2026 BOYS BOWLING PREVIEW
 

 
CLASS 6A
 
2025 State champion: Derby
 
2025 State runner-up: Shawnee Mission East
 
2025 Individual state champion: Dawson Baumgartner, Derby
 
2025 Review: The targets on Derby were mighty prevalent last year going into the Class 6A state meet. For starters, the Panthers were the defending state champions and returned all but one member of the 2024 championship team. Throughout the regular season, the Panthers clearly established themselves as the team to beat as well. They were the only team in the state to post a team score of 3,000 or better at a meet. And the Panthers boasted three guys – Evan Clark, Michael Stanger and Cash Carns – who ranked in the top 10 for season averages with Clark and Stanger each tied for second with 232 averages and Carns seventh with a 225. After finishing runner-up at its Class 6A regional to Garden City, which had also beaten the Panthers at the Great Plains Classic earlier in the season, the pressure on the Panthers to repeat increased just a bit. But whatever the level of pressure there was, it didn’t register one bit with the Panthers once the state meet began. Derby went out and emphatically backed up its favorite status. Three Panthers finished in the top five individually as Derby built a lead of 199 pins in the tenpin portion of the state tournament and the Panthers cruised from there, finishing with a total of 3,763 – 253 clear of runner-up Shawnee Mission East’s 3,510 total and 41 pins better than its winning total of 3,722 from 2024. The Panthers’ depth showed up in a big way as Dawson Baumgartner, who ranked fourth on the team with a 214 average, once again came up big at the state meet. After taking seventh at state as a junior, Baumgartner came up with a career-best 741 series to claim the individual state title and give the Panthers a sweep of the championships. Baumgartner finished 13 pins ahead of Shawnee Mission East’s Christian Lahey, whose 728 series helped lead the Lancers to the runner-up team finish. Clark and Carns joined Baumgartner in the top five for Derby with Clark taking third (716) and Carns fifth (695), sandwiching Wichita Heights’ PJ Level, who rolled a 711. Olathe Northwest finished third as a team with a 3,441 total, 26 ahead of fourth-place Olathe South. The Ravens were led by a ninth from Simon Clark and 11th from Jacob Clark while South got a 10th from Brayden Ebeling and 20th from Tyler Hagg. Washburn Rural took fifth as a team, putting Tyler Faurot (sixth) and Logan Glinka (eighth) in the top 10. Wichita Southeast’s Maddox Siharath rounded out the top 10 in seventh. After knocking off Derby at regionals, Garden City finished sixth at state, led by state placers Brody Nichols (13th) and KJ Burns (15th).
 
2026 Contenders: If Derby is to pull off a Class 6A three-peat this season, the program’s depth will have to show up in a big way. The Panthers graduated four seniors off last year’s title team, including 2025 state champion Dawson Baumgartner, a two-time top-10 state finisher, and Evan Clark, who placed second at state each of the last two seasons. The good news for the Panthers is they have a strong duo to build around. Junior Michael Stanger tied Clark for the second-best average in the state last year, finishing with a 232 average – tops among returners in the state this year. Senior Cash Carns, meanwhile, ranked seventh in the state with a 225 average and placed fifth at state last year. Returning seniors Remy Fowler and Alex Hernandez couldn’t make the state roster last year despite each holding averages of 200 or better with Fowler at a 207 and Hernandez at 200. Fowler had a 715 series last year and Hernandez had a 694. … Garden Citywas one of the few teams to knock off Derby last year, beating the Panthers at both the Great Plains Classic and Class 6A regionals. But the Buffaloes have even bigger holes to fill this season than Derby does. Losing four seniors off last year’s sixth-place state team, the Buffaloes must replace standout KJ Burns, who led the state with a 234 average last year. Also gone are Bo Roth and Athen Villareal, who were the only other Buffaloes with averages over 200 a year ago. Brody Nichols was the highest placer at last year’s state meet, taking 13th and returns this season after holding a 191 average last year as a freshman. Derek Bridges is the only other returner and had a 189 average last year. … Runner-up a year ago, Shawnee Mission Eastgraduated individual runner-up Christian Lahey and three others from its state team. Senior Jake Smith was the Lancers’ other state placer, taking 12th, and ranked second to Lahey on the team with a 188 average. Senior Will Shelton also returns from the state team and had a 161 average. … The top challenger to Derby could very well be Olathe South, which finished fourth a year ago. The Falcons only graduated two seniors off last year’s team and even though each – Ricardo Garcia and Isaac Jenkins – held averages over 200, they also ranked fifth and sixth on the team. A pair of freshmen – Brayden Ebeling and Tyler Hagg – wound up being the Falcons’ individual state placers last year with Ebeling finishing 10th and Hagg 20th. They also led the team in averages with Hagg at a 218 and Ebeling 215, returning junior Anthony Dokolos right behind with a 214 average. Senior Tanner Hagg averaged a 206, giving the Falcons four returners with averages over 200, more than any other team in 6A. … Third a year ago, Olathe Northwest will be in a bit of a rebuild mode after losing five of six state team members with sophomore Micah Jenkins the lone returner. He was tied for fifth on the team with a 188 average as a freshman last year. Only one other Raven had an average over 162, junior Carter Bloomcamp. … Washburn Rural returns three members of its fifth-place team led by junior Andrew Faurot, who had a 202 average, and senior Cody Spangler, who had a 198 average. The Junior Blues lost top performers and state placers Logan Glinka and Tyler Faurot. Jackson Keller had a 192 average and returns. … Maize could make a move up the standings after taking seventh last year. The Eagles only lost one member of last year’s team and have a strong lead man in junior Elias Grajeda-Sisson, who carried a 214 average. Senior Caden DeBarea also returns after having a 200 average and two others are back after having 185 averages or better. … Blue Valley North returns its top bowler from a year ago with Eli Nathan holding a 212 average in leading the Mustangs to an eighth-place finish. … Junction City will have to replace its top two averages off last year’s ninth-place team. … Only three individuals return from last year’s top 10 – Derby’s Carns, Olathe South’s Ebeling and Wichita Southeast’s Maddox Siharath, who had a 205 average.
 

 
CLASS 5A
 
2025 State champion: Andover Central
 
2025 State runner-up: Piper
 
2025 Individual state champion: Paxton McLeod, Andover Central
 
2025 Review: Even with a late-season surge that saw it capture Ark Valley Chisholm Trail Division II and Class 5A regional titles in back-to-back weeks, Andover Central still went into the 5A state meet as perhaps a bit of an underdog. After all, the Jaguars hadn’t been on that stage as a team since 2019 and had only had seven individual qualifiers in the five years since. It didn’t take long for the Jaguars to prove to the rest of 5A that they were indeed the team to beat. Central opened the tenpins qualifying with all six Jaguars posting games of 210 or higher to set the tone and never really took the foot off the gas. The Jaguars posted a season-best total of 2,801 to take a 139-pin lead on Piper going into the Baker games and then finished with the second-highest total in the Baker games to finish with a total of 3,648 to win by 159 over Piper. The title was the first for the Central program and their pin total was the highest by a 5A champion since Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s record-setting 3,769 total in 2021. Central’s surprise run to the championship was highlighted by perhaps the biggest surprise of them all. Junior Paxton McLeod ranked just sixth on the Jaguar’s six-man state roster in terms of his season average, but thanks to a career day he came away with the individual state title to give Central a sweep of the 5A crowns. McLeod had finished just 28th at regionals – one won by teammate Evan Light – with just a 580 series a week after rolling a career-best 613 at league. But at state, McLeod found a groove. He opened with a career-high 268 game that put him in the hunt, trailing Piper’s Coltyn Bard (277) and Maize South’s Tristan Coffey (269) and then followed with games of 242 and 236 and that was just enough to finish on top with a career-high 746 series, a mere two pins ahead of Bard, who matched McLeod’s second game with a 242 as well before dipping to a 225 third game that put him at 744. Coffey had pulled out to a 29-pin lead going into the final game after a second-game 279, but only mustered a 191 final game and took third with a 739. McLeod had plenty of company from his teammates in the top 20 as Drayden Cunningham, who ranked No. 5 in the state last year with a 227 average, took fourth with a 723 and Gunnar Whitney and Evan Light (a regional champion) finished 10th and 11th respectively. Bard’s runner-up showing led the Pirates’ second-place finish as a team while teammate Brody Merrick chipped in with a 12th-place finish. Emporia put three individuals in the top 15 – Nathan Green (sixth), Jacob Kamprath (13th) and Colton Swift (15th) – to take third as a team with a 3,409 total, just five pins ahead of Maize South, which had won a regional title the week ahead of state. Defending champion Shawnee Heights finished fifth, led by a ninth from Kaden Evans and 14th from Donovan Davis. Lansing, which had topped Piper for a regional title, took sixth, led by a 7-8 finish from Terick Coleman and Cayden Darling-Neer. Andover’s Madden Pumphrey was the other top 10 individual, placing fifth with a 722 that was highlighted by a 300 game to close out his series.
 
2026 Contenders: With the program’s first state championship in hand, the question facing Andover Centralis, can the Jaguars do it again? Central was loaded and on a late season roll in capturing last year’s state title, placing four bowlers in the top 20 individually at state to run away with the championship by 159 pins. The Jaguars do graduate half of last year’s state roster, including top bowler Drayden Cunningham, who tied for fifth in the state last year with a 227 average. He was one of the four state placers, taking fourth with a 723 series at state. But the other three state placers do return for the Jaguars, including individual state champion Paxton McLeod, who enjoyed a career day by more than 100 pins in winning the title by a mere two pins with his 746 series. McLeod had ranked just seventh on the team with his 193 average before his breakout state performance. Sophomore Evan Light ranked only behind Cunningham with his 214 average last year as a freshman and he captured a regional title with a 727 series before taking 11th at state. That was one spot behind returning junior Gunnar Whitney, who carried a 210 average last year as a sophomore and had the highest series of any Jaguar last year with a 765. Light’s older brother, senior Colin, spent much of last season in the Jaguars’ top six before not making the state roster and held a 196 average. He’ll fill one of the voids while fellow senior Ethan Babb is a strong candidate to move up as well after having a 177 average last year. … Runner-up a year ago both as a team and individually, Piper has enjoyed a strong run in recent years, one that included a state title in 2023. The last links to the championship team graduated after last year, including multi-time state placer Coltyn Bard, who came up just two pins shy of capturing the individual state title last year, posting a 744 series at state to finish behind McLeod. He was one of five seniors on last year’s state team with junior Jackson Dissmeyer the lone returner for the Pirates. He was third on the team with a 196 average last year. The program lost seven seniors overall and will be young overall. … Emporia finished third as a team last year and must replace its top-two bowlers in terms of average in Colton Swift, who finished 15th at state, and Morgan Liggett, a state placer in 2024. But more than enough returns to have the Spartans poised to challenge Andover Central this season. It starts with two returning state placers in Nathan Green, who finished sixth, and Jacob Kamprath, who finished 13th. Green was third on the team with a 205 average last year as a junior while Kamprath ranked fifth with a 188 average. Sandwiched in between is returning senior Caydrick Crouch, who carried a 196 average and placed sixth at state in 2024 as a sophomore. … If Central isn’t the favorite to repeat, Maize South very well could be the favorite for the 5A title this season. The Mavericks return their entire state roster from a year ago, one that boasted four sophomores, three of whom led the team in average and two who placed individually in the top 20 to help the Mavericks to a fourth-place team finish, five pins behind Emporia. Tristan Coffey was in prime position to become the individual state champion last year as a sophomore, holding a 29-pin lead going into the final game of tenpins. But an off game in the third relegated him to a third-place finish, seven pins behind McLeod. Coffey’s 203 average was second to classmate William Winkelbauer, who carried a 219 average last year as a sophomore. Winkelbauer had a 300 game a year ago as well as a 764 series and placed 20th at state. Carson Baskerville was third on the team with a 197 average. Seniors Skylur Staley and Blake Stiles and junior Preston Nelson also return from the state team, all with averages of 163 or better. … After capturing the 2024 state championship, Shawnee Heights seemed poised to repeat last year with all six members of its title team back. But the T-Birds couldn’t recapture the same state magic they had in 2024 and slid to a fifth-place team finish. This year, Heights has some holes to fill, losing 14th-place finisher Donovan Davis and 2024 third-place finisher Caden Cochrane to graduation. The T-Birds do return four state placers as Kaden Evans finished ninth at state last year and seniors Henry Schattilly and Evan Jones and junior Trey Donath were all state placers in 2024. Schattilly had a 300 game last year and led the T-Birds with a 212 average. Donath, eighth in 2024, was tied for second on the team in average with a 208 along with Chevy Stallbaumer, who came on strong enough to bump Jones, ninth in 2024, from a state spot last year. Cooper Brown also was pushing for a state spot a year ago and is back after having a 192 average last year. … Bishop Carroll finished seventh as a team last year and returns its entire state roster. The Golden Eagles had a pair of state placers a year ago in Leighton Daugherty and Jesus Lucero, who finished 18th and 19th, respectively. Lucero led the team in average at 201 last year. Returning senior Ambrose Suter-Doeden wasn’t far behind with a 195 average. Sophomore Armando Lopez is the only other returner that had an average over 180 so the Golden Eagles will need some improvement from the supporting cast to challenge. … Lansing captured a regional title last year and took sixth at state but graduated three seniors including multi-time state placer Terick Coleman, who was seventh last year. Cayden Darling-Neer returns after placing eighth and is one of two returners who had averages over 200 with a 203. Sophomore Maddox Denney was right behind with a 201 average. … St. James Academyand Salina South rounded out last year’s state teams but South returns just two of its roster and St. James only returns one. … Perennial power Seaman missed out on qualifying for state as a team last year after posting top-three team finishes at state four straight years, including claiming the 2022 state title. The Vikings return junior Dylan Hunt, who had a 204 average that ranked second on the team, and sophomore Kyle Hartley, who was one of two Viking individual state qualifiers last year as a freshman.
 

 
CLASS 4-1A
 
2025 State champion: Hayden
 
2025 State runner-up: Mulvane
 
2025 Individual state champion: Joseph Cervantes, Mulvane
 
2025 Review: After finishing fifth as a team in the inaugural Class 4-1A state tournament in 2024, Haydenserved notice that it not only would be a contender for the state title but perhaps the overwhelming favorite when the Wildcats turned in a regional winning score of 3,369 that was more than 200 pins better than any of the other regional champions. Hayden wore the target well when the state tourney began, building a nice cushion during the tenpins qualifying to take a 93-pin lead on Mulvane into the Baker games. That lead grew during the first Baker game, but when Hayden cooled a bit in the second and third games, Mulvane began to make a charge and cut into that deficit to give itself a chance. That chance seemed to be even greater when Mulvane closed with a 247, but Hayden not only didn’t waver but delivered a final statement of its own. Striking until the final frame, the Wildcats closed with a 276 game to cap a 911 Baker series to finish with a total of 3,666 that gave them a commanding first-ever state championship, 95 ahead of Mulvane. Hayden was paced by four placers including three in the top seven as Trevor Christy took third, John Strickland was fifth and Chase Blaser was seventh. Reece Renyer added a 16th for Hayden and Kelton Meier just missed giving the Wildcats a fifth placer, taking 21st by one pin. While Mulvane fell short in its quest for its first state championship as a team, the Wildcats didn’t come away without a championship performance. Senior Joseph Cervantes didn’t begin the day feeling well, suffering from what he thought was a bought of food poisoning during the girls’ morning state session. But he ended it feeling better than he ever had as he rolled a career-best 713 series to capture the individual state title. Cervantes won by a mere nine pins over Andale’s Konnor Bretthauer, both overtaking Hayden’s Christy, who held an 11-pin lead going into the final game. Cervantes finished with a 241 game while Bretthauer closed ith a 233 and Christy finished with a 215. Cervantes was joined as a state placer by teammates Jaxon Hornecker (sixth) and Dagan Dannels (19th) as Mulvane enjoyed its best-ever state finish. Bretthauer was one of two Andale placers as the Indians finished third as a team, Dugan Trempe adding a 12th for the Indians. Andale was 156 pins behind Mulvane but cleared Buhler by more than 200 pins for the third-place trophy. Buhler was led by an 18th from Julian Morrison and held off 2024 state champion Trinity Academy by 32 pins for fourth. Defending individual state champion Shane Circle of Ottawa finished ninth individually while Hesston’s Tanner McAllister (fourth), Wichita Independent’s Andrew Nelson (eighth) and Cheney’s Cameron Eastman (10th) rounded out the individual top 10.
 
2026 Contenders: To say the race for the 2026 4-1A championship is wide open would be a severe understatement. Only one team at last year’s state tournament – McPherson – returns its entire state roster from a year ago and the bulk of last year’s top contenders suffered serious graduation losses. … That includes defending champion Hayden, which graduated three state placers and four overall off its title team. Gone are third-place finisher Trevor Christy, fifth-place finisher John Strickland and seventh-place finisher Chase Blaser, who each had series of 676 or better at state with Christy and Strickland coming up with season-best totals of 698 and 685, respectively. The cupboard isn’t quite bare for the Wildcats as Reece Renyer returns for his junior season after taking 16th with a career-best 636. Fellow junior Kelton Meier also is back after leading the Wildcats with a 213 average and being the lone Wildcat to have a 700 series last year, rolling a 706. He just missed out on a state medal last year, taking 21st by one pin. Hayden had great numbers last year and will rely on that depth to defend its title this winter. … Mulvane put up a good fight in taking a distant second to Hayden a year ago and only loses two members of its runner-up squad. However, those were pretty big losses as departed senior Joseph Crevantes was last year’s individual state champion and classmate Dagan Dannels finished 19th. Mulvane does return senior Jaxon Hornecker, who placed sixth at state last year and ranked second to Cervantes for the team lead in average last year with a 199 average. Junior Dillon Hart was third on the team with a 184 average, just ahead of returning senior Jace Larkins who had a 182 average. Overall, Mulvane returns everyone from the program a year ago except Cervantes and Dannels. … Third a year ago, Andale will be one of those teams looking to reload with virtually an entirely new varsity roster. Graduation claimed five seniors off last year’s state roster. The lone returner, however, is a good place to build around as junior Konnor Bretthauer finished as the state runner-up individually a year ago, falling nine pins shy of champion Cervantes of Mulvane. Bretthauer was just one pin behind Cervantes going into the last game – both trailing Hayden’s Christy -- and turned in a solid 233 but saw Cervantes roll a 241 to pull slightly away for the title while Christy had a 215 final game to slip to third. No returner from Andale’s JV had an average better than Ethan Simon’s 175 and no other returner was over 155. … Buhler is in a similar position as Andale after taking fourth last year. The Crusaders also graduated five of their six state bowlers with sophomore Logan Brown the lone returner from that squad. Brown did carry a solid 184 average that ranked fourth on the team a year ago. Junior Blake Mourn showed promise a year ago, rolling a 268 game and 670 series that were either tops or second on the team overall last year. … A perennial contender even before the split of 5A and 4-1A into their own tournaments, Trinity Academy is completely starting over after graduation claimed all six of last year’s state roster with the Knights finishing fifth. Those six represented the entire program roster last year so the Knights will have to find a host of new faces to even field a full team this year. … Having a former individual state champion gives Ottawa a bit of a leg up on the pursuers. Shane Circle captured the first 4-1A individual state title in 2024 as a sophomore and though he couldn’t successfully defend the crown last year, he still managed a ninth-place finish. He’s one of three returners from the Cyclones’ sixth-place team that posted the second-best Baker series. His 213 average was 43 better than the next-highest Cyclone last year and 64 better than anyone returning this year. … McPherson has everyone back from last year’s state team, but finished a distant seventh and didn’t hit the 3,000s at state last year after the Baker games. The top-two averages a year ago belonged to freshmen, Brody Hutts (171) and Bently Konen (161). … Circle was eighth as a team last year and lost just one member of its state team. Senior John Swift returns after carrying a 207 average and Wyatt Soper (183) and Keaton Bally (180) also return after having 180 averages or better. … Hesston could be a dark horse if the Swathers can find a couple bodies to join juniors Tanner McAllister and Mario Murillo. The duo has co-oped with Newton during the regular season and both were state medalists last year with McAllister taking fourth and Murillo finishing 11th. Each ranked among the state leaders in average last year with McAllister averaging a 221 and Murillo a 218. … Wichita Independent will have to replace its top bowler after junior Andrew Nelson transferred. Sophomore Nathan Page is back after posting a 183 average. … Other returners from last year’s individual top 20 are Holcomb’s Blake Dryden (13th) and Washington County’s Tucker Huband (14th).