Men's Bowling competes at Kegel ISBPA Midwest Collegiate Classic

The Muskie men traveled to Addison, Illinois, for the Kegel ISBPA Midwest Collegiate Classic. The field featured 68 of the top men's teams from across the nation. The temperatures outside Stardust Bowl may have been bone chilling, but the competition inside was hot as teams continue the push for a spot in the 80 team USCB ITC Sectional field announcement in just 1 month.

The 16th ranked Muskies, fresh of an 8th place finish at the Las Vegas Collegiate Invitational, were looking to continue tier 1 tournament success. Tier 1 tournaments test teams with challenging conditions, and the Muskies found challenges early Saturday.

In game one the strikes were coming at a regular pace, until the 7th frame.

"We had a good look early and were bowling well, then we just caught some tough breaks that resulted in splits." Coach David Jones remarked. "We made the adjustments we thought that we needed but the results were max penalty if we missed at all".

A big bounce back happened in game 2 as the team posted a 1080 game in what was a complete team effort.

Games 3 through 5 were enough to keep the Muskies in the top half of the field.

Senior Brody Wildenmann led the team with a 201.8 average, Talon Newton 196.6, Caelan Guthrie 196.2, Jacob Willard 195, Jacob Lehn 184, and Alex Smith 159 rounded out the day 1 scoring.

The Muskies sat 32nd heading into day 2. Scoring pace for the 16 baker games proved to be a challenge for many teams. This is worked to the Muskies advantage as a game 1 236 set the tone for the day. Game after game the Muskies clawed their way up the rankings list.

At the end of the day the men jumped 11 places finishing 21st overall.

"I was pleased at the way we fought on day 2. The post season is all baker games, so finding good chemistry is extremely important," Jones said. "Now we focus on the Ohio Bowling Conference over the next 2 tournaments. We're 1 point behind Thomas Moore and can control our own destiny for winning the conference. Something none of the current roster has done despite all our success over the past 3 years."

The Muskies return to action on Thursday for OBC 3 at the Columbus Square Bowling