3 Gs & a B bring U15 title home to Heartland region at 2026 USA Bowling National Championships
July 10, 2026
2026 USA BOWLING U15 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS - HEARTLAND REGION - 3Gs & a B
U15 BRACKET RESULTS
LAKEVILLE, Minn. – The team representing the Heartland region earned the title in the 15-and-under division at the 2026 USA Bowling National Championships. The best-of-five match finals aired live on Bowling TV - the new 24-hour channel dedicated entirely to bowling – and on BowlTV from Lucky Strike Lakeville Thursday night.
The Heartland region team, featuring three girls and one boy – thus the team name of “3 Gs & a B,” took home the title with a 3-0 victory over the “Midwest Intimidators” from the Upper Midwest region.
The championship round featured a four-person Baker format with the lead-off bowler bowling the first, fifth and ninth frames, the second bowler bowling the second, sixth and 10th frames, the third bowler bowling Frames 3 and 7, and the fourth bowler bowling Frames 4 and 8.
Taking the lanes for Heartland were the “three Gs” – Lea Besevic, Averie Bourne and Olivia Titus, and the lone “B” – Ben Dahle. The team was led by head coach Clinton Bourne.
The Upper Midwest region team was comprised of Bella Hagen (the lone girl on the team), Mason Loria, Tate Richart, Jaxson Woods, Brendan Zabelka and Kaeden Zear, with assistant coach Josh Woods and head coach Chad Zear.
Heartland was impressive in sweeping all three matches against Upper Midwest. The first two matches were almost identical in score, with Heartland prevailing 216-169 in Game 1 and 215-169 in Game 2.
Both teams looked nervous to start Game 1 as they each missed single-pin spares in the first frame. Heartland righted the ship quickly, throwing a triple in Frames 2-4 and ending the match with four consecutive strikes. Upper Midwest suffered another open frame in the third, but stayed clean the rest of the way. Unfortunately for the Midwest Intimidators, they were never able to double on their way to a Game 1 loss.
Game 2 was more of the same for Upper Midwest as there were two more open frames (third and 10th) and no doubles. Heartland put together five consecutive strikes in Frame 2-5 to effectively put the match away.
The only question in Game 3 was whether or not Heartland would roll a Baker 300 game as they started with the first seven strikes. Open frames followed in the seventh and eighth, but by then the match was over. A trio of open frames hurt Upper Midwest and, despite finally stringing together three consecutive strikes in Frames 8-10, it was simply not enough on this night as Heartland recorded the win in Game 3, 242-184.
While all four bowlers on the 3 Gs & a B squad were impressive, it was Dahle that stood out . . . and not just because he was the lone boy on the team. Dahle, who bowled in Frames 2, 6 and 10 each game in the Baker format, struck on 11 of the 13 shots he threw. The BowlTV cameras and lights didn’t seem to phase him at all.
“I was really comfortable out there,” the left-handed Dahle said. “I like the pressure; it doesn’t bother me. I had a good look, so it’s just muscle memory at that point.”
Coach Bourne talked about how Dahle ended up as the only boy on the team.
“The three girls have all bowled together at tournaments and things like that and we were actually going for a team of all four girls,” Bourne said. “We had one girl fall out kind of last minute, so we put a post out there that said we were looking for somebody, and with the first hit we found Ben. The three girls will be back, but Ben ages out . . . he’s going to be tough to replace. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.”
Another oddity is that the team doesn’t live close enough to each other to practice together. They did not practice as a team prior to winning their region (to qualify for nationals), nor between winning their regional and arriving for nationals.
“We were practicing and bowling four, five, six days a week, but just as individuals, not as a team,” Bourne said. “But we’ve obviously meshed well and get along well together.”
They meshed so well that coach Bourne didn’t alter his order of bowling – Titus (Frame 1, 5 and 9); Dahle (Frame 2, 6 and 10); daughter Averie Bourne (Frames 3 and 7); Besevic (Frames 4 and 8) – the entire tournament.
That lineup turned out to be a winning combination that Upper Midwest simply couldn’t overcome. Yet, despite the loss, Upper Midwest head coach Zear knows the journey has been worth it for his team.
“This has been special,” he said. “I think our team has learned that they can do whatever they want to do and that there are big opportunities out there for each one of them and they just need to grasp on to that. They worked as a team; they kept a good attitude and that rubbed off on me and made me feel like a champion.”
In addition to live coverage of the finals, BowlTV also provided live coverage of the qualifying and match play rounds leading up to the finals. For the third consecutive year, scholarship money was made available with more than $120,000 awarded (regional and national) in the U12 and U15 divisions of this year’s event.
The 2026 USA Bowling National Championships featured 16 regions competing in the U12 and U15 age divisions. Each team that competed in this year’s event earned its spot by winning its regional event.
To learn more about the USA Bowling National Championships, click here.
U15 BRACKET RESULTS
LAKEVILLE, Minn. – The team representing the Heartland region earned the title in the 15-and-under division at the 2026 USA Bowling National Championships. The best-of-five match finals aired live on Bowling TV - the new 24-hour channel dedicated entirely to bowling – and on BowlTV from Lucky Strike Lakeville Thursday night.
The Heartland region team, featuring three girls and one boy – thus the team name of “3 Gs & a B,” took home the title with a 3-0 victory over the “Midwest Intimidators” from the Upper Midwest region.
The championship round featured a four-person Baker format with the lead-off bowler bowling the first, fifth and ninth frames, the second bowler bowling the second, sixth and 10th frames, the third bowler bowling Frames 3 and 7, and the fourth bowler bowling Frames 4 and 8.
Taking the lanes for Heartland were the “three Gs” – Lea Besevic, Averie Bourne and Olivia Titus, and the lone “B” – Ben Dahle. The team was led by head coach Clinton Bourne.
The Upper Midwest region team was comprised of Bella Hagen (the lone girl on the team), Mason Loria, Tate Richart, Jaxson Woods, Brendan Zabelka and Kaeden Zear, with assistant coach Josh Woods and head coach Chad Zear.
Heartland was impressive in sweeping all three matches against Upper Midwest. The first two matches were almost identical in score, with Heartland prevailing 216-169 in Game 1 and 215-169 in Game 2.
Both teams looked nervous to start Game 1 as they each missed single-pin spares in the first frame. Heartland righted the ship quickly, throwing a triple in Frames 2-4 and ending the match with four consecutive strikes. Upper Midwest suffered another open frame in the third, but stayed clean the rest of the way. Unfortunately for the Midwest Intimidators, they were never able to double on their way to a Game 1 loss.
Game 2 was more of the same for Upper Midwest as there were two more open frames (third and 10th) and no doubles. Heartland put together five consecutive strikes in Frame 2-5 to effectively put the match away.
The only question in Game 3 was whether or not Heartland would roll a Baker 300 game as they started with the first seven strikes. Open frames followed in the seventh and eighth, but by then the match was over. A trio of open frames hurt Upper Midwest and, despite finally stringing together three consecutive strikes in Frames 8-10, it was simply not enough on this night as Heartland recorded the win in Game 3, 242-184.
While all four bowlers on the 3 Gs & a B squad were impressive, it was Dahle that stood out . . . and not just because he was the lone boy on the team. Dahle, who bowled in Frames 2, 6 and 10 each game in the Baker format, struck on 11 of the 13 shots he threw. The BowlTV cameras and lights didn’t seem to phase him at all.
“I was really comfortable out there,” the left-handed Dahle said. “I like the pressure; it doesn’t bother me. I had a good look, so it’s just muscle memory at that point.”
Coach Bourne talked about how Dahle ended up as the only boy on the team.
“The three girls have all bowled together at tournaments and things like that and we were actually going for a team of all four girls,” Bourne said. “We had one girl fall out kind of last minute, so we put a post out there that said we were looking for somebody, and with the first hit we found Ben. The three girls will be back, but Ben ages out . . . he’s going to be tough to replace. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.”
Another oddity is that the team doesn’t live close enough to each other to practice together. They did not practice as a team prior to winning their region (to qualify for nationals), nor between winning their regional and arriving for nationals.
“We were practicing and bowling four, five, six days a week, but just as individuals, not as a team,” Bourne said. “But we’ve obviously meshed well and get along well together.”
They meshed so well that coach Bourne didn’t alter his order of bowling – Titus (Frame 1, 5 and 9); Dahle (Frame 2, 6 and 10); daughter Averie Bourne (Frames 3 and 7); Besevic (Frames 4 and 8) – the entire tournament.
That lineup turned out to be a winning combination that Upper Midwest simply couldn’t overcome. Yet, despite the loss, Upper Midwest head coach Zear knows the journey has been worth it for his team.
“This has been special,” he said. “I think our team has learned that they can do whatever they want to do and that there are big opportunities out there for each one of them and they just need to grasp on to that. They worked as a team; they kept a good attitude and that rubbed off on me and made me feel like a champion.”
In addition to live coverage of the finals, BowlTV also provided live coverage of the qualifying and match play rounds leading up to the finals. For the third consecutive year, scholarship money was made available with more than $120,000 awarded (regional and national) in the U12 and U15 divisions of this year’s event.
The 2026 USA Bowling National Championships featured 16 regions competing in the U12 and U15 age divisions. Each team that competed in this year’s event earned its spot by winning its regional event.
To learn more about the USA Bowling National Championships, click here.