When it came to predicting which member of the Andover Central bowling team had the best chance of winning the Class 5A individual state title Wednesday at Bowlero Northrock, Paxton McLeod acknowledged he wasn’t exactly at the top of the list.
 
And maybe not even on the radar at all.
 
“They would have said Dayden Cunningham, for sure,” McLeod said of his senior teammate. “I probably would have been maybe the fourth, fifth person.”
 
And then he added a dead-on qualifier.
 
“I came out of nowhere.”
 
State bowling can produce unlikely champions. And while McLeod may not qualify as the most unlikeliest of those who’ve won one, neither he nor anybody could have predicted he’d come away with this year’s Class 5A state crown.
 
But thanks to a career day on the lanes, McLeod -- who ranked sixth on the six-man state team in terms of average -- has joined the champions club. He finished with a career-best 746 series to win the 5A title by a mere two pins over Piper’s Coltyn Bard, who was second with a 744. Maize South’s Tristan Coffey was right behind in third with a 739 series.
 
“It just seems so unreal,” McLeod said. “It wasn’t really ever in my mind. I just wanted to come in here and really support my team with a good series. But when I kept on striking and kept on going, it seemed more and more possible that I could actually win state.”
 
Making the title even sweeter is that it came as part of a dominating showing by his Andover Central teammates as well. Making their first state appearance as a team since 2019, the Jaguars rode the momentum of their late-season surge that included Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League and Class 5A regional titles to a huge performance on Wednesday.
 
With all six Jaguars opening the tourney with games of 210 or higher, Andover Central set the tone early and never really let off the gas, posting a season-best American tenpins total of 2,801 to take a commanding 139-pin lead on Piper into the four Baker games. The Jaguars didn’t let up in that format, either, recording the second-highest Baker score to finish with a final total of 3,648 to win by 159 over Piper, which was second with a 3,489 total.
 

 
The total was the highest for a 5A state champion since Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s record-setting 3,769 performance in 2021.
 
“I really liked this team at the beginning of the year and knew we had a chance to win,” Cunningham said. “Our team chemistry is great; we hang out all the time. So we knew the chemistry was there. And we knew we had the skill and talent to do it and I’m just glad we came out and executed.”
 
Coming off a five-year stretch where the program only had seven individual state qualifiers (three of those coming in 2023), Andover Central served early notice that not only could they make it back as a team for the first time since 2019, but also be a factor if they got there. At the Jan/ 23 Cheney Triangular, the Jaguars put up a total of 2,782.
 
While the Jaguars never topped that until state, they went over 2,700 three other times, including at the Division II league meet where they cruised to the title with a 2,757 tenpins total and 3,637 overall total. At regionals, Andover Central topped 2,700 again in tenpins, but was a bit off in Baker, finishing at 3,510 – the best mark of the three regionals, but only by a slight margin over Maize South (3,476), Lansing (3,475), Emporia (3,470).
 
“Last year, we knew we had the capability of being here, but there were some disappointments along the way,” Jaguar coach Roxana Smith said. “We came into this year and they had the realization that we need to do some things different than what we did last year and they did that. They made those changes and we blended them together as a team. I told them they were a talented group of young men and had a lot of potential. They really came into this year fired up, saying, ‘We can do this.’”
 

 
The Jaguars were led at the regional by freshman Evan Light and sophomore Gunnar Whitney, who went 1-2 individually with the only 700 series at the regional, while Cunningham was the league champion with a 743 series.
 
Finishing 28th at the regional with a 580 series after putting out a season-best 613 series at league, McLeod really gave no indication that he had a breakout series coming at state.
 
But getting to practice at Northrock on a daily basis and getting work in on the lanes they would bowl at state leading up to Wednesday, McLeod said he and his Jaguar teammates “felt at home.”
 
It sure showed. Central didn’t even need to use scores of 210 and 218 in the opening frame, instead counting four scores of 220 or higher for total of 949. And leading that pack? McLeod, who turned in his highest game of the year by 20 pins with a 268 that put him third behind Piper’s Bard (277) and Maize South’s Coffey (269).
 
“When my teammates are clicking and clicking, it just helps me,” McLeod said. “Whenever you have good energy, you always feel better and you definitely bowl better. When you have good teammates, good things like this can happen.”
 

 
Over the next two games, none of the Jaguars really cooled. Senior Cole Scocos was the lone Jaguar to dip under 200 in the tenpins and Andover Central added games of 945 and 907 to get to its 2,801 total.
 
Cunningham led the scoring in the final two games with scores of 247 and 239, which gave him a 723 series that placed him fourth in the individual standings. But McLeod was right behind Cunningham in both with a 242 and 236, pushing him to a 746 series that was 133 higher than his previous season best.
 
Though he felt he was in good shape, he had no true idea where he stood. Third after the first game, he was still in that position after the second game as well as Coffey jumped to a 279 second game to open up a 29-pin lead over Bard, who had a 242 second game, and 38-pin lead on McLeod.
 
In position for the title, Coffey dropped off in a big way in the final game, mustering just a 191 to drop him to third. Bard got off to a rough start in his third game when he went 5-gutter in the first frame, opening the door for McLeod. The Jaguar stayed steady and though Bard came on like a gang-buster late, he fell two pins shy of the title.
 
As the medalists were being read off, McLeod anxiously awaited his name. When Bard was announced in the runner-up spot, disbelief spread across his face.
 
“I thought I had it in the bag at first, but when I heard Dayden got fourth – congrats to him – I was nervous,” McLeod said. “Then I heard the 744 and knowing I’d just won state by two pins, it was electrifying for sure.”
 

 
“Paxton just brings a dynamic to the team of motivation and encouragement that was the push that we needed,” Smith said.
 
Andover Central finished with four state placers overall, all four finishing in the top 11. In addition to Cunningham’s fourth-place finish, the Jaguars also got a 10th from Whitney (668) and 11th from Light (662). Owen Straub just missed giving the Jaguars a fifth medalist, taking 21st with a 634, one pin away from a tie for 20th and the final state medal.
 
That depth, Cunningham said, was the biggest difference between this year’s team and past ones that fell short of qualifying for state.
 
“We’ve always had a good top three, but I think to win state you have to have a good top six,” Cunningham said. “This year, we had six, even seven guys. It was just amazing that we could come together and have a great team.
 
“We had to set the tone early and compile momentum. Momentum is what gets us here. We’re a very high energy group and if we can keep that energy rolling, we can’t be stopped.”
 

 

 
“It’s a super, super-talented group of boys,” Smith said. “Since league, something was just different about them. They started to click, they started to work as a team. It was just motivation and they showed up.
 
“And I think this is just the beginning. They’ve set the bar and now we have to continue to try and reach it and we’re ready to go.”
 
Piper got off to a slow start in Baker, but finished strong with finals games of 254 and 234 to maintain its runner-up position to Andover Central. Emporia, Shawnee Heights and Maize South were right on Piper’s heels going into Baker, sitting 8, 30 and 35 pins back, respectively. But all three fell back in Baker with Emporia hanging on to third place and securing the final team trophy with a 3,409 total, five ahead of Maize South.
   
CLASS 5A BOYS STATE TEAM SCORES
 
1. Andover Central 3,648; 2. Piper 3,489; 3. Emporia 3,409; 4. Maize South 3,404; 5. Shawnee Heights 3,340; 6. Lansing 3,269; 7. Bishop Carroll 3,162; 8. Salina South 3,067; 9. St. James Academy 2,839.