Caroline Thesier won the varsity girls title in a runaway, while Bryce Oliver won the varsity boys title in the final frame Friday at the 2020 Teen Masters after both players finished second last year.

Oliver, a hard-throwing two-handed lefty, tossed three clutch strikes in the final frame to secure the win with a 42-game total of 9,279, a 212.36 average.

Needing all three strikes to lock it up, Oliver went high flush on his first shot, had a light mixer kick out the 10 pin on his second shot and then cut down the 10 pin on a high flush strike to post a 279 game and beat defending champion Julian Michael Salinas.

In an identical setup to last year, Oliver led by seven pins going into the position round game but lost to Salinas in the finale in 2019. This time, he reversed his fortunes.

Oliver and Salinas traded blows in the final game but Oliver escaped with a 279-267 victory. Salinas watched as Oliver finished the 10^th frame first and didn’t give him a chance to win back-to-back titles.

Salinas finished second with 9,230, while Nate Purches was third with 9,107.

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Thesier, meanwhile, took the lead after the third round of qualifying and never looked back, winning with a total of 8,634, a 194.14 average.

At last year’s Teen Masters, Thesier had a chance to win with a double and six pins in the final frame. She came up light and left a two pin on her first shot, settling for second place.

This year, it seemed she was determined not to let history repeat itself. Thesier dominated throughout match play and posted a 16-2 record en route to the victory.

Thesier dominated the competition, out-averaging her next closest competitor by more than five pins per game. Jaelle Hamman finished second with 8,275, while Kara Kay was third with 8,091.

The junior varsity titles were won by Kayla Starr and Trevor Anifer, pictured below along with the varsity champions.

Photos by Bryce Catahan