Jasper Team Wins State Bowling Title by One Pin; Freshman Reid Wendholt

The Jasper Wildcats boys captured the Indiana High School state team bowling championship, defeating New Castle in the stepladder final after beating Noblesville 384-350 in the semifinal. The Evansville Courier & Press reported the championship final score as "Jasper had to beat Noblesville, 384-350. The Wildcats won the final, 351-345."

New Castle entered the finals as top qualifier with a team series total of 2,882 while Jasper qualified second with a 2,832 series, according to the Courier & Press box scores. The paper added that "Last weekend's championship match came down to the last shot, and when a 7 pin stayed upright, the Wildcats could start celebrating." Jasper’s state title is the school’s second in bowling; the Courier & Press noted the Jasper girls won a state championship in 2005.

The roster listed by the Courier & Press includes Alec Erny, Andrew Gadlage, Hunter Richardson, Jalen Whitsitt, Logan Pinkstaff, Nolan Kiefer, Patrick Huebschman, Tyler Richardson and Zach Buechlein. The paper named Paul LeMond as head coach and Steven Kieser as assistant coach for the Wildcats.

Accounts from the school’s social media and an original local report introduce a conflicting narrative about the margin and the decisive player. The Original Report states, "The Jasper Middle/High School bowling team captured a state championship, a victory decided by a single pin," and credits freshman Reid Wendholt with "the decisive pin." A Facebook post excerpt reads, "Tomorrow, two Jasper bowlers return to the lanes to compete for Individual State Titles...Eli Clark and Reid Wendholt. The team brought home" while an Instagram excerpt proclaims, "The Jasper Wildcats are waking up today STATE CHAMPIONS of Indiana! They won the state title by just ONE pin." Those social‑media and original‑report claims differ from the Courier & Press box score and should be confirmed with Jasper head coach Paul LeMond, the school athletic department or the Indiana high school bowling officials and tournament scorekeeper.

On the individual side, the Courier & Press reported Nikolas Bowman of Ben Davis as the boys individual state champion and listed Jasper’s Patrick Huebschman as 10th in qualifying. In the girls events, Huntington North won the girls state team title; Jasper’s Mel Kiefer led girls qualifying with a 647 series and finished second in the stepladder final to Seymour’s Hannah Kaufman, who won the title with a 178-157 match score and had a 577 qualifying series.

The Courier & Press summed the result in context: "One year after advancing to the Indiana High School Bowling State Championships, the Jasper Wildcats boys' team made the most of their second opportunity, defeating New Castle in the championship final by six pins." Local verification of the final margin and of Reid Wendholt’s reported role remains pending.