Big day for Higgins, McClellan at 2025 Bowlers Journal Championships
April 20, 2025
PHOTO (from left): Newt McClellan and Dan Higgins Jr.
BATON ROUGE, La. – Last April, Dan Higgins Jr. of Lewis Center, Ohio, made his way to Las Vegas well ahead of his scheduled dates to compete at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships for a couple reasons.
First, he planned to watch his wife – Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour champion Jen Higgins – and good friend – Newt McClellan of Columbus, Ohio – shoe up at the South Point Bowling Plaza for the 2024 event.
It allowed him to serve as an extra set of eyes for the group and gave him the chance to collect some information to start planning for his appearance alongside his talented teammates of Higgy’s Aquarium.
Second, he was excited to see McClellan and his soon-to-be wife, Jennifer, tie the knot during the trip.
Let’s just say, the trip was a resounding success all around.
Newt and Jennifer got hitched, bowling went well for the group and a few months later in June, Higgy’s Aquarium took over the lead in Team All-Events. The group – featuring Higgins, Joe Bailey, Chad Roberts, Vincent Bellar and Tim Pfeifer – would go on to collect the victory at the end of July.
Fast forward to this week in Baton Rouge.
With McClellan and his group ready to hit the lanes at the Raising Cane's River Center for the 2025 event, Higgins again made the trip for a chance to help the group, gather some intel and get some games in at the Bowlers Journal Championships (featuring the same oil pattern being used for doubles and singles at the USBC Open Championships).
The time at All Star Lanes for the Bowlers Journal Championships proved to be well spent, as Higgins – now a three-time Eagle winner at the Open Championships – fired games of 235, 299 and 279 for an 813 series to take over the top spot in Open Singles.
McClellan added some strikes of his own during the appearance Friday, rolling games of 239, 237 and 268 for 744 to propel the pair to the lead in Open Doubles with 1,557.
Higgins also took over second place in Open Doubles with Sweden’s Kim Bolleby, who had games of 231, 234 and 245 for 710, giving the duo 1,523.
Jack Vault of North Syracuse, New York, had started the day in the lead of Open Singles with 790, and now sits in fourth after a pair of big performances Saturday at All Star Lanes by Kyle Ortiz of Henderson, Nevada (800 series), and Bradley Martin-Franz of Blue Springs, Missouri (792 series).
Vault and two-time Eagle winner Derek Magno of Cicero, New York, had led Open Doubles with 1,522.
“Even though Jen wasn’t going to bowl this year, I told them if you’re going to drive, then I’ll just head down with you,” Higgins said. “I can help everybody out on the lanes, bowl some of the side events and drive, too. We already had planned it all probably before Christmas.”
A quick start helped them get going Friday, even though McClellan had been fighting a cold during the week.
“I wasn’t sure what this morning was going to bring – he’s been fighting a cold since we left – but we had an idea of our plan and how we wanted to play them,” Higgins said. “All of a sudden, I look up, and Kim, Newt, Chris (Arcaro) and I all have the front three or four. I didn’t say anything, but I thought this could turn out well if we stayed calm and paced ourselves.
“After the 299, they all had 230s again and were bowling well. Newt had the first four when he said he thought we could take the lead. I think that was his way of telling me don’t mess up.”
Although neither Higgins or McClellan knew the exact number they were chasing, they sensed the opportunity at hand.
“I looked up and wondered what was leading,” said McClellan, who finished Regular All-Events in 19th place at the 2024 Open Championships with 2,154. “If we both struck out at that point, we would have been around 1,580 or so.
“I have been fighting this cold since Monday and just haven’t had a lot of energy. I’ve been taking medication the whole week, and it was tough.”
Despite not feeling his best, McClellan delivered five consecutive strikes down the stretch – starting in the sixth frame – as Higgins closed the final game with five strikes to secure the top spot.
“He said it took all of his focus to throw the last five,” Higgins said. “He told me he was drained after that.”
They recorded the fourth-highest total in Open Doubles at the Bowlers Journal Championships since the format changed to three games in 2013 and now get to wait and see if any other pairs can challenge their total.
“It would be really exciting,” McClellan said. “To get anything on the national level would be awesome.”
Higgins, looking for his first win at the Bowlers Journal, noted how special it would be to share in victory.
“It would be awesome, especially winning with a great friend,” Higgins said. “You can’t put a price on that. Just like with Eagles, it’s more fun to win as a team.”
While McClellan’s time at the 2025 Open Championships now is concluded (including 1,284 in Regular Doubles with Bolleby), Higgins will be back in Baton Rouge at the end of June in search of another Eagle.
He's made some assessments from what he saw while watching McClellan’s group at the River Center and competing at All Star Lanes and looks forward to the challenge of defending their title.
While it’ll be all business when they hit the lanes, the tradition of joining McClellan for the trip moving forward might continue.
“I probably won’t make the trip to Reno (in 2026) unless I win an Eagle,” Higgins joked. “Then, I might have to do this again and join them.”
The Open Championships is celebrating its third trip to Baton Rouge in 2025 and scheduled to feature more than 58,000 bowlers and 11,600 five-player teams competing across 150 consecutive days at the River Center.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.
BATON ROUGE, La. – Last April, Dan Higgins Jr. of Lewis Center, Ohio, made his way to Las Vegas well ahead of his scheduled dates to compete at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships for a couple reasons.
First, he planned to watch his wife – Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour champion Jen Higgins – and good friend – Newt McClellan of Columbus, Ohio – shoe up at the South Point Bowling Plaza for the 2024 event.
It allowed him to serve as an extra set of eyes for the group and gave him the chance to collect some information to start planning for his appearance alongside his talented teammates of Higgy’s Aquarium.
Second, he was excited to see McClellan and his soon-to-be wife, Jennifer, tie the knot during the trip.
Let’s just say, the trip was a resounding success all around.
Newt and Jennifer got hitched, bowling went well for the group and a few months later in June, Higgy’s Aquarium took over the lead in Team All-Events. The group – featuring Higgins, Joe Bailey, Chad Roberts, Vincent Bellar and Tim Pfeifer – would go on to collect the victory at the end of July.
Fast forward to this week in Baton Rouge.
With McClellan and his group ready to hit the lanes at the Raising Cane's River Center for the 2025 event, Higgins again made the trip for a chance to help the group, gather some intel and get some games in at the Bowlers Journal Championships (featuring the same oil pattern being used for doubles and singles at the USBC Open Championships).
The time at All Star Lanes for the Bowlers Journal Championships proved to be well spent, as Higgins – now a three-time Eagle winner at the Open Championships – fired games of 235, 299 and 279 for an 813 series to take over the top spot in Open Singles.
McClellan added some strikes of his own during the appearance Friday, rolling games of 239, 237 and 268 for 744 to propel the pair to the lead in Open Doubles with 1,557.
Higgins also took over second place in Open Doubles with Sweden’s Kim Bolleby, who had games of 231, 234 and 245 for 710, giving the duo 1,523.
Jack Vault of North Syracuse, New York, had started the day in the lead of Open Singles with 790, and now sits in fourth after a pair of big performances Saturday at All Star Lanes by Kyle Ortiz of Henderson, Nevada (800 series), and Bradley Martin-Franz of Blue Springs, Missouri (792 series).
Vault and two-time Eagle winner Derek Magno of Cicero, New York, had led Open Doubles with 1,522.
“Even though Jen wasn’t going to bowl this year, I told them if you’re going to drive, then I’ll just head down with you,” Higgins said. “I can help everybody out on the lanes, bowl some of the side events and drive, too. We already had planned it all probably before Christmas.”
A quick start helped them get going Friday, even though McClellan had been fighting a cold during the week.
“I wasn’t sure what this morning was going to bring – he’s been fighting a cold since we left – but we had an idea of our plan and how we wanted to play them,” Higgins said. “All of a sudden, I look up, and Kim, Newt, Chris (Arcaro) and I all have the front three or four. I didn’t say anything, but I thought this could turn out well if we stayed calm and paced ourselves.
“After the 299, they all had 230s again and were bowling well. Newt had the first four when he said he thought we could take the lead. I think that was his way of telling me don’t mess up.”
Although neither Higgins or McClellan knew the exact number they were chasing, they sensed the opportunity at hand.
“I looked up and wondered what was leading,” said McClellan, who finished Regular All-Events in 19th place at the 2024 Open Championships with 2,154. “If we both struck out at that point, we would have been around 1,580 or so.
“I have been fighting this cold since Monday and just haven’t had a lot of energy. I’ve been taking medication the whole week, and it was tough.”
Despite not feeling his best, McClellan delivered five consecutive strikes down the stretch – starting in the sixth frame – as Higgins closed the final game with five strikes to secure the top spot.
“He said it took all of his focus to throw the last five,” Higgins said. “He told me he was drained after that.”
They recorded the fourth-highest total in Open Doubles at the Bowlers Journal Championships since the format changed to three games in 2013 and now get to wait and see if any other pairs can challenge their total.
“It would be really exciting,” McClellan said. “To get anything on the national level would be awesome.”
Higgins, looking for his first win at the Bowlers Journal, noted how special it would be to share in victory.
“It would be awesome, especially winning with a great friend,” Higgins said. “You can’t put a price on that. Just like with Eagles, it’s more fun to win as a team.”
While McClellan’s time at the 2025 Open Championships now is concluded (including 1,284 in Regular Doubles with Bolleby), Higgins will be back in Baton Rouge at the end of June in search of another Eagle.
He's made some assessments from what he saw while watching McClellan’s group at the River Center and competing at All Star Lanes and looks forward to the challenge of defending their title.
While it’ll be all business when they hit the lanes, the tradition of joining McClellan for the trip moving forward might continue.
“I probably won’t make the trip to Reno (in 2026) unless I win an Eagle,” Higgins joked. “Then, I might have to do this again and join them.”
The Open Championships is celebrating its third trip to Baton Rouge in 2025 and scheduled to feature more than 58,000 bowlers and 11,600 five-player teams competing across 150 consecutive days at the River Center.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.