Jags boys win inaugural bowling championship

The Spain Park boys bowling team will forever be the first team to win an AHSAA State Boys Bowling Championship, as the Jags took home the title on Jan. 30.

“We just set the standard,” coach Stephen Hobbs said.

The state tournament was a two-day event at Oak Mountain Lanes in Pelham. Teams competed on the first day for seeding – in which Spain Park earned the No. 2 seed – before competing in a 16-team bracket format on the second day.

Spain Park defeated Fairhope, Benjamin Russell, Mary G. Montgomery, and Stanhope-Elmore to win the title in bracket play. Sophomore Jalen Johnson scored an average of 194 in the state tourney, and had the highest overall average on the team for the entire season.

Andrew Harris led the team with a 198 average in the tournament, and Tucker Contorno is a freshman who stepped up in a big way as well. Other members of the team are John Gotham, James Waller, Ryan Caraway, Dan Charles, Alex Culwell, Brady Cooper, Devin Dowdle, and Wyatt Lumsden.

“We have eight guys on the varsity team and they all contributed,” Hobbs said. “They all bowled well when they needed to.”

The Jags finished the season with a 20-1 overall record in dual matches, with the lone loss coming in the first match of the season. 

The girls team fell to Scottsboro in the second round of the state tournament.