the end of March at Rollhouse Lanes.  

Around the GCL:

The Panthers' Runner-Up finish is the highest finish for the Panthers in their 3 trips to the State Finals.    

FULL STATE STATS 

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