Shawnee State University’s men’s and women’s varsity bowling teams and men’s junior varsity team competed in the Roto-Grip Raider Classic Nov. 9-10 in Dayton, Ohio.
Looking to build on a very strong showing at an earlier tournament in Sandusky, Ohio, the bowling Bears took on a very strong group of teams and had a good week overall.
In their second out-of-conference tournament of the season, the Bears took on two men’s teams ranked in the top 15 nationally in collegiate bowling: No. 2 Marian University of Indianapolis and No. 15 McKendree University. They also faced some in-conference rivals such as Muskingum University, Wright State University and the University of Northwestern Ohio.
SSU’s varsity men’s team finished seventh in a field of 20 teams with a total pinfall of 8252 over five sets of individual games and 16 Baker games. In Baker games, multiple bowlers compete together for their team, each bowling a couple of frames of the overall game.
Sophomore Jaylen Summler finished the individuals with an average pinfall of 219 which led to a 12th-place finish, only .4 behind 11th place. Sophomore Blake Landers finished 20th in the group of 195 men, with an average of 212.4 over five games.
The men’s junior varsity team took home a sixth-place finish out of 10 teams, with a total pinfall of 7176. Bowlers Issac Halter and Rece Allen finished on the verge of the top third of bowlers, coming in at 66th and 67th, respectively.
The women’s varsity team came in 10th out of 17 teams. Senior Hannah Rearick finished 18th out of 129 women with a series of 192, 146, 194, 184 and 223, leading to a 939 series total and 187.5 average on the first day. Fellow senior Olyvia Bittner came in 29th with a high game of 224 and a total pinfall of 912.
“Another good weekend for all teams,” SSU head coach Bryan Sturgell said. “Men’s varsity battled for the top most of the day until the last Baker set. Ran into a tough pair and just didn’t make the right moves. Still a good showing against a strong field. JV men’s team had a nice finish and a very nice second day of competition to move up a few spots. Women’s varsity again with a top-10 finish against a strong field as well.”
Sturgell continued, looking forward to their next tournament: “Now time to gear up for the third event of the Ohio Bowling Conference. This will be our third weekend in a row, but the team continues to work hard, and I see us having another successful weekend coming up.”
The Bears are back in action Nov. 16 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace in Columbus, Ohio, for the third and final OBC event before the winter break.
