It wasn’t a perfect finish to Jason and John Youngsman’s coaching careers, but it was close.
Their Oak Harbor High School bowling team finished second to Moses Lake in the 53rd Annual Washington State Bowling Proprietors’ Association High School Bowling Championships Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 17 and 18, at Tacoma’s Narrows Plaza Bowl.
The Oak Harbor coaches were hoping to collect another state title in their final match before retiring, but the Wildcats couldn’t overcome a dominating performance by Moses Lake.
Moses Lake piled up 50 points (9,284 pins) to run away with the tournament. Oak Harbor tallied 38 points (8,975) to take a hotly contested battle for second which saw seven teams clustered within 10 points. Shorewood was third (37; 9,349), followed by Valley (33; 9261) and Eastmont (33; 9,087).
Jason Youngsman took over the head coaching duties in the early 2000s and led the Wildcats to consecutive state titles from 2011 to 2014 after finishing second in 2010. Oak Harbor was the first team in Washington to win three consecutive titles before adding its fourth, and the first team in the country to win its state title four years in a row, according to Jason Youngsman.
John Youngsman, Jason’s father and assistant coach, has helped with the local program off and on for at least 20 years since it started in the 1970s. He was the head coach when Oak Harbor won the initial WSBPA state championship 53 years ago, and he guided the Wildcats to second place in 2016 when Jason took the year off.
Oak Harbor’s only other state championship came in 1991 when Jason Youngsman, then a sophomore in high school, bowled for the Wildcats.
Both Jason and John Youngsman are members of the WSBPA’s Coaches Hall of Fame.
Oak Harbor came into this year’s state tournament as the No. 2 seed. Eastmont entered play with the best average, 909. Oak Harbor was next at 903, two pins better than Moses Lake.
Moses Lake jumped to an early lead, scoring 26 points Saturday to 19 for Oak Harbor and 18 for Eastmont, and continued to distance itself from the field Sunday.
In all, the state tournament included 24 five-person teams spread over three divisions and 72 individual bowlers competing in the singles division.
Oak Harbor was represented by seniors Earl Angeles, Niko Hawkins, Daniel Johnson and Devin McCardle and junior Megan Flood.