Class B NSAA State Bowling Championships closed out Tuesday evening with the Wayne boys back in the finals for a third straight year as the Blue Devil girls saw their championship run end in the bracket finals.
From Sun Valley Lanes & Game in Lincoln one last time, both the Wayne boys and girls bowling teams returned to state competition for the fifth straight year.
The morning started off recognizing Cec Vandersnick from Wayne as the 2025 NSAA Outstanding Service Award recipient for bowling.
Head coach Josh Johnson said, “I am so proud of how the two teams bowled today (Tuesday). There were ups and downs but they bowled like champions. Both teams were disappointed and it will sting for a bit but they bowled like champions all year and should hold their heads up high. A huge congrats and thanks to the seniors as their Blue Devil career is now over. We will miss them.”
Class B boys team action began late Tuesday afternoon where #2 Wayne showcased a 26-0 record.
The boys started their tournament at 2 p.m. and were matched up against Columbus Lakeview in the opening round where Wayne came out firing on all cylinders. Wayne would put early and often pressure on the Vikings and win the match three games to none.
Wayne would next take on Lincoln Northwest. Wayne would continue the stellar play and would cruise past Lincoln Northwest three games to none.
The Blue Devils would next face Omaha Skutt with a chance to play for the state championship. The two teams would battle in game one. A few costly mistakes by the Blue Devils would give the game to Skutt. Wayne would charge back though and take games two and three easily. Game four however went to Skutt, setting up a winner taking all fifth game. The two teams again battled back and forth but in the end the Blue Devils found a way to win. The win put the Blue Devils back in the championship match for the third straight year.
The Championship pitted the 2024 Class A State Runner Up Lincoln Pius vs. the 2024 Class B State Runner Up Wayne. The two teams struggled a bit through the first game with Pius pulling away late for the win. Game two was again back and forth until the Blue Devils finished with six strikes to pull away. Wayne would start off strong again in the beginning of game three but a few costly misses allowed Pius to pull away with a small victory. Game four was much the same with the two teams going back and forth. Pius would throw enough strikes in the end to win the fourth game and claim the Class B State Championship.
The Wayne boys ended their season 29-1 and the Class B State Runners-up.
Earlier in the day in girls division, #2 Wayne put their 23-3 regular season record to the test opening in bracket two.
The girls got the day started at 8 a.m. with their first round opponent being the Seward Blue Jays. Wayne would get off to a good start and sweep the Blue Jays three games to none.
In the second round the Blue Devils would face Northwest. The two teams would go back and forth in game one and Wayne would come out on top. Game two was a thriller with both teams bowling extremely well where Lindsay Niemann would double in the 10th frame to give Wayne the small victory. Game three had the two teams battle again but a late turkey by Madi Janke, Regan Fernau and Sammi Gubbels would help put the Blue Devils up and thus sweeping Northwest three games to none.
Wayne would have to wait an hour before their next match. Wayne would once again face Northwest with a chance to get to the Championship match. Northwest came out firing in the match and Wayne could not match them. Northwest would win the match three games to none. The two teams would have to face each other again in a winner take all for the championship match.
The two teams would split the first two games. But it was Northwest who would play steady the next two matches and knock out the Wayne girls. Wayne ended their run in the tournament in third place with a 25-5 overall record with their only losses to Class A Norfolk and Class B State Champions Northwest.
In the Class B girls state finals, #3 Northwest won in five games (3-2) over #5 Elkhorn.
The Wayne girls had won the past two Class B (2024/2023) and the previous two all-class (2022/2021) state bowling team titles.
