This was history-making stuff – and exciting stuff, too. Cathedral High School bowling registered the best season in program history in 2024-2025, a season that ended with a strong postseason as a team and individuals. “We won’t forget it for a while,” Cathedral bowling coach Mark Noe said. “It was a great run.” The Irish boys in 2025 advanced through the postseason to win the Terre Haute semi-state before finishing third in the Indiana Bowling Centers Association high school state tournament – the best finish in program history. Noe called winning semistate “huge.” “The finish was way beyond expectations,” Noe said. “It was a beautiful season. Semistate was exciting, then moving into the final four [at the state tournament] … that was sweet.” Irish senior Alex Jones was named captain of the Indy West boys team as the top point-scorer in the regular season with a 221.8-point average, with Irish sophomore Grace Zuerner earning all-conference honors and qualifying for the state tournament individually. “He was the anchor; he was clutch all year,” Noe said of Alex Jones and he said of Zuerner, “She’s a great bowler. She qualified all the way through. She did a great job.” The Irish boys qualified third for stepladder round in the state tournament with a score of 2,412. They then beat Carroll, 376-365, in the first round of the stepladder before losing in the second round to eventual state champion Greenfield Central, 345-308, to finish third overall. Zuerner finished 12th at the state tournament with a score of 690, with junior Declan Sweeney finishing 14th in the state with a score of 783. “They came through in the clutch more than I could have imagined,” Noe said. “I’m very proud of them.” The boys qualified third for the stepladder round at semistate with a team score of 2,083. They beat Harrison by a score of 388-324 in Round 1, then beat McCutcheon by a score of 367-262 in Round 2 before beating Terre Haute North by a score of 495-325 in the title match. Zuerner qualified second for the individual stepladder at semistate with 584 then lost in Round 2 of the stepladder. Sweeney finished 11th at semistate individually with 535. The boys qualified fourth for the stepladder at the Crawfordsville Regional with 2,062 points. They lost to Ben Davis, 328-283, in Round 1 of the stepladder for a third-place overall finish Freshman Sam Jones qualified second for the stepladder at the Crawfordsville regional with 616, with Sweeney qualifying fourth with 558. Sweeney lost in Round 1 of the stepladder with Jones losing in Round 2. Senior Nolan Lumsdon finished 23rd at the regional with 496. Zuerner finished sixth at the regional with 479. The boys qualified for the stepladder at the Indianapolis West sectional with 2,278, then lost in the first round of the stepladder for a second-place finish. Sweeney registered a sectional-best 734, with Sam Jones registering 641 and Lumsdon registering 624. Sweeney won the stepladder at sectional with Jones finishing second. “Just to get out of sectional was our first goal; we were in one of the toughest conferences in the state,” Noe said. “Our conference was loaded.” Sweeney became the first bowler in program history to win a sectional singles title, defeating Jones 247-224 in the title match. Jones beat the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds to advance. Zuerner finished fifth at the sectionals with 507. Junior Christian Heuer averaged in the 170s for the season – and junior Cole Laniohan, senior Connor Hedge (150s) and senior Seth Warren were also key for the boys. Senior Anna Brennan led a girls team that finished third in the conference to cap what Noe called “a great year for the girls.” Erika Gibson, Mattie Liter, Molly Liter, Ella Muzechuk and Angie Valentine also were key contributors for the girls team. “This has been a great team, by far the best season the program has ever had,” Noe said. “You're only as good as your kids playing in the offseason. The ones who did really well were the ones who paid the price in the offseason. You have to have five or six guys on the same page. That’s the key. They came through under pressure. “We have potential to be a great team next year. It was a great run. No doubt about it. It was a lot of fun.”