The 21-year-old captured his first national title after a dramatic play-off with Western Australian teenager Matthew Ayres on the greens at Darebin.

Now bowling for Brighton, Wilson etched his name on the honour roll which includes some of the biggest names in the sport, such as Mark Casey, Leif Selby, Aron Sherriff and Brett Wilkie.

The No. 11 seed at the championships, Wilson won the first end in the decider, 12-3.

After a giant-killing run throughout the titles, 17-year-old Ayres struck back brilliantly with some precision draw shots and explosive drives late to steal a 10-8 second set.

 Starting the tie-break with three bowls piled around the jack, followed by a single shot on the next end, Ayres was left to plot an almost impossible strategy to gain back four shots.

 After Ayres could not produce another game-saving shot on the final end, Wilson shook his head in disbelief as he became this year’s $18,000 singles champion.

Wilson was the recipient of the Cyril Michelsen Trust Fund award at the Bendigo Advertiser Sports Star of the Year in 2008-09. The awards are proudly supported by WIN Television and bankmecu.

The Bowls Australia women’s final was won by Yallourn’s Lisa Philips. The 19-year-old became the  first woman to claim the blue-ribbon singles title twice since the event’s inception.