COLUMBUS – The Arrows got the monkey off their back and put a trophy on their mantle.
After four consecutive Top-5 finishes at the Division I state championships – and two runner-up placements since 2019 – the Ashland boys bowling team finally took home the gold medal that had eluded it Saturday at H.P. Lanes Bowling Center.
The Arrows locked in a No. 3 seed after their qualifying rounds, then knocked off No. 6 Miamisburg (3-0), No. 2 Beavercreek (3-2) and No. 1 Boardman (3-0) in three best-of-5 series to claim the crown.
It was a long time coming for a program that last summer won a national championship and had collected three different state records during the 2024-25 season.
“This was a roller-coaster of a day,” third-year Ashland head coach Jim Brown said in a post on his Facebook page Saturday night. “I think I went through all of my emotions and nerves in a matter of a couple of hours.”
“I can’t really put into words to describe this feeling,” he added. “These young men worked their tails off to get this. The talent isn’t just handed to them – they perfect the game when nobody is watching.”
Unlike last season, when they qualified No. 1 into the eight-team bracket before placing third, the Arrows got through the qualifying rounds Saturday with the third-best team total (4,204) behind Beavercreek (4,262) and Boardman (4,311).
Ashland returned all five of its state bowlers from last year, and junior Max Oeken set the pace Saturday. His three-game 727 (233-258-236) landed him third out of 105 total bowlers.
Junior Landon Dreibelbis, who joined Oeken as a second-team All-Ohioan last March, was 13th with a 673 (203-212-258).
Behind that duo for the Arrows in qualifying were junior Mikey McKinney (47th with a 610; 210-189-211), junior Luke Rhine (53rd with a 596; 234-182-180) and senior Brantyn Long (57th with a 585; 202-179-204).
With the 16-team field cut in half for the championship bracket, Ashland cruised through the quarterfinals with a three-game sweep of Miamisburg (219-178, 212-170, 190-178).
That victory set up a monster clash with two-time-defending Division I state champ Beavercreek in the semifinals.
The Arrows and Beavers alternated wins, with Ashland taking Game 1 (236-206) and Game 3 (244-219), and Beavercreek claiming Game 2 (222-217) and Game 4 (245-225).
In a tight Game 5, Ashland pulled out a 246-235 final score that sent the squad into the championship matchup with Boardman.
Like the Arrows, the Spartans were looking for their first state championship, but AHS rolled to a three-game sweep, winning each by at least 21 pins (212-191, 235-212, 263-224).
Oeken collected a variety of clutch strikes throughout the day as a first-team All-Ohioan.
“Finally got the job done!” he posted on his Facebook page. “This one is special!”
Earlier in the week, Brown told Ashland Source the only thing missing for this group of Arrows was a state championship.
Saturday took care of that.
“It’s been 12 months that anybody from Ashland that’s in the bowling world is never gonna forget,” he said. “Watching these guys bowl is unbelievable; you don’t see teams like this ever. You just don’t.”
Ashland, which also is guided by longtime assistant coach Chris Rhine and had junior Adam Reynolds in action Saturday, could potentially return everyone but Long next season.
