Bowling Set to Begin Spring Semester This Weekend in Missouri

The Youngstown State bowling team will resume its 2020-21 schedule this weekend as it travels to the Columbia 300 Saints Invite in the St. Louis area. The tournament will be held at Bowlero Lakeside in Valley Park, Mo., and hosted by Maryville.

All 13 of YSU's matches over the three-day event will be streamed live on the YSUsports YouTube channel, and results will be shared on the @ysubowling Twitter account.

This will be the No. 10-ranked Penguins' first tournament of the spring semester and just their second of the season. Youngstown State earned a runner-up finish at the Bearcat Hammer Open on Oct. 25, and it has had three tournaments canceled since due to COVID-19. YSU was scheduled to bowl in tournaments hosted by Valparaiso and Stephen F. Austin in the fall, and the MOTIV Penguin Classic that was scheduled at YSU's home center last weekend was also canceled.

Tournament Format

Teams will bowl in five Baker matches and six traditional matches during qualifying. Five Baker matches will begin at 10:40 a.m. on Friday, and five traditional matches will follow on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. One final traditional match will begin on Sunday at 9:30 a.m., and total pinfall from the 11 matches will determine seedings for bracket play. The results of the two best-of-seven Baker matches in the bracket will set the final standings.

Previewing The Field

Youngstown State will be one of five ranked teams and the only representative from the Southland Bowling League in the 11-team field. The Penguins will bowl each team once during qualifying, and they'll face two ranked opponents on both Friday and Saturday. Other ranked teams at the tournament include No. 1 McKendree, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 18 Maryville and No. 23 Lincoln Memorial.

Schedule

Friday – Five Baker matches beginning at 10:40 a.m. Eastern

vs. #18 Maryville – Lanes 15-16
vs. #1 McKendree – Lanes 11-12
vs. Quincy – Lanes 35-36
Bye – Lanes 29-30
vs. Upper Iowa – Lanes 23-24

Saturday – Five traditional matches beginning at 10:30 a.m. Eastern

vs. Lewis – Lanes 5-6
vs. #23 Lincoln Memorial – Lanes 29-30
vs. #4 Nebraska – Lanes 23-24
vs. Kentucky Wesleyan – Lanes 15-16
vs. Tusculum – Lanes 35-36

Sunday – One traditional match beginning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, followed by two bracket matches

vs. Drury – Lanes 5-6

Recapping the Bearcat Hammer Open

Youngstown State upset top-ranked McKendree and made a charge in the final game of the championship match before settling for a runner-up finish by two pins at the Bearcat Hammer Open on Oct. 25. YSU was the fourth seed entering bracket play, and it beat the Bearcats to set up a seven-game classic against Maryville that went down to the final ball of the tournament.

Emma Dockery was YSU's top individual finisher in eighth place, and she averaged 189.33 over her six games. Freshmen Kirsten Moore and Madyson Marx placed 11th and 12th, respectively, and Emma Wrenn was 16th. Those four and Alexis Sullivan combined to bowl a 265 game in Baker play during the opening round, which is the second-best single-game total in program history.

Up Next

Youngstown State will continue what is scheduled to be a busy spring next weekend at the PVAMU Invitational. The tournament in Dallas will be the second of five tournaments that YSU has in a six-week stretch.