2025 Bowlers Journal Championships concludes at All Star Lanes
July 29, 2025
BATON ROUGE, La. – Posting a big score during the final days of competition has become a trend at the Bowlers Journal Championships, as a late lead change in the Open Division now has occurred across the last four editions of the annual event.
The 2025 Bowlers Journal Championships concluded July 27 at All Star Lanes, marking the 78th edition of the premier side tournament to the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships. Competition got underway at the 64-lane center on Feb. 28.
All scores from the 2025 Bowlers Journal Championships are unofficial and pending final verification.
In 2025, the late lead change took place July 18, as PJ Haggerty of Roseville, California, and Shawn Naumann of Orlando, Florida, took over the top spot in Open Doubles with a combined score of 1,592.
Since 2022, a change in the final 10 days of competition now has taken place in either Open Singles or Open Doubles each year.
Nick Devlin of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Las Vegas’ Dallas Leong took over the top spot in Open Doubles (1,579) during the final stretch of the 2022 event, while Devlin’s 822 also tied for the top score in Open Singles.
Joe Gerencser of Henderson, Nevada, made a late charge to the lead in Open Singles during the 2023 Bowlers Journal Championships (787), while Greg Jasinski of Jersey City, New Jersey, matched with a late run of his own in Open Singles during the 2024 event (824).
For Haggerty and Naumann, they couldn’t have asked for a much better start, even though they were competing on a different pair of lanes during the set. Haggerty was able to come away with 300, while Naumann finished his first game with 299, leaving a 10 pin on his final delivery.
Even though they were not bowling on the same pair, plenty of communication was taking place within their talented group.
“Those were the first shots off the plane,” said Haggerty, a past member of Team USA and Junior Team USA. “We are all really good friends, and we just all pay attention to each other.”
The 300 was not the only honor score for Haggerty during the set. He followed with games of 267 and 237 to finish with a series of 804, closing with three strikes in his final frame. Naumann waited until Haggerty had secured the 800 before finishing his own game.
“I wanted to make sure he could get to 800 first before I went up and finished,” said Naumann, who added games of 245 and 244 for a 788 series. “I just wanted to make sure I marked in the 10th to set us up as well. When we got done and realized we took the lead, it was just icing on the cake.”
As it turned out, both Haggerty and Naumann needed doubles in the 10th to jump ahead of the 1,584 posted in May by Mitch Hupé of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and Duncan DeVries of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Naumann, who stepped up in the 10th working on four consecutive strikes, delivered two more before leaving a 7 pin on his fill ball to secure the lead.
“We both doubled in the 10th and did what we could, so it was up to fate at that point,” Naumann said. “It would be amazing (to win). I just think it’s special when you get to do this with a doubles partner or team. Being able to share that with them is so rewarding.”
Haggerty continued to say, “These guys are like family, and we only get to see each other once a year. Brandon Allred runs our group, so just a big thank you to him for all the coordination and everything he deals with to put it all together.”
Although Hupé’s doubles score with DeVries was topped, his performance during the set was more than enough to return to the top of the standings in Open Singles.
Hupé – a Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion, 2016 Regular Team winner at the USBC Open Championships and member of Team Canada – rolled three 279s to post an 837 series at All Star Lanes.
He also finished with the top score in Open Singles at the 2018 Bowlers Journal Championships in Syracuse, New York, recording a 793 series to claim the victory.
The largest individual score at the 2025 event belonged to three-time PBA50 Tour champion Jon Rakoski of Estero, Florida. The 2024 USBC Senior Masters champion put together games of 264, 279 and 299 for an 842 series to place his name at the top of the leaderboard in Senior Singles on March 3.
Rakoski – a 2022 Regular Team champion at the Open Championships – also finished at the top of the tournament’s Dual Entry prize fund with the score, since he participated in both singles and doubles during the set.
Rich Abboud of Omaha, Nebraska, finished the 2025 Bowlers Journal Championships with his name at the top of the leaderboard in both Super Senior Singles and Senior Doubles.
The 65-year-old rolled games of 225, 300 and 279 for an 804 series to make his way to the top spot in singles, and the 1993 PBA Touring Pro/Senior Doubles champion paired with 2008 Regular Doubles champion Dennis Rakauskas of Apopka, Florida, during the set for a combined score of 1,530 in doubles. Rakauskas added 726.
In the tournament’s handicap events, Jeffrey Alton of Overland Park, Kansas, paced 175 & Under Singles with a 733 total, while Jason LaShane and Gabriel Spells of Meridian, Mississippi, secured the top spot in Handicap Doubles by a pin with 1,311.
The optional jackpots at the 2025 event featured 26 bowlers sharing the top prize for high game with 300, while 77 competitors put together 30 clean frames during their set.
A total of 26 bowlers hit the top prize for the Strike Jackpot.
The 2025 Bowlers Journal Championships concluded July 27 at All Star Lanes, marking the 78th edition of the premier side tournament to the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships. Competition got underway at the 64-lane center on Feb. 28.
All scores from the 2025 Bowlers Journal Championships are unofficial and pending final verification.
In 2025, the late lead change took place July 18, as PJ Haggerty of Roseville, California, and Shawn Naumann of Orlando, Florida, took over the top spot in Open Doubles with a combined score of 1,592.
Since 2022, a change in the final 10 days of competition now has taken place in either Open Singles or Open Doubles each year.
Nick Devlin of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Las Vegas’ Dallas Leong took over the top spot in Open Doubles (1,579) during the final stretch of the 2022 event, while Devlin’s 822 also tied for the top score in Open Singles.
Joe Gerencser of Henderson, Nevada, made a late charge to the lead in Open Singles during the 2023 Bowlers Journal Championships (787), while Greg Jasinski of Jersey City, New Jersey, matched with a late run of his own in Open Singles during the 2024 event (824).
For Haggerty and Naumann, they couldn’t have asked for a much better start, even though they were competing on a different pair of lanes during the set. Haggerty was able to come away with 300, while Naumann finished his first game with 299, leaving a 10 pin on his final delivery.
Even though they were not bowling on the same pair, plenty of communication was taking place within their talented group.
“Those were the first shots off the plane,” said Haggerty, a past member of Team USA and Junior Team USA. “We are all really good friends, and we just all pay attention to each other.”
The 300 was not the only honor score for Haggerty during the set. He followed with games of 267 and 237 to finish with a series of 804, closing with three strikes in his final frame. Naumann waited until Haggerty had secured the 800 before finishing his own game.
“I wanted to make sure he could get to 800 first before I went up and finished,” said Naumann, who added games of 245 and 244 for a 788 series. “I just wanted to make sure I marked in the 10th to set us up as well. When we got done and realized we took the lead, it was just icing on the cake.”
As it turned out, both Haggerty and Naumann needed doubles in the 10th to jump ahead of the 1,584 posted in May by Mitch Hupé of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and Duncan DeVries of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Naumann, who stepped up in the 10th working on four consecutive strikes, delivered two more before leaving a 7 pin on his fill ball to secure the lead.
“We both doubled in the 10th and did what we could, so it was up to fate at that point,” Naumann said. “It would be amazing (to win). I just think it’s special when you get to do this with a doubles partner or team. Being able to share that with them is so rewarding.”
Haggerty continued to say, “These guys are like family, and we only get to see each other once a year. Brandon Allred runs our group, so just a big thank you to him for all the coordination and everything he deals with to put it all together.”
Although Hupé’s doubles score with DeVries was topped, his performance during the set was more than enough to return to the top of the standings in Open Singles.
Hupé – a Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion, 2016 Regular Team winner at the USBC Open Championships and member of Team Canada – rolled three 279s to post an 837 series at All Star Lanes.
He also finished with the top score in Open Singles at the 2018 Bowlers Journal Championships in Syracuse, New York, recording a 793 series to claim the victory.
The largest individual score at the 2025 event belonged to three-time PBA50 Tour champion Jon Rakoski of Estero, Florida. The 2024 USBC Senior Masters champion put together games of 264, 279 and 299 for an 842 series to place his name at the top of the leaderboard in Senior Singles on March 3.
Rakoski – a 2022 Regular Team champion at the Open Championships – also finished at the top of the tournament’s Dual Entry prize fund with the score, since he participated in both singles and doubles during the set.
Rich Abboud of Omaha, Nebraska, finished the 2025 Bowlers Journal Championships with his name at the top of the leaderboard in both Super Senior Singles and Senior Doubles.
The 65-year-old rolled games of 225, 300 and 279 for an 804 series to make his way to the top spot in singles, and the 1993 PBA Touring Pro/Senior Doubles champion paired with 2008 Regular Doubles champion Dennis Rakauskas of Apopka, Florida, during the set for a combined score of 1,530 in doubles. Rakauskas added 726.
In the tournament’s handicap events, Jeffrey Alton of Overland Park, Kansas, paced 175 & Under Singles with a 733 total, while Jason LaShane and Gabriel Spells of Meridian, Mississippi, secured the top spot in Handicap Doubles by a pin with 1,311.
The optional jackpots at the 2025 event featured 26 bowlers sharing the top prize for high game with 300, while 77 competitors put together 30 clean frames during their set.
A total of 26 bowlers hit the top prize for the Strike Jackpot.