Second-Seeded Penguins to Compete at Conference USA Championship Starting Thursday

Youngstown State's veteran bowling team is aiming to go on a magical run to close out the 2024-25 season and the careers of its six seniors, starting with this week's Conference USA Championship at Colonial Lanes in Harahan, La.

The Penguins are the second seed in the tournament, and they will take on No. 7 Sam Houston at 10 a.m. on Thursday to begin their competition in suburban New Orleans. The Bearkats beat Valparaiso 2-0 in a mega match on Wednesday in the tournament's opening round.

Live video for the double-elimination tournament will be streamed on ESPN+, and updates will be posted regularly on YSU's social media channels.

Live Stream: ESPN+
YSU Bowling on Social Media: Instagram | Facebook | X
Mobile App: iOS Download | Android Download

The winner of the Conference USA Championship will receive the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which will begin on April 4 at one of four regional sites (Arlington, Texas; Lansing, Mich.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Rochester, N.Y).

Tournament Preview

Tournament Seeds

#1 Jacksonville State
#2 Youngstown State
#3 Vanderbilt
#4 Wichita State
#5 Arkansas State
#6 Stephen F. Austin
#7 Sam Houston
#8 Louisiana Tech
#9 Tulane
#10 Valparaiso

Tournament Format

The Conference USA Bowling Championship will be a double-elimination tournament with each contest decided by the mega-match format. A mega-match encompasses three different rounds or points, and a team must get to two points to win the match. Teams will bowl one standard five-person game for total pinfall, then five Baker games for total pinfall. If one team wins both the traditional point and Baker point, they will advance to the next round. If the teams split the standard and Baker games, they will move on to a best-of-seven series of Baker games to determine the winner. If necessary, the second championship match on Sunday will be only a Baker best-of-seven match.

Schedule

The tournament began Wednesday morning with the No. 7-10 seeds playing a first-round match, and all 10 teams will be in action on Thursday with Round 2 matches starting at 10 a.m. Eastern. With the Penguins earning a top-two seed, they received a first-round bye and will play Sam Houston, which beat Valparaiso on Wednesday, on Thursday. Regardless of the outcome against the Bearkats, the Penguins will be idle on Thursday afternoon, and they will take the lanes again on Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Round One - Wednesday at Noon Eastern

Match 1 - No. 8 Louisiana Tech vs. No. 9 Tulane | Lanes 21-22
Match 2 - No. 7 Sam Houston vs. No. 10 Valparaiso | Lanes 3-4

Round Two - Thursday at 10 a.m. Eastern

Match 3 - No. 1 Jacksonville State vs. Tulane | Lanes 5-6
Match 4 - No. 2 Youngstown State vs. Sam Houston | Lanes 15-16
Match 5 - No. 4 Wichita State vs. No. 5 Arkansas State | Lanes 9-10
Match 6 - No. 3 Vanderbilt vs. No. 6 Stephen F. Austin | Lanes 19-20

Round Three - Thursday at 3 p.m. Eastern

Match 7 - Valparaiso vs. Match 5 loser | Lanes 7-8 (elimination match)
Match 8 - Louisiana Tech vs. Match 6 loser | Lanes 17-18 (elimination match)

Round Four - Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern

Match 9 - Match 7 winner vs. Match 3 loser | Lanes 19-20 (elimination match)
Match 10 - Match 8 winner vs. Match 4 loser | Lanes 5-6 (elimination match)
Match 11 - Match 3 winner vs. Match 5 winner | Lanes 15-16
Match 12 - Match 4 winner vs. Match 6 winner | Lanes 9-10

Round Five - Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern

Match 13 - Match 9 winner vs. Match 12 loser | Lanes 15-16 (elimination match)
Match 14 - Match 10 winner vs. Match 11 loser | Lanes 7-8 (elimination match)

Round Six - Saturday at 10 a.m. Eastern

Match 15 - Match 11 winner vs. Match 12 winner | Lanes 13-14 (winner's bracket final)
Match 16 - Match 13 winner vs. Match 14 winner | Lanes TBD (elimination match)

Round Seven - Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern

Match 17 - Match 16 winner vs. Match 15 loser | Lanes TBD (elimination match)

Round Eight - Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern

Match 18 - Match 15 winner vs. Match 17 winner | Lanes 7-8 (championship match)
Match 19 - If necessary - winner take all best-of-seven | Lanes 9-10

Tournament Field

Conference USA was once again the strongest conference in the country throughout the season, and it will be a challenging week regardless of the round or opponent. Five straight teams in the league are ranked second through sixth in the NCAA's latest RPI, and eight of the top 11 teams based on the metric are Conference USA members. All 10 teams are ranked in the top 24 of the RPI and the most recent National Tenpin Coaches Association Poll. Historically, a team currently in Conference USA has appeared in the national championship match in 10 of the last 11 seasons, and the last two national champions are conference members Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt.

YSU This Season vs. Conference USA Teams (31-12)

6-1 vs. #1 Jacksonville State
7-2 vs. #3 Vanderbilt
2-2 vs. #4 Wichita State
6-1 vs. #5 Arkansas State
4-1 vs. #6 Stephen F. Austin
1-2 vs. #7 Sam Houston
0-3 vs. #8 Louisiana Tech
2-0 vs. #9 Tulane
3-0 vs. #10 Valparaiso

History at the Conference Championship

This is Youngstown State's sixth appearance at a conference championship with the first four being in the Southland Bowling League and last year's being with Conference USA.

The Penguins, along with Vanderbilt, are a top-four seed for the fourth fifth season at the event., and second is their highest seed ever. Youngstown State has finished as the tournament runner-up twice, in 2022 and 2024.

Yearly Summaries

2018-19 (No. 6 seed; finished tied for seventh): L, 2-0 vs. No. 3 Arkansas State; L, 2-0 vs. No. 7 Louisiana Tech
2019-20: Tournament canceled due to COVID-19
2020-21 (No. 4 seed; finished tied for fifth): L, 2-1 vs. No. 5 Sam Houston; W, 2-0 vs. No. 8 Valparaiso; L, 2-0 vs. No. 1 Arkansas State
2021-22 (No. 4 seed; finished second): W, 2-1 vs. No. 5 Louisiana Tech; W, 2-1 vs. No. 1 Sam Houston; L, 2-1 vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt; W, 2-1 vs. No. 5 Louisiana Tech; L, 2-0 vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt... Emma Dockery and Emma Wrenn were named to the all-tournament team.
2022-23 (No. 4 seed; finished fourth): L, 2-0 vs. No. 5 Sam Houston; W, 2-1 vs. No. 8 Valparaiso; W, 2-1 vs. No. 1 Vanderbilt; L, 2-0 vs. No. 6 Louisiana Tech... Megan Grams was named to the all-tournament team.
2023-24 (No. 3 seed; finished second): W, 2-0 vs. No. 6 Sam Houston; L, 2-0 vs. No. 2 Arkansas State; W, 2-0 vs. No. 6 Sam Houston; W, 2-1 vs. No. 5 Louisiana Tech; W, 2-0 vs. No. 2 Arkansas State; L, 2-0 vs. No. 1 Jacksonville State... Madyson Marx and Kirsten Moore were named to the all-tournament team.

YSU's Record By Seed (10-10)

No. 3: 4-2
No. 4: 6-6
No. 6: 0-2

YSU's Record vs. Seed (10-10)

No. 1: 2-2
No. 2: 1-3
No. 3: 0-1
No. 5: 3-2
No. 6: 2-1
No. 7: 0-1
No. 8: 2-0

YSU's Record vs. Opponents

Arkansas State: 1-3
Jacksonville State: 0-1
Louisiana Tech: 3-2
Sam Houston: 3-2
Stephen F. Austin: 0-0
Tulane: 0-0
Valparaiso: 2-0
Vanderbilt: 1-2
Wichita State: 0-0

Recapping the Music City Classic

Youngstown State had one of its most impressive regular-season tournaments in program history last week as it won the 2025 Music City Classic, which was hosted by Vanderbilt at the Smyrna Bowling Center in Smyrna, Tenn. At one of the most historic tournaments in the sport, the Penguins won the 21st version of the event by going 12-1 in head-to-head matches and outlasting Maryville and Jacksonville State in seven games in the championship bracket. YSU was 8-0 against teams ranked in the top 10 of the RPI, and its lone loss was to UAB on Saturday.

YSU entered the final day at the top of the standings and with a 9-1 head-to-head after 10 matches of qualifying, and it dropped to third despite beating No. 6 Arkansas State 922-897 in a traditional match to complete qualifying. But the Penguins' body of work over the first two days gave them plenty of cushion for a top-four seed in a bracket, which is all they needed for a chance at the championship. YSU rallied from a 3-2 deficit to beat Maryville, and it held off Jacksonville State after taking a 3-2 lead in a rematch of the 2024 tournament championship.

Youngstown State fifth-year senior Madyson Marx was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player for her efforts in guiding the Penguins to the team title. She finished ninth individually in traditional play with a six-game total of 1,258. Madison Doseck placed 15th with a 1,227 set, Kirsten Moore tied for 31st (1,176), Jade Cote tied for 41st (1,149), and Ellie Drescher placed 43rd (1,147). That group bowled nearly the entire weekend until Kara Beissel provided a boost over the final five games of the championship match.

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 most recent National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll, and the Penguins are third in the NCAA's RPI. Youngstown State was fourth in the metric heading into the Music City Classic but was able to move ahead of Vanderbilt after going 12-1 at the tournament.
Earlier this month, Drescher, Granata, Marx and Moore competed as individuals in the section round of the USBC Intercollage Singles Championships, and Granata earned a spot in the finals for her performance at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.
The Penguins are 87-30 overall in head-to-head matches against the third-hardest schedule in the country. YSU's winning percentage is .744, ahead of last season's record pace of .690.
YSU had six top-four finishes at tournaments during the regular season, and it won the 20-team Garden State Classic in November and the 31-team Music City Classic in March. YSU also placed second at the 38-team Northeast Classic in January, and it has won 12 matches at three different tournaments.
Three Penguins have been named MVPs at tournaments this season. Doseck was the Most Valuable Player at the Garden State Classic by winning her first individual title. Cote was then the MVP at the Mid-Winter Invitational on Feb. 14-16 for her second career individual title and second MVP award, and Marx earned her third career MVP award at the Music City Classic.
Cote was named the Conference USA Co-Bowler of the Month in both January and February. It was the second straight January that she earned the monthly award from the conference office.
Cote leads the Penguins in overall scoring average at 21.38 pins per frame, and she is averaging an impressive 21.67 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 20.93 pins per frame overall, Doseck is averaging 20.58, and Moore is at 20.22.
Through tournaments completed on March 2, Cote ranked third in the country in overall scoring average, and she had the second-highest average in Baker. Marx was 14th in overall average, and Doseck was ninth in Baker average. Cote and Doseck both ranked among the top five in the country in strike percentage.
Cote earned positions on the 2025 Team Canada and 2025 Youth Team Canada at her home country's trials earlier this year. She was named the 2024 Adult Canadian Bowler of the Year by the Canadian Tenpin Federation 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.
Moore was voted to the Conference USA All-Academic Team for her combined excellence on the lanes and in the classroom. She was also on the team in 2024, and she earned the NCAA's Elite 90 Award for bowling last April.
Youngstown State announced its full group of high school commitments from the 2025 class in February. The six Penguins joining the program for the 2025-26 season include Alivia Baskin (Elk Mound, Wis.), Kaitlyn Greenaway (Boardman, Ohio), Leyna Kratzer (Bangor, Pa.), Amber Mason (Woodbridge, Va.), Amber Spicer (Canton, Mich.) and Gianna Varano (Stony Point, N.Y.).

Up Next

The NCAA Regionals will be held April 4-5 at one of four sites, and Youngstown State is hoping to earn a top-four seed for the second straight season. The NCAA Selection Show will be on March 26 at 4 p.m. on NCAA.com.