Jones and Ausderau win U12 titles at 2025 Junior Gold Championships
July 30, 2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. - Isabella Jones of Edinburgh, Indiana, and Noah Ausderau of Virginia Beach, Virginia, are the 2025 Junior Gold Championships 12-and-under division national champions, which just aired on CBS Sports Network.
It was the perfect end to the comeback story for No. 1 seed Isabella Jones of Edinburgh, Indiana, who captured the U12 Girls title against No. 3 seed Caitlin Stahl of Mankato, Minnesota, 213-196.
“There’s no one word to describe this feeling,” said the left-handed Jones. “It was like an explosion of joy and happiness.”
Jones previously made the U12 Girls stepladder finals in 2023, finishing in third place, and she started the title match with four strikes in a row to take an early lead against Stahl. Stahl was coming off a clean 228-193 win against No. 2 seed Stevie Newton of Hanover, Pennsylvania, to start the stepladder.
Carry became an issue for Stahl after multiple single pins refused to fall but she picked up everything she left to not fall too far behind. Disaster for Jones hit in the seventh frame when she guttered and got eight pins to give life to Stahl.
The Minnesotan bowler took advantage with strikes in frames seven, eight and nine, but a split in the 10th frame dashed the dream for Stahl. Jones recovered from her gutter with three straight marks to clinch the title.
“I just had to regroup and throw good shots,” said Jones, who had minor knee surgery prior to the 2024 Junior Gold event in Detroit. “Winning today means the world knowing that I had a rough patch and came back.”
U12 BOYS
No. 3 seed Noah Ausderau of Virginia Beach, Virginia, took down No. 2 seed Jaxon Wichers of Amarillo, Texas, 192-191, and No. 1 seed Nehemiah Keefer of Bellwood, Illinois, 207-164, to win the U12 Boys title.
Ausderau spent the weeks leading up to Green Bay in the bowling alley for up to five hours a day, working on his game to come into the event confident, leading to his making the show.
“This feels amazing,” said Ausderau. “It shows that I can beat anyone, even those who already beat me once.”
Wichers knocked Ausderau to the Elimination Bracket during match play and the two competitors faced off again to start the stepladder, where Ausderau fell behind with four opens in the first seven frames.
That didn’t deter Ausderau, who struck the next four shots and got nine pins in the fill ball to end with 192, while Wichers needed just a mark to advance. A missed 10 pin in the final frame ended Wichers run earlier than he would’ve liked, losing by one pin.
In the title match, it was close up until the final few frames where Ausderau struck in the seventh, eighth and ninth frames to clinch the title after Keefer opened in the eighth and ninth for a 164. A split in the final frame for Ausderau didn’t matter much, closing with 207.
Ausderau had plenty of support in the crowd as they cheered his name throughout the stepladder.
“It felt amazing to have that support and have people actually care that I was bowling,” said Ausderau.
The U12 division featured 228 boys and 107 girls at the 2025 Junior Gold Championships.
More than 3,100 United States Bowling Congress Youth members competed at Junior Gold 2025, traveling across eight bowling centers in the Green Bay area in hopes of winning a piece of the approximately $500,000 scholarship fund, making a run at a national title and claiming a spot on Junior Team USA.
BowlTV provided livestream coverage of every round of the 2024 event leading up to the stepladder finals in each division. All stepladder finals were taped for broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
Junior Gold telecasts will adhere to the schedule that follows: U15 (Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 7 p.m. Eastern) and U18 (Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 5 p.m. Eastern).
It was the perfect end to the comeback story for No. 1 seed Isabella Jones of Edinburgh, Indiana, who captured the U12 Girls title against No. 3 seed Caitlin Stahl of Mankato, Minnesota, 213-196.
“There’s no one word to describe this feeling,” said the left-handed Jones. “It was like an explosion of joy and happiness.”
Jones previously made the U12 Girls stepladder finals in 2023, finishing in third place, and she started the title match with four strikes in a row to take an early lead against Stahl. Stahl was coming off a clean 228-193 win against No. 2 seed Stevie Newton of Hanover, Pennsylvania, to start the stepladder.
Carry became an issue for Stahl after multiple single pins refused to fall but she picked up everything she left to not fall too far behind. Disaster for Jones hit in the seventh frame when she guttered and got eight pins to give life to Stahl.
The Minnesotan bowler took advantage with strikes in frames seven, eight and nine, but a split in the 10th frame dashed the dream for Stahl. Jones recovered from her gutter with three straight marks to clinch the title.
“I just had to regroup and throw good shots,” said Jones, who had minor knee surgery prior to the 2024 Junior Gold event in Detroit. “Winning today means the world knowing that I had a rough patch and came back.”
U12 BOYS
No. 3 seed Noah Ausderau of Virginia Beach, Virginia, took down No. 2 seed Jaxon Wichers of Amarillo, Texas, 192-191, and No. 1 seed Nehemiah Keefer of Bellwood, Illinois, 207-164, to win the U12 Boys title.
Ausderau spent the weeks leading up to Green Bay in the bowling alley for up to five hours a day, working on his game to come into the event confident, leading to his making the show.
“This feels amazing,” said Ausderau. “It shows that I can beat anyone, even those who already beat me once.”
Wichers knocked Ausderau to the Elimination Bracket during match play and the two competitors faced off again to start the stepladder, where Ausderau fell behind with four opens in the first seven frames.
That didn’t deter Ausderau, who struck the next four shots and got nine pins in the fill ball to end with 192, while Wichers needed just a mark to advance. A missed 10 pin in the final frame ended Wichers run earlier than he would’ve liked, losing by one pin.
In the title match, it was close up until the final few frames where Ausderau struck in the seventh, eighth and ninth frames to clinch the title after Keefer opened in the eighth and ninth for a 164. A split in the final frame for Ausderau didn’t matter much, closing with 207.
Ausderau had plenty of support in the crowd as they cheered his name throughout the stepladder.
“It felt amazing to have that support and have people actually care that I was bowling,” said Ausderau.
The U12 division featured 228 boys and 107 girls at the 2025 Junior Gold Championships.
More than 3,100 United States Bowling Congress Youth members competed at Junior Gold 2025, traveling across eight bowling centers in the Green Bay area in hopes of winning a piece of the approximately $500,000 scholarship fund, making a run at a national title and claiming a spot on Junior Team USA.
BowlTV provided livestream coverage of every round of the 2024 event leading up to the stepladder finals in each division. All stepladder finals were taped for broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
Junior Gold telecasts will adhere to the schedule that follows: U15 (Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 7 p.m. Eastern) and U18 (Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 5 p.m. Eastern).