Youngstown State University
Columbia 300 Saints Invite
Penguins Beat Nebraska; Wrenn Finishes Second at Columbia 300 Saints Invite
1/24/2021 12:00:00 AM | Bowling
Junior Emma Wrenn set the school record for highest pinfall for a six-game tournament, and the Youngstown State bowling team beat No. 4 Nebraska en route to a third-place finish at the Columbia 300 Saints Invite on Sunday. The tournament was held at Bowlero Lakeside in Valley Park, Mo.
YSU beat Drury 898-821 in the final qualifying match Sunday morning, and Wrenn bowled a 210 to move her six-game total to 1,292. She bowled at least 210 in all six of her games dating back to Saturday, and she broke the previous school record by 21 pins. Wrenn also bowled in the anchor position for YSU's two bracket matches on Sunday, and the Penguins pushed No. 1 McKendree to an eighth-game tiebreaker before beating the Huskers in the consolation final.
"The ladies found their competitive stride today and had a lot of fun competing," said YSU head coach Doug Kuberski. "They showed a lot of heart and toughness and stuck together through the ups and downs of Baker bowling."
"I can't say enough about the resilience of this group. We're looking forward to a day of rest and to getting back to work this week. We're focused on continuing to elevate."
The Penguins were fourth in total pinfall after 11 matches of qualifying, which put them into the championship bracket against McKendree. The Penguins and Bearcats split the first two games, then tied in the third game at 197. Youngstown State won the next two games 198-191 and 219-202, which put them on the brink of advancing in the best-of-seven format. McKendree won the next two games to force a five-frame tiebreaker, which the No. 1 team won 118-94.
YSU had to regroup quickly to face a Nebraska team that had lost 4-1 to Maryville in the match pitting the second and third seeds against each other. The Penguins lost the opener by a pin, and they won the next two games by a combined 15 pins to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Nebraska bowled a 212 in game four to get back to even, but Youngstown State took the final two games 166-157 and 203-170.
Youngstown State earned its second top-three finish in as many tournaments in the 2020-21 season. The Penguins were the runners-up at McKendree's tournament in the fall, and this was their first competition of the spring semester.
Finishing behind Wrenn in the individual standings were Sarah Florence in 18th (1,112) and Emma Dockery in 28th (1,047). They were the only three Penguins to bowl in all six games.
Youngstown State will be competing again next weekend at the PVAMU Invitational in Dallas.
