BATON ROUGE - Your local bowling writer has found a new home and I’m most appreciative to sports director Michael Cauble and WBRZ.com for welcoming me to their site to again write about the local bowling community.

Michael pretty much has been suggesting this for the last several months after my other home decided it wouldn’t continue our column after 32 years. With 2025 being a huge year in Baton Rouge with the United States Bowling Congress tournament starting on the 54 specially-built lanes at the Raising Cane’s River Center, what’s happening here is very important.

This will now be the spot where we will keep you posted on some of the great stories that this five-month tournament and its 58,000 bowlers from around the country and beyond will provide.

More on that in a moment. We need to be the first people to let you know where this high school bowling season is headed going into its final month.

HIGH SCHOOL SCENE

It has been a high scoring high school season so far with six 300 games being rolled in the state. Scores have been genuinely high and you have to highlight Zander Tran from Patrick Taylor high school in Kenner who rolled an 800 series in competition that included a 300 game. The interesting thing he was a 12-year-old seventh grader. He turned 13 the next day.

The power rankings are beginning to be posted on the Louisiana High School Athletic Association site and it’s really no surprise what you see up there when it comes to the girl’s division. At the top is the two-time defending champions from Dutchtown.

As of Feb. 21, Dutchtown is No. 1 with a 6-0 record and a 13.17 power ranking, with the Denham Springs girls, who are 8-0 on the year, second at 12.63.

Denham is the 2022 state champions and previously winner of the first four state championships (2005-08).

A total of 16 teams will qualify for the team finals in each of three divisions – girls, boys (5A-Division I, 4A & below, Division 2).

St. Joseph’s Academy is 10^th in the rankings with a 6-2 record with St. Amant at 4-2 in the 16^th and final qualifying spot. They are 4-2. Remember a lot of matches were postponed on opening week and making those up will certainly be a priority in the last month of the season as wins and power points could be important.

In boys Division I, no surprise to see Jesuit (1) and Brother Martin (2) in the top spot. The top Baton Rouge teams are undefeated East Ascension in sixth (7-0) and Catholic of Baton Rouge one spot back (7-1). St. Amant and Dutchtown are also in the top 16 entering play on Monday.

Division II is topped by Archbishop Shaw and the 8-0 squad may be the class of either division. U-High and Madison Prep are both undefeated and 3-4 in the rankings at this point and well in position to make the bracket.

We’ll have more on high school as we move forward.

USBC OPEN

But for now, we must turn our attention to the USBC Open at the River Center that begins on Saturday night with the opening ceremonies and the first team shift of the competition. The ceremonies are set for a 6:30 p.m. start and then the first of the teams will get their shot on the specially constructed lanes inside the River Center Exhibition Hall.

It will be an interesting Saturday that’s for sure with Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade during the day and then the opening of the tournament to follow that evening. If you are bowling that night or going to the opening ceremonies, might want to leave a little extra time on traveling to downtown.

Friday night at 7 p.m., as was the case in 2005 and 2012, there will be a celebrity charity benefit event for Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center & Cancer Services on the tournament lanes. That should be a great way to get the party started.

LAGNIAPPE

And, if that’s enough, there will be two other bowling events going on at All Star Lanes in Baton Rouge – the Bowler’s Journal tourney and the BTM Tournament. Those will bowl most days from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with the team practice lanes also at All Star.

It’s going to be busy and that’s why this is important and time to start writing again so we can keep up with the high school scene and all the stories from the River Center. I’m looking forward to it and I hope you are too. Let me see if I can remember how to end this column.

Until next Monday, good luck and good bowling,

Kent Lowe