Ballard boys capture state bowling championship; PRP girls fall in semifinals

Correction: An earlier version of this story omitted Victoria Hines from the list of bowlers for Ballard.

The Ballard High School boys bowling team captured the title at Friday’s State Bowling Championships held at Executive Strike & Spare in Louisville.

The Bruins beat Daviess County 202-193, 211-195, 177-220, 218-126 in the championship match.

The Bruins qualified 11th out of the 16 teams with a two-round total of 1,019 before beating No. 6 Simon Kenton in the first round, No. 3 Lafayette in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Brown in the semifinals before knocking off top-seeded Daviess County in the final.

Ballard’s team members are seniors Luke Wright, Jack Kaelin, Brandon Greenwald and Owen English; sophomores Curtis Banks, Caleb Bowling, Leonard Davis, Layden Hauck, Victoria Hines and Ryan Schmitt; and freshman Nicholas Kaelin. Alan Jones is the head coach.

Ballard became the second boys team from Louisville to win the title since the Kentucky High School Athletic Association began sponsoring the championship in 2012. Butler won the crown in 2018.

Brown beat Bullitt East and South Warren before falling to Ballard in the semifinals, 164-216, 182-179, 173-185, 267-204, 211-274.

North Bullitt beat Covington Catholic and Taylor County before losing to Daviess County in the semifinals, 226-210, 222-174, 161-202, 212-147.

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In the girls competition, Campbell County defeated Cooper 183-189, 183-159, 199-147, 193-136 in the championship match.

Pleasure Ridge Park, seeking its third straight title, lost to Cooper in the semifinals 202-159, 236-223, 202-136.

PRP beat Eastern in the first round and Manual in the quarterfinals. Manual beat Mercy in the first round.

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/jasonf.