Youngstown State University
Destination Florida
10/29/2026 5:16:00 PM | Bowling
Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State continues its 2026-27 schedule and competes away from its home center for the first time this season at the Destination Florida event in Orlando. The Penguins will join 22 teams at Boardwalk Bowl for the three-day event that runs Friday through Sunday.
YSU's 13 matches at the tournament 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.
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Tournament Preview
A Look at the Field
There will be 23 teams competing at Destination Florida this week, and the Penguins will be tested with 10 of the top 11 teams in the National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 poll in attendance. YSU will see many of the same teams from the Chelsea Gilliam Penguin Classic that was held two weeks ago, and the Penguins will get their first look this season at No. 3 Wichita State, No. 7 Louisiana Tech, No. 17 Tulane and No. 20 UAB.
Ranked Teams (16): #1 Jacksonville State, #2 Vanderbilt, #3 Wichita State, #4 Arkansas State, #5 Nebraska, #6 Youngstown State, #7 Louisiana Tech, #9 North Carolina A&T, #10 Sacred Heart, #11 Wright State, #14 Niagara, #16 Duquesne, #17 Tulane, #19 Bryant, #20 UAB, #25 Maryland Eastern Shore
Teams Receiving Votes (2): Delaware State, Emmanuel
Unranked Teams (5): Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Prairie View A&M, Saint Anselm, Southern
Conference USA Teams (9): Arkansas State, Jacksonville State, Nebraska, Sacred Heart, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Wichita State, Wright State, Youngstown State
Format and Schedule
After following the NCAA's standard 13-match tournament rotation to begin the season two weeks ago, YSU will bowl in a modified format in Orlando. Instead of bowling five traditional matches during qualifying, the Destination Florida event will have an extra traditional match to finish qualifying on Sunday morning. YSU is in Pool B, and it will compete against the other 11 teams in its pool during qualifying.
Teams will bowl in five Baker matches on Friday beginning at 10:25 a.m., and total pinfall will determine the winners of each head-to-head match. Five traditional matches will follow on Saturday starting at 9:25 a.m. with total pinfall again determining the winners. Qualifying will continue Sunday at 8:25 a.m. with the final traditional match, and the total pins from the first 11 matches will determine seeding for bracket play. Teams will bowl in two bracket matches, which will be contested in a best-of-seven Baker format, to finish the tournament.
Friday at 10:25 a.m. — Five Baker matches
Match 1: YSU vs. Vanderbilt — Lanes 37-38
Match 2: YSU vs. Emmanuel — Lanes 41-42
Match 3: YSU vs. Tulane — Lanes 21-22
Match 4: YSU vs. Nebraska — Lanes 7-8
Match 5: YSU vs. UAB — Lanes 43-44
Saturday at 9:25 a.m. — Five traditional matches
Match 6: YSU vs. Saint Anselm — Lanes 19-20
Match 7: YSU vs. Wright State — Lanes 41-42
Match 8: YSU vs. Niagara — Lanes 35-36
Match 9: YSU vs. North Carolina A&T — Lanes 5-6
Match 10: YSU vs. Southern — Lanes 21-22
Sunday at 8:25 a.m. — One traditional match, followed by two best-of-seven Baker matches
Match 11: YSU vs. Alabama State — Lanes 43-44
Match 12: TBD
Match 13: TBD
YSU's History at Destination Orlando Event
Youngstown State is heading to Orlando for the fourth straight year and for the fifth time overall. The Penguins first competed at the event when it was called the Sunshine State Classic and held at Boardwalk Bowl during the 2018-19 season. YSU took a four-year break before heading to Destination Orlando in 2023 at AMF Sky Lanes. That center also served as the host site each of the last two years, and the event has returned to Boardwalk Bowl in 2026.
YSU had a memorable final day in 2023, climbing from fourth on the final day to the tournament title. Youngstown State defeated Vanderbilt, Stephen F. Austin and Jacksonville State in the best-of-seven bracket, and Jade Cote was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player for her role in the team victory.
A pair of freshmen were YSU's top two finishers in 2025-26. Leyna Kratzer averaged 204.2 and placed 13th with a 1,021 set, and Gianna Varano finished 26th with a 967 set. Kratzer's 13th-place finish was the highest a Penguin has placed at the event.
2018-19
- Team finish » 10th of 14 teams
- Head-to-head record » 5-8
- Top individual finisher » Nikki Mendez (21st)
2023-24
- Team finish » 1st of 18 teams
- Head-to-head record » 8-5
- Top individual finisher » Kirsten Moore (16th)
2024-25
- Team finish » 5th of 22 teams
- Head-to-head record » 8-5
- Top individual finisher » Ellie Drescher (28th)
2025-26
- Team finish » 12th of 24 teams
- Head-to-head record » 7-6
- Top individual finisher » Leyna Kratzer (13th)
Recapping the Chelsea Gilliam Penguin Classic
Youngstown State finished fourth at the season-opening Chelsea Gilliam Penguin Classic, which was held at YSU's home center, Holiday Bowl in Struthers, Ohio, on Oct. 16-18. The Penguins averaged 206.4 over the first two days to qualify fourth, and they went 1-2 in bracket play on the final day to finish fourth.
Youngstown State went 6-6 against ranked teams at the tournament, which included a victory over No. 1 Jacksonville State. YSU fell 4-3 in a best-of-seven Baker match to Vanderbilt, which qualified third.
Individually, juniors Kara Beissel and Elizabeth Teuber just missed making the all-tournament team, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Beissel posted a set of 1,125, which was 11 pins shy of the all-tournament team, and Teuber shot 1,122. Both of those totals were higher than any set by a Penguin last season. That duo was also strong in Baker play, with Teuber averaging 21.21 pins per frame in the anchor slot and Beissel averaging 21.05 in the fourth spot in the lineup.
A Glimpse at the Guins
Program Overview: The Penguins have earned at-large berths into the NCAA Tournament in each of the last six years under Head Coach Doug Kuberski. YSU has finished in the top 10 in the final National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 poll in each of the last seven campaigns, including eighth in 2025-26. The Penguins have been to the Final Four three times — 2021, 2024 and 2025 — and won the 2025 National Championship. Academically, YSU has registered one of the top six GPAs in the country in six of the last seven campaigns.
2025-26 Season In Review: Following the graduation of six seniors from its National Championship team, Youngstown State had the youngest roster in the country with six freshmen and just one returner on its eight-member roster. Even with all of the new faces working to form a new identity within in the program's history, YSU was able to maintain its status as one of the top programs in the country. The Penguins posted the third-best winning percentage in school history and advanced to the NCAA Regional for the sixth straight campaign. YSU finished the season ranking eighth in the final NTCA Top 25 poll.
Everyone Returns: While last season was a year of roster transition, 2026-27 is the opposite. For the first time in the program's 11-year history, YSU's entire roster returns from the previous season. Amy Chrzanowski, a transfer from FDU in her second season at Youngstown State, is the program's lone senior. Kara Beissel, the last remaining member of the national title team, and Maryville transfer Elizabeth Teuber are juniors, and the other seven bowlers are underclassmen. Malayna Calo is the only freshman on the roster, and the group of six sophomores includes Liv Baskin, Kaitlyn Greenaway, Leyna Kratzer, Amber Mason, Amber Spicer and Gianna Varano. Beissel, Chrzanowski, Mason, Varano and Baskin are YSU's top five returners in terms of frames bowled in 2025-26.
Calo, Teuber Look to Provide Boost: In addition to the optimism from a year of development and roster retention, YSU is excited about the potential for overall improvement from freshman Malayna Calo and transfer Elizabeth Teuber. Calo signed to join the Penguins last November, while Teuber arrived during the second week of the semester as a transfer from Maryville. Both bowlers have national team credentials, as Calo was a member of the Junior Team USA Developmental Squad in 2024 and Teuber bowled internationally for Team USA earlier this month at the Pan American Championship. Calo was also a Dexter All-American and a seven-time state qualifier in high school in Florida. Teuber was the Division II Player of the Year and a Second-Team All-American in each of her first two seasons as a collegiate bowler at Maryville.
Baskin, Chrzanowski Earned Rewards: Two of YSU's newcomers received awards last season for their performance on the lanes. Amy Chrzanowski was voted the Conference USA Newcomer of the Year as a transfer from FDU, and Liv Baskin was named to all-rookie teams by the conference and the NTCA. Chrzanowski ranked second on the team in scoring average and total frames while leading the squad in traditional games over 200. Baskin ranked third on the team in scoring average and posted three top-25 finishes individually at tournaments. Chrzanowski was YSU's first-ever conference newcomer of the year, and Baskin became the third Penguin to earn all-rookie accolades from the conference.
Kuberski at the Helm: This is Youngstown State's 11th season as an intercollegiate program, and Doug Kuberski is entering his eighth full season as head coach. He took over midway through the 2018-19 season, and he has gone on to lead the Penguins to six NCAA tournaments, three Final Four appearances and a National Championship. Kuberski is a two-time National Coach of the Year (2020 and 2024) and a two-time conference coach of the year (2020 and 2023). Andrew Brabant, who bowled collegiately at Pikeville and has been a high school head coach in the Youngstown area, is in his first season as YSU's graduate assistant.
Up Next
Youngstown State has one tournament remaining on its fall schedule, FDU's Jersey Jamboree on Nov. 20-22. The Penguins will then compete in six tournaments in the spring before the Conference USA Championship.
