Youngstown State University
PVAMU Invitational
PVAMU Invitational Next Up for YSU Bowling
1/23/2025 10:57:00 AM | Bowling
Youngstown State's bowling team faces its first back-to-back test of the semester as it travels to Arlington, Texas, for the prestigious PVAMU Invitational. The 12-team tournament will be held at The International Training and Resource Center this Friday through Sunday, and 10 of the top 14 teams in the country will be in the field.
The tournament will be streamed live on BowlTV, and results will be posted throughout the weekend on the team's Instagram and Facebook stories and its and X feed.
- Live Stream: BowlTV
- YSU Bowling on Social Media: Instagram | Facebook | X
- Mobile App: iOS Download | Android Download
Tournament Preview
After finishing second at one of the largest tournaments of the country in terms of participants to open the spring semester, Youngstown State will now compete in the small and selective PVAMU Invitational at The ITRC. The top five teams in December's National Tenpin Coaches Association Poll will be in attendance, as will five additional teams ranking between eighth and 14th. Six teams from Conference USA will be in the field, and the host PVAMU Panthers and Texas Southern will also compete.
Previewing the Field
Ranked Teams (10): #1 Vanderbilt, #2 Jacksonville State, #3 Nebraska, #4 Youngstown State, #5 Arkansas State, #8 Sam Houston, #9 Maryville, #10 North Carolina A&T, #12 Louisiana Tech, #14 Duquesne
Unranked Teams (2): Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern
Conference USA Teams (6): Arkansas State, Jacksonville State, Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston, Vanderbilt, Youngstown State
Format and Schedule
All 12 teams at the 2025 PVAMU Invitational will bowl a Round Robin during qualifying, which will stretch into Sunday in the modified 13-match format. There will be five Baker matches on Friday beginning at 11:30 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 10:25 a.m. Eastern with total pinfall again determining the winners. Teams will then bowl one more traditional match on Sunday at 9:25 a.m. Eastern to complete qualifying and determine seeding for the bracket. The two bracket matches on Sunday will be contested in a best-of-seven Baker format and will finalize each team's placing at the tournament.
Friday at 11:30 a.m. Eastern - Five Baker matches
- #3 Nebraska - Lanes 3-4
- #1 Vanderbilt - Lanes 13-14
- Texas Southern - Lanes 11-12
- #8 Sam Houston - Lanes 5-6
- Prairie View A&M - Lanes 3-4
Saturday at 10:25 a.m. Eastern - Five traditional matches
- #12 Louisiana Tech - Lanes 7-8
- #14 Duquesne - Lanes 11-12
- #9 Maryville - Lanes 13-14
- #10 North Carolina A&T - Lanes 7-8
- #5 Arkansas State - Lanes 5-6
Sunday at 9:25 a.m. Eastern - One traditional match, then two best-of-seven Baker matches
- #2 Jacksonville State - Lanes 3-4
YSU's History at the PVAMU Invitational
Youngstown State will be competing at the Prairie View A&M Invitational for the fifth straight year, and it will be the fourth consecutive edition that will be held at The ITRC. YSU had its best finish at the tournament in 2024 when it was second after qualifying and placed third in the final bracket. The Penguins lost in seven games to Arkansas State in the semifinals, and they beat Nebraska in six games in the third-place match. Jade Cote was the runner-up for the individual title with a 1,372 set for six games, and Lyndsay Ennis and Kirsten Moore placed seventh and eighth, respectively.
2020-21 (USA Bowl)
- Team finish » 5th of 10
- Head-to-head record » 8-5
- Top individual finisher » Megan Grams (2nd)
2021-22 (The ITRC)
- Team finish » 8th of 12
- Head-to-head record » 3-10
- Top individual finisher » Jade Cote (7th)
2022-23 (The ITRC)
- Team finish » 7th of 12
- Head-to-head record » 8-5
- Top individual finisher » Madyson Marx (1st)
2023-24 (The ITRC)
- Team finish » 3rd of 12
- Head-to-head record » 11-2
- Top individual finisher » Jade Cote (2nd)
Recapping the Northeast Classic
Youngstown State won its first 12 matches of the Northeast Classic last weekend and finished second at the 38-team event to begin the spring semester. The Penguins were 10-0 and sat third in the standings after qualifying, and they beat No. 6 Stephen F. Austin 4-2 and No. 2 Jacksonville State 4-0 in best-of-seven bracket matches on Sunday. That set up a championship pairing with Nebraska, which the Huskers won 4-0.
The Penguins tied a school record for wins at a single tournament with 12, and they had won 24 consecutive matches dating back to the Garden State Classic in November before they dropped the decision against Nebraska.
All nine bowlers saw action for the Penguins in Delaware last weekend, and Jade Cote was YSU's top individual finisher placing 14th with a 1,098 set. Madyson Marx finished 30th with a 1,053, and Madison Doseck was 52nd with a 1,014. YSU's six other bowlers competed in the other two spots in the lineup, and Hannah Miller bowled a career-best 265 in the match against Adelphi.
Cote averaged 22.30 in Baker play, which was the highest average by a Penguin at a tournament this season, and the senior also posted a 22.17 overall scoring average at the tournament. That was also the best mark by a YSU in 2024-25. YSU had its best Baker pinfall total of the season with 5,288, and the Penguins' 206.05 average for the entire tournament was its best of the campaign.
A Glimpse at the Guins
Team Overview: Youngstown State has high aspirations of returning to the Final Four for the third time in the last five years in 2024-25. Eight bowlers return from last year's team that won the Lansing Regional and finished third overall at the NCAA Championship. A trio of All-Americans, fourth-year senior Jade Cote and fifth-year seniors Madyson Marx and Kirsten Moore, headline the veteran returning group that includes seven upperclassmen. Madison Doseck, Ellie Drescher and Lyndsay Ennis are fourth-year seniors, Hannah Miller is a junior, Amanda Granata is a sophomore, and Kara Beissel is the lone freshman. Doug Kuberski, the 2023-24 Bill Straub Division I National Coach of the Year, is in his sixth full season at Youngstown State.
- Youngstown State is ranked fourth in the National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll, which mirrors its ranking in the NCAA's RPI release on Jan. 8. In the NTCA's Power Index Rating that matches the RPI's rankings model, YSU moved up to third in the updated release on Jan. 19.
- The Penguins are 52-13 overall in head-to-head matches against what was the sixth-toughest schedule in the country entering the Northeast Classic. YSU's winning percentage is .800, which is significantly ahead of last season's record pace of .690.
- YSU has finished in the top five at each of its first five tournaments of the season, and its best two finishes have come in the last two tournaments. Youngstown State won its final 12 matches at the Garden State Classic in November to win the 20-team event, and the Penguins won their first 12 matches of the Northeast Classic last week in a second-place finish.
- Doseck was the Most Valuable Player at the Garden State Classic by winning her first individual title. She, Cote, Marx and Moore have all won tournament titles in their careers.
- Cote leads the Penguins in overall scoring average at 21.10 pins per frame, and she is averaging an impressive 21.41 pins in Baker play. Marx is averaging 21.03, and Doseck is at a 20.62 clip.
- Entering the spring, Marx ranked seventh in the country in overall scoring average, while Cote ranked eighth.
- Cote earned positions on the 2025 Team Canada and 2025 Youth Team Canada at her home country's trials earlier this month. Moore became the first Penguin in program history to be invited to Team USA after her performance at the USBC Team USA Trials.
Up Next
- Youngstown State will have a break from competition next weekend before embarking on another back-to-back stretch in the middle of February. YSU will bowl at Lewis' Flyer Classic for the first time in school history on Feb. 7-9, and it will make its annual trip to Arkansas State's Mid-Winter Invitational on Feb. 14-16.
