Bowling Starts Busy End to February This Weekend in Baltimore

The No. 8 Youngstown State bowling team will begin a grueling three-week stretch this weekend to close out its regular season as it travels to Baltimore for the James Brown Invitational. The six-team tournament will be held at AMF Country Club Lanes, and Morgan State will serve as the host.

Youngstown State's 13 matches will be streamed live on the YSUsports YouTube channel, and results will be posted on the @ysubowling Twitter feed.

Tournament Format

The tournament was originally scheduled to have 11 matches, but Norfolk State pulled out of the field on Thursday to create a six-team field. As a result, the tournament will follow the standard format of five Baker matches, five traditional team matches and three bracket matches. The eighth-ranked Penguins will bowl in five Baker matches on Friday beginning at 11:25 a.m., and they'll follow that with five traditional matches on Saturday starting at 11:25 a.m. YSU will bowl each team on both Friday and Saturday. Teams will be bracketed based on total pinfall from the eight qualifying matches, and three best-of-seven Baker rounds will commence on Sunday at 9:25 a.m.

Previewing The Field

Youngstown State will be one of six teams competing at the James Brown Invitational, and it will be the westernmost institution geographically. YSU will be one of four ranked teams in the field, joining No. 13 North Carolina A&T, No. 15 Delaware State and No. 17 Duquesne. Also in the field will be Coppin State and Morgan State. YSU and Duquesne will be the only teams competing who are not members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Schedule

Friday - Five Baker matches starting at 11:25 a.m.

vs. Delaware State on Lanes 5-6
vs. Coppin State on Lanes 17-18
vs. Duquesne on Lanes 13-14
vs. North Carolina A&T on Lanes 25-26
vs. Morgan State on Lanes 5-6

Saturday - Five traditional matches starting at 11:25 a.m.

vs. Duquesne on Lanes 15-16
vs. North Carolina A&T on Lanes 19-20
vs. Morgan State on Lanes 7-8
vs. Delaware State on Lanes 11-12
vs. Coppin State on Lanes 15-16

Sunday - Three bracket matches starting at 9:25 a.m.

Recapping the PVAMU Invitational

Youngstown State placed fifth overall among a talented field at the PVAMU Invitational on Jan. 29-31. At the tournament that included seven of the top 10 teams in the country, YSU went 8-5 in head-to-head matches and had the third-highest pinfall through 10 rounds of qualifying. The Penguins beat No. 1 McKendree, No. 5 Sam Houston State, No. 7 Stephen F. Austin, No. 9 Louisiana Tech and No. 19 Tulane over the three days in Dallas.

Individually, sophomore Megan Grams finished as the tournament runner-up with a five-game set of 1,075. She bowled a 248 against Texas Southern in her first game of traditional play, and she topped that with a 258 versus Arkansas State. That 258 ended up being the highest game in the tournament, and it tied for the third-best total in program history. Emma Wasielewski also had the best tournament of her career, placing 14th with a 969. Emma Wrenn was 16th with a 965, Emma Dockery was 24th with a 906, and Sarah Florence was 25th with a 905. Wrenn placed second at the Columbia 300 Saints the previous week, giving the Penguins the individual runner-up at consecutive tournaments.

Previously at the James Brown Invitational

This will be the second time in program history and the first time since the 2017-18 season that the Penguins will compete at the James Brown Invitational. At AMF Towson Lanes in Towson, Md., on Feb. 16-18, 2018, YSU finished eighth out of 15 teams and had a 7-5 head-to-head record. Current assistant coach Nikki Mendez was YSU's top individual finisher in 14th with a five-game total of 942.

Up Next

Youngstown State will also compete each of the next two weekends as it continues the final stretch of the regular season. The Penguins will bowl at Arkansas State's Mid-Winter Invitational on Feb. 19-21, and they'll compete at Nebraska's Big Red Invitational on Feb. 26-28.