Youngstown State's bowling team will continue its February slate this weekend as it travels to Jonesboro, Ark., for the three-day Mid-Winter Invitational. This is the sixth straight season that the Penguins will bowl at Arkansas State's event held at the Hijinx Family Entertainment Center.
The Penguins' 13 matches will be streamed live on the YSUsports YouTube channel, and results will be posted throughout the weekend on the team's Instagram and Facebook stories and its X feed.
Tournament Preview
There are 17 teams scheduled to bowl at the Mid-Winter Invitational this weekend, including 13 of the top 17 in February's NTCA Top 25 poll. The top five teams - Nebraska, Vanderbilt, Jacksonville State, Arkansas State and YSU - will all be in attendance, as will all of the teams ranked seventh through 11th. There will also be eight of the 10 teams from Conference USA competing at Hijinx.
A Look at the Field
Ranked Teams (13): #1 Nebraska, #2 Vanderbilt, #3 Jacksonville State, #4 Arkansas State, #5 Youngstown State, #7 Wichita State, #8 Sam Houston, #9 Stephen F. Austin, #10 Maryville, #11 Louisiana Tech, #13 McKendree, #14 UW-Whitewater, #17 UAB
Unranked Teams (4): Alabama State, Grambling State, Jackson State, Quincy
Conference USA Teams: Arkansas State, Jacksonville State, Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Vanderbilt, Wichita State, Youngstown State
Format and Schedule
The Mid-Winter Invitational will follow the NCAA's standard 13-match format. Teams will bowl in five Baker matches on Friday beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern, and total pinfall will determine the winners of each match. Five traditional matches will follow on Saturday starting at 10:25 a.m. Eastern with total pinfall again determining the winners. Each team's totals from Friday and Saturday will be combined to determine seeding for Sunday's bracket, which will be contested in three best-of-seven Baker matches. Bracket play on Sunday will start at 9:10 a.m. Eastern.
Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern » Five Baker matches
- Match 1 vs. Jackson State - Lanes 15-16
- Match 2 vs. #8 Sam Houston - Lanes 7-8
- Match 3 vs. #4 Arkansas State - Lanes 27-28
- Match 4 vs. #17 UAB - Lanes 11-12
- Match 5 vs. #2 Vanderbilt - Lanes 19-20
Saturday at 10:25 a.m. Eastern » Five traditional matches
- Match 6 vs. #13 McKendree - Lanes 3-4
- Match 7 vs. #1 Nebraska - Lanes 23-24
- Match 8 vs. #11 Louisiana Tech - Lanes 15-16
- Match 9 vs. #9 Stephen F. Austin - Lanes 27-28
- Match 10 vs. #14 UW-Whitewater - Lanes 29-30
Sunday at 9:10 a.m. Eastern » Three best-of-seven Baker matches
YSU's at the Mid-Winter Invitational
This will be the sixth straight season that Youngstown State will compete at the Mid-Winter Invitational, and the tournament has been held at the Hijinx each time. The Penguins' best finish as a team came in 2020-21 when they were fourth in the 11-team field. They have placed eighth three times, and last year the Penguins were sixth among 18 teams. Fifth-year senior Kirsten Moore is the tournament's defending MVP, an award she earned by firing a 1,217 set over five games in 2023-24. She had 47 more pins than any other bowler in the field. Fellow fifth-year senior Madyson Marx has had three top-10 finishes individually at the event, placing fifth in 2021, eighth in 2023. and seventh in 2024.
2019-20 (Hijinx)
- Team finish » 8th of 19
- Head-to-head record » 8-4
- Top individual finisher » Emma Dockery (19th)
2020-21 (Hijinx)
- Team finish » 4th of 11
- Head-to-head record » 7-5
- Top individual finisher » Madyson Marx (5th - all-tournament team)
2021-22 (Hijinx)
- Team finish » 8th of 18
- Head-to-head record » 7-6
- Top individual finisher » Emma Wrenn (20th)
2022-23 (Hijinx)
- Team finish » 8th of 17
- Head-to-head record » 8-4
- Top individual finisher » Madyson Marx (8th)
2023-24 (Hijinx)
- Team finish » 6th of 18
- Head-to-head record » 7-6
- Top individual finisher » Kirsten Moore (1st, MVP)
Recapping the Flyer Classic
Youngstown State is coming off a fifth-place finish at last week's Flyer Classic, which was hosted by Lewis at Strike & Spare II in Lockport, Ill. The Penguins were fourth after qualifying, and they went 1-2 in Sunday's bracket to drop one spot to fifth for the final standings.
Youngstown State was 9-4 in its head-to-head matches, and four of those wins came over teams ranked in the top 10 of February's coaches poll. YSU beat second-ranked Vanderbilt twice, including in a marathon match on Sunday that had to go to a five-frame tiebreaker. The Penguins also had top-10 wins over Stephen F. Austin and Maryville in traditional play.
Madison Doseck was YSU's top individual at the event, finishing sixth in the standings with a 1,096 set. Jade Cote finished 13th with a 1,070, Madyson Marx placed 21st with a 1,040, Amanda Granata was 10 pins behind her in 27th, and Kirsten Moore placed 43rd with a 992 set. Doseck was also YSU's top performer in Baker play with a 22.20 frame average.
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 fifth in the National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll, which mirrored its ranking in the NTCA's Power Index Rating and the RPI at the time of the vote. After their performance at the Flyer Classic, the Penguins moved up to fourth in both the Power Index Rating and the NCAA's RPI.
- The Penguins are 65-26 overall in head-to-head matches against the fifth-hardest schedule in the country. YSU's winning percentage is .714, ahead of last season's record pace of .690.
- YSU has four top-four finishes at tournaments this season, and it won the 20-team Garden State Classic in November and finished second at the 38-team Northeast Classic in January. The Penguins won 24 consecutive matches at one point over those two tournaments.
- 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 21.21 pins per frame, and she is averaging an impressive 21.47 in Baker play. Both of those are ahead of the single-season school records that she set in 2023-24 (21.08 overall, 21.31 in Baker). Marx is averaging 20.84 pins per frame overall, Doseck is averaging 20.66, and Moore is just behind at 20.41.
- Cote ranks sixth in the country in overall scoring average at 21.21, and she has the fourth-best Baker average. Marx is 14th in overall average and 11th in traditional play, and Doseck is 10th nationally in Baker. Cote and Doseck both rank among the top six in the country in strike percentage.
- Cote was named the Conference USA Co-Bowler of the Month in January. It was the second straight January that she earned the monthly award from the conference office.
- 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 has one regular-season tournament left on its schedule, and YSU will a month leading up to it after the Mid-Winter Invitational. The Penguins will bowl among a large field at Vanderbilt's Music City Classic on March 14-16, and the Conference USA Championship will be the following week.
