Brandon Bohn of Jackson, New Jersey, and Aleesha Oden of Council Bluffs, Iowa, pose with their trophies on the lanes at Strobl Arena inside Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan, on Monday afternoon. Bohn earned his by topping Nicholas Sternes of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, during the 2025 U22 Masters title match about an hour after Oden defeated Maia Struble of Anchorage, Alaska, to become champion at the 2025 U22 Queens.

U22 MASTERS BRACKETS
U22 QUEENS BRACKETS

ALLEN PARK, Mich. - Over the years, many incredible champions have been crowned at the famed Strobl Arena, which is located inside Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan.

On Monday, Brandon Bohn of Jackson, New Jersey, and Aleesha Oden of Council Bluffs, Iowa, added their names to the list of remarkable athletes who have won titles at the hallowed venue with Bohn taking home the crown at the 2025 United States Bowling Congress U22 Masters and Oden emerging victorious at the U22 Queens. 

Technically, Bohn’s name was already on the list because he won the inaugural U22 Masters, which was contested inside Strobl Arena on Memorial Day in 2024. 

Nevertheless, the 20-year-old three-time Junior Gold champion put an exclamation point beside it on Monday by defeating No. 1 seed Nicholas Sternes of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, by scores of 182-154 and 266-257 to complete a successful title defense and remain the only champion in U22 Masters history.

Bohn was forced to defeat Sternes twice because, as the No. 1 seed, Sternes entered the stepladder as the tournament’s lone undefeated bowler.

Sternes earned that distinction by winning a pair of matches during the final rounds of bracket match play at Thunderbowl Lanes on Monday morning.

The 22-year-old right-hander started his day with a 388-361 win over Bohn, and then he topped Dmitri Richardson of Wichita, Kansas, 377-318, during the battle to determine the top seed for the U22 Masters stepladder finals. 

All bracket matches were two games with total pinfall determining the winner.

But even though Sternes got the better of Bohn during bracket play, it was Bohn who appeared most comfortable on the championship pair during the livestreamed BowlTV finals.

Bohn breezed to victory in the first game, shaking off a first-frame open by striking on four of his next seven shots.

Sternes, on the other hand, only recorded one strike total during the opening game, which allowed Bohn to cruise to a 28-pin victory, 182-154, that wasn’t really as close as the final score might imply.

Bohn looked even stronger at the start of the deciding game, starting with a spare and then running off an eight-bagger in frames two through nine.

Sternes’ struggle to record strikes carried over from Game 1 into the early stages of Game 2 as the finesse player, who bowled collegiately for Saint Xavier University during the 2024-2025 season, began the second game with four consecutive spares.

He notched his first strike of the game, and just his second of the match, during the fifth frame of Game 2; still, when that strike was put on the board, Sternes found himself trailing the defending champ by more than 30 pins with less than half a game to go.

But Sternes didn’t stop with his strike in the fifth. He struck in the sixth frame as well and then again in the seventh. He put up another pair of strikes in the eighth and ninth frames before proceeding to strike out in the 10th.

It seemed inexplicable, but before anyone inside Strobl Arena could come to grips with what had happened, Sternes had finished with an eight-bagger of his own to post a final score of 257, which didn’t just earn the crowd’s respect; it forced Bohn to mark in the 10th frame to secure a victory that mere moments before had seemed all but certain.

That mark didn’t come easily as Bohn’s first shot in the final frame went high on the head pin, leaving a tricky three-pin combination in the form of the 2-4-7.

Nevertheless, Bohn, who often preaches the importance of making spares, was up to the task as he converted the leave and then fired a straight ball up the middle of the lane to secure the final pins needed to emerge with a hard-fought 266-257 victory.

In addition to his second consecutive U22 Masters title, Bohn collected a first-place check worth $3,000. Sternes earned $2,200 for his runner-up finish.

After the match, Bohn indicated that this year’s triumph was even a bit sweeter than the one he captured inside Strobl Arena in 2024.

“Winning the inaugural U22 Masters was great, but I think this one ranks even a little bit higher not only because I was able to go back-to-back but also because this one was much harder fought,” Bohn said. “Last year, everything sort of fell into place, and I saw the picture immediately. This year, I just kind of skated by during qualifying, and then I had a bunch of matches come down to the 10th frame or even a roll-off with me having to double or mark to get by, and I got through all of them. Then, during the first match in the stepladder, Dmitri (Richardson) also put up a hell of a fight.”

Richardson didn’t just fight Bohn, he had the defending champion on the ropes, leading by 10 pins heading into the final three frames of the semifinal match.

Everything changed in the eighth frame, however, as Richardson left the 3-6-7-10 split, which he was unable to convert. Bohn then stepped up and delivered strikes in the eighth, ninth and first two balls in the 10th to complete the comeback and walk away with a 241-220 victory.

That result earned Richardson a third-place finish and a check for $1,800.

Having to come through in the clutch during the final frames isn’t just something Bohn has grown accustomed to; it’s something he craves.

“Before I got up in the 10th frame against Nicholas (Sternes), I said ‘this is what you wanted,’” Bohn said. “I always want the ball in my hand. It doesn’t matter what it is; I just want a chance. I don’t know if the 2-4-7 is something I’d want to shoot again for a title, but I’m just glad it worked out.”

It did, and because of that, Bohn can still lay claim to being the only U22 Masters champ in tournament history.

“That has a good ring to it,” Bohn said. “I just shows that no matter how much drive and passion you put into something, if you work hard enough, the results will find their way back to you.”

Just about an hour before Bohn collected his second U22 Masters title, Oden’s hard work led to her first U22 Queens crown.

Oden, a 20-year-old left-hander who bowls collegiately for powerhouse Wichita State, earned the trophy and the tournament’s $3,000 first-place prize thanks to a 221-158 victory over Maia Struble of Anchorage, Alaska. 

As the U22 Queens’ lone undefeated bowler at 5-0, Oden only had to win one match during the stepladder finals in order to take home the title. 

Oden secured the top seed for the stepladder by defeating Morgan Brunner of Gobles, Michigan (401-330), and Junior Team USA’s Karina Capron of Fremont, Nebraska (396-362), during the final two rounds of bracket match play at Thunderbowl Lanes on Monday morning.

Any notion that Oden’s pace might slow down once competition transitioned to the Strobl Arena was quickly laid to rest when the powerful lefty began the title match with a four-bagger to immediately jump ahead of No. 3 seed Struble.

A stubborn 7-pin in the fifth frame ended Oden’s bid for perfection, but, after covering the spare, she rebounded with a double in the sixth and seventh frames.

Struble, meanwhile, managed just one strike during the first seven frames. Her difficulties getting all ten pins to fall down, coupled with open frames in the third and seventh frames, allowed Oden to establish a 65-pin lead with just three frames to go.

Oden experienced a slight hiccup by failing to convert the 3-5-6-9 in the ninth frame, but it wasn’t enough to change the outcome as she rolled to a 63-pin victory and the 2025 U22 Queens title.

Struble settled for second place and took home $2,200.

Despite her relatively stress-free victory during Monday’s championship match, Oden was quick to point out that her path to the winner’s circle was anything but easy.

“This is a lot to take in,” Oden said. “It definitely wasn’t easy to get here. There are a lot of good competitors, and this pattern was not easy by any means. I just stuck to my process and let whatever happens happen. Fortunately, I won.”

That win was made a bit easier by Oden’s early four-bagger coupled with Struble’s two spares and an open during the first three frames; however, even had things started differently, Oden doesn’t think her outlook would’ve changed.

“My mindset this whole tournament was just me, my target and throwing it the way that I want to because you can’t really control what happens,” Oden said. “So, going the front four helped ease the nerves a little bit, but it definitely wasn’t necessary for me; it just showed that I was hitting my targets.”

Another thing Oden showed yet again this week is that she is capable of going up against and beating some of the best young bowlers in the country, which only serves to make Monday’s victory feel even better.

“This win ranks in my top five for sure and probably my top three,” Oden said. “Bowling for Wichita State, we had a heck of a season, so there’s been some pretty cool core memories there. Still, this is right up there, and I was fortunate that I had some of my teammates here to support me.”

Before Oden took down Struble for the title, Struble opened the U22 Queens stepladder by defeating Capron, 178-155. The third-place finish netted Capron a check for $1,800.

Nevertheless, Oden and Bohn weren’t the only winners at the 2025 U22 Masters and U22 Queens. In addition to the two titles, eight spots on Junior Team USA 2026 were awarded this week in Allen Park as well.

Those spots were earmarked for the top three age-eligible finishers after qualifying and to each tournament’s champion; however, since both of this year’s champions will turn 21 before Jan. 1, 2026, their bids went to the fourth age-eligible qualifying finishers in each field.

As such, the spots available at the U22 Masters went to Nate Trentler of Phoenix, Maryland, Josh Hammons of Topeka, Kansas, Andru Blaney of Hughesville, Maryland, and Micah Voorhis of Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

The Junior Team USA berths up for grabs at the U22 Queens were earned by Sydney Bohn of Jackson, New Jersey, Erin Klemencic of Powder Springs, Georgia, Keira Magsam of Gretna, Nebraska, and Melia Mitskavich of DuBois, Pennsylvania.

The 2025 U22 Masters and U22 Queens kicked off at Thunderbowl Lanes on Friday with fields of 159 bowlers and 82 bowlers, respectively.

The U22 Masters was contested on a 44-foot oil pattern, and the U22 Queens utilized a 45-foot pattern. Both lane patterns were designed specifically for their respective events.

All rounds of competition at the U22 Masters and U22 Queens were streamed live exclusively on BowlTV.

For more information on the 2025 U22 Masters and Queens, CLICK HERE.