Struthers, Ohio — Behind individual champion Kirsten Moore, the Youngstown State bowling team had the highest-scoring round of traditional at the Penguin Classic on Saturday at Holiday Bowl.
Moore became the third Penguin in program history to win tournament MVP honors as the highest individual finisher. The senior from Tallmadge, Ohio, bowled a five-game set of 1,099 to top the leaderboard by 39 pins. She helped YSU shoot 4,997 for the day, which was the best total by 69 pins. The other two tournament Most Valuable Players at YSU include Moore's current teammate Madyson Marx and her former teammate Emma Wrenn.
With three Baker pinfall matches remaining in qualifying, Youngstown State is second in the team standings by one pin behind Arkansas State. The Penguins and Red Wolves will compete against each other to begin Sunday's round at 8:25 a.m.
After the three matches of qualifying, teams will be bracketed and the teams with the top two scores will battle for the tournament title. Arkansas State, which is ranked second in National Tenpin Coaches Association Preseason Poll, has 10,103 pins through 10 matches, and the sixth-ranked Penguins have 10,102. No. 3 Nebraska is third with a 9,767 total.
"Today was a strong collective effort with lots of solid communication and learning," said YSU head coach Doug Kuberski. "We took a couple of tough losses to start the day, but every match is a battle in this field, and we tipped our caps to great bowling by our opponents while staying focused on playing our game. If we continue to play our game and focus on the controllable things, I like our chances to be there in the end with a chance to win."
Moore shot above 185 in all five of her games, and she averaged 241.7 over her final three games to surge up the standings. She topped Nebraska's Brenna Hartzler by 39, and the all-tournament team also included Niagara's Emily Brock (1,049), Nebraska's Jillian Martin (1,046) and Lewis' Erica Lohr (1,035). YSU's Madison Doseck finished eighth and was six pins shy of making the all-tournament team.
The Penguins bowled a 923 in an uncontested match to begin the day, and they ran into hot-shooting opponents who had the top two scores in the house in the respective matches. YSU fell 1,049-1,020 to Niagara for its first loss of the weekend, and the Penguins dropped a 1,068-1,020 decision to Nebraska. YSU bounced back with a 995-900 win over No. 11 Duquesne, and it finished traditional play with a 1,036-967 victory over No. 19 Central Missouri.
Sunday's schedule for the Penguins includes matches against Arkansas State, Valparaiso and Bryant. Practice will begin at 8 a.m., and competition will start at 8:25 a.m.
