The Youngstown State bowling team starts a busy and exciting March schedule this weekend as it travels to Lincoln, Neb., for the three-day Big Red Invitational. The University of Nebraska is hosting the tournament, which runs from Friday through Sunday, at Hollywood Bowl.
All of the Penguins' matches will be streamed live on the YSUsports YouTube channel, and results will be posted when they become available on the team's Twitter and Facebook accounts.
The Penguins are ranked seventh in the most-recent National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 poll, and they are fourth in the NCAA's RPI rankings that were released on Feb. 16. The Big Red Invitational is another opportunity for Youngstown State to compete against some of the nation's top teams as it hopes to continue building a resume for the postseason.
Tournament Format
The Big Red Invitational has a unique format where the tournament title will be awarded to the team with the highest per-game average over the three days of the event. All 10 teams will bowl the other nine teams in the field once, and there will be three additional matches based on position in the standings.
There will be five Baker matches on Friday beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern, and total pinfall will determine the winners of each head-to-head match. Five traditional matches will follow on Saturday starting at 10:10 a.m. Eastern with pinfall again determining the winners. The top three teams will receive an award, and the top five individual averages from Saturday's traditional matches will be named to the all-tournament team.
Scouting the Field
This will be the smallest field that Youngstown State will compete in during the regular season as just 10 teams will take the lanes at Hollywood Bowl. Nebraska will the top-ranked team in the field at No. 3 in February's National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25, and No. 4 Arkansas State will join the seventh-ranked Penguins as top-10 teams. Other ranked teams include No. 13 Newman, No. 17 Central Missouri, No. 20 UW-Whitewater and No. 21 Lincoln Memorial. Quincy, Upper Iowa and Valparaiso will complete the group of 10.
NTCA Ranked Teams (7): #3 Nebraska, #4 Arkansas State, #7 Youngstown State, #13 Newman, #17 Central Missouri, #20 UW-Whitewater, #21 Lincoln Memorial
Teams Receiving Votes (1): Valparaiso
Unranked Teams (2): Quincy, Upper Iowa
YSU's Schedule
Friday - Five Baker matches beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern
- vs. Valparaiso - Lanes 5-6
- vs. Quincy - Lanes 17-18
- vs. #20 UW-Whitewater - Lanes 21-22
- vs. #13 Newman - Lanes 9-10
- vs. Upper Iowa - Lanes 5-6
Saturday - Five traditional matches beginning at 10:10 a.m. Eastern
- vs. #4 Arkansas State - Lanes 13-14
- vs. #17 Central Missouri - Lanes 21-22
- vs. #3 Nebraska - Lanes 9-10
- vs. #21 Lincoln Memorial - Lanes 13-14
- Position Round: 1v6, 2v7, 3v8, 4v9 and 5v10
Sunday - Two best-of-seven Baker matches beginning at 9:45 a.m. Eastern
Previously at the Big Red Invitational
This is the fourth straight season that Youngstown State is heading to Lincoln for the Big Red Invitational.
The Penguins had a tournament to remember last season at the Big Red Invitational. The biggest highlight came in a Baker match against Valparaiso when Lyndsay Ennis, Kirsten Moore, Madyson Marx, Jade Cote and Emma Dockery combined to record the first 300 in any format in program history. The result was featured on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays that evening. Additionally, that quintet set the school record for highest match total with a 1,189 against the Beacons, and the Penguins had school-record round totals of 5,382 in Baker and 5,454 in traditional play.
At the individual level, Dockery tied YSU's individual game record with a 289, and Cote set a new program record for highest five-game set with a 1,128 and highest tournament average at 225.6.
In 2020, YSU pushed Nebraska to seven games in the championship match in a runner-up finish. In 2021, the Penguins went 9-3 and finished fifth while breaking school records at the time for Baker game, Baker match and traditional match.
Recapping the Mid-Winter Invitational
In its only tournament in February, Youngstown State placed eighth at the Mid-Winter Invitational that was hosted by Arkansas State on Feb. 17-19. The Penguins went 8-4 in head-to-head matches and picked up a pair of top-five wins over No. 3 Nebraska and No. 5 Stephen F. Austin.
Individually, Madyson Marx finished eighth in the talented field with a 1,104 total over five games, and Lyndsay Ennis (1,020) and Kirsten Moore (1,004) also posted sets over 1,000 and finished in the top 35. For Marx, it was her second straight top-10 individual finish.
Quick Notes
- Marx bowled a 268 game, which tied for the ninth-highest in school history against Kentucky Wesleyan.
- Marx's 220.8 average was the fifth-best for a tournament ever by a Penguin.
- Ennis' 262 game versus Lincoln Memorial was a season high and the 15th-best in school history
- The Penguins had their highest total in a traditional match this semester with a 1,079 against LMU.
- YSU had its highest Baker round total (5,202) and highest average in best-of-seven Baker (205.2) this season. The Penguins also totaled 5,106 in the traditional round, which was the second-best total of the campaign.
Up Next
Youngstown State will continue its March slate at the Columbia 300 Music City Classic on March 17-19 in Smyrna, Tenn. Vanderbilt will host the event at the Smyrna Bowling Center.
