- November 17, 2025
The Seabreeze boys bowling team celebrates after anchor Dalton Boice (right) bowls the final frame of the championship round at the FHSAA State Championship on Thursday, Oct. 30 at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze bowler Xavier Subia celebrates another strike during the final Baker matches at the FHSAA state championship tournament at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze junior Dalton Boice practices before the final match against the Astronaut War Eagles at the FHSAA state championships on Thursday, Oct. 30 in Orlando. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze bowler Xavier Subia (left) celebrates another strike with teammate Dalton Boice (right) during the final Baker matches at the FHSAA state championship tournament at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
The Seabreeze boys bowling team celebrates after junior Dalton Boice (left) rolls another strike at the FHSAA State Championship on Thursday, Oct. 30 at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze and the Astronaut War Eagles warm up before they bowl against each other in the final Baker matches at the FHSAA state championship tournament in Orlando on Wednesday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
The Seabreeze boys bowling team (left to right) Logan Compton, Jonathan King, Dalton Boice, Xavier Subia, Braydon Russell and coach Paul Shuler grab the FHSAA State Championship trophy at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze's Dalton Boice focuses on the pins at the FHSAA state tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze's Jonathan King practices before the FHSAA championship bracket rounds at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mainland's Grashawn Ager practices before the FHSAA championship bracket rounds at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze coach Paul Shuler (center) watches Logan Compton (right) and Xavier Subia (left) practice before the FHSAA championship bracket rounds at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mainland's Riley Boyce practices before the FHSAA championship bracket rounds at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mainland bowlers (left to right) Riley Boyce, Judah McFarran, Leiten Lundell and Jack Patulski practice before the FHSAA championship bracket rounds at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mainland's Grashawn Ager rolls a strike during the FHSAA championship bracket rounds at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mainland's Jack Patulski practices before the FHSAA championship bracket rounds at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze's Xavier Subia yells after rolling a strike in the FHSAA championship bracket rounds at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze's Braydon Russell (center) bowls in the FHSAA championship bracket rounds at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Photo by Michele Meyers
The Seabreeze boys bowling team family and friends cheer after the Sandcrabs win the FHSAA state championship at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze coach Paul Shuler (left) hugs Xavier Subia, Dalton Boice and Jonathan King after the Sandcrabs win the FHSAA state championship at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze coach Paul Shuler (left) takes the traditional selfie with the winning trophy and his team (left to right) Braydon Russell, Logan Compton, Dalton Boice, Xavier Subia and Jonathan King after they win the FHSAA state championship at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze's Xavier Subia poses with the FHSAA State Championship trophy after winning the title at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze's Braydon Russell celebrates a strike during the final Baker matches at the FHSAA state tournament at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Let the games begin. Mainland coach Joe Giddens and the boys bowling team--Grashawn Ager, Riley Boyce, Hayden French, Leiten Lundell, Judah McFarran and Jack Patulski head into the first round of the championship bracket at the FHSAA state tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Orlando. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mainland bowlers (left to right) Riley Boyce, Leiten Lundell and Hayden French congratulate Grashawn Ager (right) on his strike in the first round of the championship bracket at the FHSAA state tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Orlando. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mainland bowlers (left to right) Grashawn Ager, Jack Patulski, Leiten Lundell and Hayden French congratulate Riley Boyce (right) on his strike in the first round of the championship bracket at the FHSAA state tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Orlando. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mainland bowlers (left to right) Riley Biyce, Grashawn Ager, Leiten Lundell and Hayden French watch as teammate Jack Patulski bowls in the first round of the championship bracket at the FHSAA state tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Orlando. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mainland coach Joe Giddens (left) congratulates Jack Patulski (center) in the first round of the championship bracket at the FHSAA state tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Orlando. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mainland bowlers watch as teammate Judah McFarran attempts to pick up a split in the first round of the championship bracket at the FHSAA state tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Orlando. Photo by Michele Meyers
The Seabreeze boys bowling team watches Astronaut bowl their final frame before Dalton Boice (center) rolls a split in the tenth frame at the FHSAA State Bowling Championship at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze anchor Dalton Boice poses with his dad Brian Boice after winning the FHSAA State Championship at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze boys bowling team (left to right) Braydon Russell, Logan Compton, Jonathan King, Dalton Boice and Xavier Subia win the FHSAA State Bowling Championship and pose with their 2024 winning banner in the background at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze boys bowling team (left to right) Logan Compton, Jonathan King, Dalton Boice, Xavier Subia, Braydon Russell and coach Paul Shuler win the FHSAA State Bowling Championship at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze boys bowling team (left to right) Logan Compton, Jonathan King, Dalton Boice, Xavier Subia, Braydon Russell and coach Paul Shuler win the FHSAA State Bowling Championship for the second year in a row at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze boys bowling coach Paul Shuler was surprised when he realized after Dalton Boice rolled a split in the tenth frame, his team had already won the FHSAA State Championship on Thursday, Oct. 30 in Orlando. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze anchor Dalton Boice hugs Jonathan King (right) multiple times after winning the FHSAA State Championship at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. King has only been bowling for seven months. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze's Xavier Subia bowls a strike in his last frame of the tournament before Dalton Boice finishes and the Sandcrabs win the FHSAA State Bowling Championship at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center on Thursday, Oct. 30. Photo by Michele Meyers

“We are the champions … again.”
It was déjà vu for the Seabreeze boys bowling team. The Sandcrabs collected their state championship medals and posed for photos with the trophy at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center in Orlando, just as they had done a year ago.
The Sandcrabs won the title in 2024. They clinched it again on Thursday, Oct. 30, with a 199-191 final Baker game victory against the Astronaut High School of Titusville.
With a team of five bowlers and no substitutes, Paul Shuler coached his team through four games of qualifying, four rounds of Baker matches and a two-match final.
“We were all kind of worried since we didn’t have any substitutes to go in like most other teams coming into the state (tournament),” Shuler said. “But they persevered and pushed and they never, ever gave up. Even when they were down a little bit or they [had] a bad game, they’d come right back with something. I’m just so wicked proud of these boys.”
Seabreeze won 3-0 against St. Petersburg Northeast in round one, then went on to win 3-2 in consecutive rounds against Windermere, Sports Leadership and Management of Tampa and Somerset which included a two-pin win in the last Baker game.
The Sandcrabs were undefeated in the double-elimination team bracket going into the final against Astronaut, which came out of the consolation bracket. The War Eagles won the first match 3-1. Seabreeze then won the second match 3-2 to clinch the championship.
“The boys were pretty motivated to do their very best to win. They really wanted to win this state again — to make it two times,” Shuler said.
Mainland, the district runner-up to Seabreeze, joined the Sandcrabs at the three-day tournament. Following the qualification rounds, Seabreeze was seeded No. 6 and Mainland seeded No. 12.
...They persevered and pushed and they never, ever gave up. Even when they were down a little bit or they have a bad game, they’d come right back with something. I’m just so wicked proud of these boys.
PAUL SHULER, Seabreeze bowling coach
Senior Jonathan King joined the four returning Sandcrabs from last year's championship team —Dalton Boice, Logan Compton, Braydon Russell and Xavier Suba — this year. He said his dad got him interested and his friend Ryan Barnes sent him a video about how to hold the ball. Shuler said King started learning then became more consistent and filled in perfectly for the team.
“My dad used to bowl 20 years ago,” King said. “He got his stuff out [of] the shed. I tried it. Loved it. Started bowling practice and played so many games every day. It’s paid off.”
Boice said without King, going to the state championship would not have been possible.
“Just amazing,” Boice said. “There’s no way else to put it. We have a five-man team. If it wasn't for [King], we wouldn’t even have had a chance to do this. He not only bowls, but he just bowls at such a high level, not even for how long he’s been bowling. If it wasn’t for him, none of this would have been possible.”
After the War Eagles won the final round's first Baker match, Boice, the Sandcrabs' anchor bowler, gathered his teammates in a circle, pointed to the 2024 State Championship banner with Seabreeze listed as the winner and repeatedly questioned if they wanted it. The “pep talk” helped the Sandcrabs win the final match to repeat as state champs.
Boice said he had to get his team fired up.
“It looked like we were just losing morale, especially after losing 3-2 — we’re not used to that,” Boice said. “Last year, that didn’t even happen in the finals. We just won without needing a second life. But, this time, we needed a second life. We came down to one and we just gave it every single thing that we had.”
Boice said being older, more experienced and having the “best coach and best teammates in the entire world” contributed to his success in the 10th frame.
“They support me if I make a bad shot in the 10th frame ... they’re not yelling at me," he said. “They’re not wanting to sub out and put someone else in. They trust me. And that just goes to having a great coach and great teammates who just believe, and that’s why we won two years in a row.”
This was Mainland’s first appearance at the state championships with Joe Giddens, who has been coaching the team for three years. The Bucs were eliminated in the first round after losing 3-1 to the Melbourne Bulldogs.
“I’m just so super happy for these guys — I have a great group of kids,” Giddens said. “There were some really good bowlers here. But I’ve got a young team, so I plan on being back.”
Giddens, who is also Mainland's boys basketball coach, said building rapport with his athletes carries over to performance.
“What I love, more importantly, is not just winning,” he said. “A little bit of motivation that I give on a basketball court and in bowling can help them in life. I’m not really a coach, a basketball coach or a bowling coach, I’m more of a life coach because if I can coach the life, sports just becomes easier. That’s just what I do.”