CONWELL-EGAN 2025 PHILADELPHIA CATHOLIC LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
(Photo by Kathy Leister for PSD)
Photos/Videos: Adam Ashburn & Kathy Leister
By: John Knebels
PHILADELPHIA – As is typical when two evenly matched bowling teams compete for three games, the entire match hung in the balance until the very end.
So when Conwell-Egan mathematically clinched the 2024-25 Philadelphia Catholic League boys’ bowling championship by edging pesky defending champion Father Judge by 30 pins, 2,972 to 2,942, Feb. 26 at Thunderbird Lanes, they first needed to remain quiet to honor the protocol of respecting the concentration of their still-not-done opponents.
When the match was over, and they had seized a title they had lost in the past two championship finals, the Eagles formally celebrated with cheers, high fives, and fist pumps.
L to R Dalton Johnson, Brian Baill & Matt Kleinfelder talk about exciting PCL Championship Win. (video/ Kathy Leister for PSD)
CEC bowling head coach Aaron Jones talks about going against a strong Father Judge team. (video/ Kathy Leister for PSD)
“My thoughts were to keep the boys' minds clear and focus on keeping the game close,” said C-E six-year coach Aaron Jones. “Those boys did a great job executing everything we worked on.”
After the two teams split the first two games, Conwell-Egan led the match by 53 pins. As long as the Eagles did not lose the third game by more than 52 pins, the PCL plaque would be heading over to Levittown.
Father Judge certainly took care of business in the decisive game, rolling a collective 1,060 behind significant contributions from senior Logan Burns (246), senior Nick Wolf (225), and senior anchor Sean Elitz (225 for a team-best 638 series).
Conwell-Egan 2025 PCL Bowling Champions. (video/ Kathy Leister for PSD)
Unfortunately for the Crusaders, Conwell-Egan also came through under pressure. In an exceptionally rare event in high school bowling, all five Eagles exceeded 200 in the final game of the season to give the team an undefeated PCL campaign.
With the last mark recorded, junior Luke Phinn (203), senior Matt Kleinfelder (224), freshman Dalton Johnson (205 for a blistering match-best 671), sophomore Tucker Cook (202), and junior Brian Baill (203) had pretty much matched their counterparts.
“Our team just did what we needed to do in Game Two to win by as much as possible and we got it done,” said junior Ben Blaskopf, whose early-season leg and hip injury relegated him to throw one and a half of the three games. “I was impressed by how well everyone did in the tenth frame of the last game, but I knew they all had it in them because we’ve been doing the same stuff all season.”
Down the stretch, Conwell-Egan needed pivotal tosses by four-bowler Johnson and anchor Baill. Coming off a spare in the ninth, Johnson rolled the most important turkey of his young career, giving him seven strikes for the game. Thus, the stage was set for Baill to clinch the match, and his 10th-frame 29-count, coming off a spare in the ninth, sealed the deal.
“I honestly didn’t feel too much pressure going on because I had my team right behind supporting me through all three games, so I knew that they would have my back and cheer me on no matter the outcome,” said Baill. “All I knew was that we lost the year before to Father Judge, and I wasn’t going to lose two times in a row.”
2025 PCL BOWLING CHAMPIONSHIPS CONWELL-EGAN vs. FATHER JUDGE (PHOTOS BY KATHY LEISTER FOR PSD)
2025 PCL BOWLING CHAMPIONSHIP CONWELL-EGAN vs. FATHER JUDGE. (PHOTOS BY JR. REPORTER ADAM ASHBURN)
Like every competitive bowler, Baill has often imagined such a scenario.
“Of course, it definitely was a big dream of mine to have that situation this year where I could be the guy to get the job done and close out for a victory, and especially to have it happen in the PCL championship,” said Baill.
“It definitely did help that Dalton was able to strike out in the 10th frame of the third game and set me up perfectly to give me less pressure going into my 10th frame of the match.”
(Contact John Knebels at jknebels@gmail.com of on ‘X’ @johnknebels.)