Ampersand Wins Adcraft Bowling Championship!
Paul Gross - 5/21/2026
2025-2026 Adcraft Bowling League Champion Ampersand, with the historic Lew Houghton Championship trophy
By Adcrafter and Bowling League President Paul Gross
For Ampersand’s Rozann “The Destroyer” Staknis and Paul Garland, there have been many close calls in their thirty years in the league but no championship until now, which made Championship Night so much more special. Ampersand, WXYZ-WMYD, One and Done, and Minds in the Gutter all squared off for the coveted Lew Houghton Trophy, with each team coming into the big night with high aspirations.
The match started with some truly championship bowling in game one, as Ampersand’s Mark Gebert (269) and Paul Garland (214), WXYZ-WMYD’s Blake Ryntz (262), One and Done’s Travis Clemons (226) and Minds in the Gutter’s Steve McCollum (161) all bowled as if their lives depended upon it. Once the dust settled, Ampersand came out on top to seize game one.
Undaunted, WXYZ-WMYD’s Russ “Bingo” Rothermel (190), Parker Kent (224) and Ryntz (228) stormed back to seize game two, despite outstanding efforts from Ampersand’s Gebert (234) and Mind in the Gutter’s Liz LeAnnais (203) and McCollum (170).
Some would have thought that Paul Garland bowling a gross (144 – more on this later) was a bad omen, but that turned out to not be the case as Ampersand did just enough in game three to seize the game and the title. Mind in the Gutter’s Steve Cunningham (167), One and Done’s Clemons (192) and WXYZ-WMYD’s Kent all brought the firepower in the finale, but, in the end, it was Ampersand standing tall with its first league championship!
Among other honors awarded to Adcraft Bowlers, Mojo in the Morning’s Zach Martin and Spare Me’s Nikki Wilson received the Rosemary and Norm Pozniak Sportsmanship Awards for exemplifying the sprit, camaraderie and all out fun we have on our Tuesday nights at Hartfield Lanes.
And capping off the night was presentation of the Gross Trophy as the league’s grossest bowler to 2 Legit 2 Split’s Kallyn Patel. Steeped in Adcraft Bowling history (well, as least as long as I have been president), bowling 144 is a very special score because 144 equals 12 dozen, which equals 1 gross – a very special score to me. There was actually a tie for the award this year, so the tie-breaker is the bowler whose average is closest to a gross, and Patel clinched the cherished (?) trophy with her 139 average.
Adcraft Bowling’s 101st season was another great one…here’s to 102!
2025-2026 Adcraft Bowling League Runner-Up WXYZ-WMYD with the Bernie Solovey runner-up trophy
Kallyn Patel, winner of the Adcraft Bowling Gross Trophy for bowling the most grosses (144 = 12 dozen = one gross), with league president Paul Gross
Zach Martin, winner of the Adcraft Bowling Norm Pozniak Sportsmanship Award, with league president Paul Gross
Nikki Wilson, winner of the Adcraft Bowling Rosemary Pozniak Sportsmanship Award, with league president Paul Gross