Virginia teen wins national Junior Gold bowling championship: 'Out of 915 kids, I came first'

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — A Midlothian teenager won the 2026 U18 National Junior Gold Championship after finishing first out of 915 boys at the Junior Gold Championships in Minneapolis earlier this month — a victory that came down to a single spare in the final game.

Clayton Washington, 18, who has been bowling since age two at Bowl America Southwest on Hull Street — where his father has worked for 35 years — won the prestigious United States Bowling Congress tournament on July 13 after seven days of competition.

Washington said the win has not fully sunk in yet.

"It's been like a dream to win. I mean, out of 915 kids, I came first, and that's crazy to me. It's very surreal," Washington said. "It still hasn't hit me, honestly. I'm still — it's still coming to me every day that I actually did win."

Provided to WTVR

The road to the championship was anything but easy. Washington entered the four-day qualifying round and finished 35th, earning a spot in the advancer rounds. He bowled a 1,083 five-game series in the first advancer round, moving to 29th place and advancing to a second advancer round. Despite bowling his lowest game of the tournament in that round, he finished as the 16th seed and advanced to match play.

From there, Washington caught fire. He upset the number one seed in his first match play game and won his next three matches to earn the top seed heading into the TV finals — meaning he needed to win just one game to claim the title and secure a spot on Junior Team USA.

In the finals, Washington lost the first game, setting up a winner-take-all championship game. After trading strikes with his opponent for most of the game, the title came down to one shot — a 10-pin spare conversion.

He nailed it.

Washington said winning the tournament for his father was just as important as winning it for himself.

"My dad's been coaching me since I was two, so doing this for him was another big goal for me, not only just winning it myself," Washington said.

WATCH: Midlothian bowling champion's dad coached him since age 2 — then couldn't watch the final shot

His family was in the stands watching — though not all of them could bear to look.

"My mom and my dad and my niece were there. My mom was going through the emotions and my dad — he couldn't watch any shots. He was so nervous," Washington said. "My niece was the only one watching out of the family that was there."

Washington said his competitive nature and his siblings' love of the sport kept him in the game from the very beginning.

"Competition — I'm very competitive and a lot of my siblings bowled, so I always wanted to be like them. And then I met friends, friendly competition, just bowling with other people, meet new people — kept me in it," Washington said.

Provided to WTVR

Washington has also qualified for Junior Team USA. Out of 18 bowlers on the team, four will be selected to compete internationally in Peru.

His next chapter begins this fall as an incoming freshman at Milligan University in Johnson City, Tennessee, where he plans to continue his bowling career. His long-term goals include winning college tournaments and competing on the adult circuit.

"Next is bowling in college, winning all the college tournaments, bowling adult tournaments, winning those, trying to maybe get on the PBA tour — professional bowling," Washington said.

Washington celebrated his victory Saturday back at Bowl America Southwest, surrounded by friends, family and fellow bowlers who competed in the tournament.

"I just want to say thank you to everybody," Washington said. "The support has been insane. There are a lot of people who mean a lot to me that I've met, and a lot of people that I don't even know that have supported me, and I thank them very much."