Schedule Update: Due to a winter storm in Nebraska, Friday's start time has been pushed back two hours to noon Eastern.
Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State's bowling schedule kicks into high gear starting this week as the Penguins head to Nebraska's Big Red Invitational. The three-day event begins Friday at Hollywood Bowl in Lincoln, Neb., and runs through Sunday.
YSU's 13 matches at the tournament will be streamed live on the YSUsports YouTube channel as WiFi signals permit, and results will be posted throughout the weekend on the team's Instagram and Facebook stories and its X feed.
Tournament Preview
The Big Red Invitational begins a stretch of three tournaments over three weekends that will take the Penguins to the conclusion of their regular-season schedule. Following their trip to Nebraska, YSU will compete at North Carolina A&T's Stallings Invitational and Vanderbilt's Music City Classic as it builds toward the Conference USA Championship on March 18.
Youngstown State will be one of 12 teams in the field in Lincoln this weekend, and 10 of the teams are ranked in the top 14 of February's National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll. The seven teams ranked ahead of the No. 8 Penguins are in the field, along with No. 13 McKendree and No. 14 Sam Houston.
A Look at the Field
Top-25 Ranked Teams (10 - based on February NTCA Poll): #1 Jacksonville State, #2 Vanderbilt, #3 Arkansas State, #4 Wichita State, #5 Louisiana Tech, #6 Nebraska, #7 Maryville, #8 Youngstown State, #13 McKendree, #14 Sam Houston
Additional Teams (2): Quincy, Western Illinois
Conference USA Teams (8): Arkansas State, Jacksonville State, Louisiana Tech, Nebraska, Sam Houston, Vanderbilt, Wichita State, Youngstown State
Format and Schedule
The Big Red Invitational will deviate from the standard rotation as teams will bowl in six traditional matches to complete a Round Robin during qualifying. Friday's round will be the same as YSU's typical tournaments with five Baker matches based on total pinfall beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern. Five traditional matches will follow on Saturday starting at 11:10 a.m. Eastern with total pinfall again determining the winners. Teams will then bowl one additional traditional match on Sunday at 9:55 a.m. Eastern to conclude qualifying, and the total pinfall from all 11 matches will determine seeding for the championship bracket. The bracket will consist of two best-of-seven Baker matches, and it will follow qualifying on Sunday.
Friday at 10 a.m. ET — Five Baker matches
Match 1 vs. Western Illinois — Lanes 3-4
Match 2 vs. Quincy — Lanes 7-8
Match 3 vs. #6 Nebraska — Lanes 15-16
Match 4 vs. #5 Louisiana Tech — Lanes 9-10
Match 5 vs. #1 Jacksonville State — Lanes 13-14
Saturday at 11:10 a.m. ET — Five traditional matches
Match 6 vs. #13 McKendree — Lanes 13-14
Match 7 vs. #7 Maryville — Lanes 9-10
Match 8 vs. #4 Wichita State — Lanes 15-16
Match 9 vs. #3 Arkansas State — Lanes 19-20
Match 10 vs. #14 Sam Houston — Lanes 21-22
Sunday at 9:55 a.m. ET — One traditional match, followed by two best-of-seven matches
Match 11 vs. #2 Vanderbilt — Lanes 13-14
YSU's History at the Big Red Invitational
This will be Youngstown State's fifth time competing at the Big Red Invitational and its first since 2022-23. The Penguins have finished in the top five in each of their first four appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2019-20.
The Penguins have posted some of their highest scores in program history at Hollywood Bowl. YSU had its first-ever Baker 300 at the event in 2022 with Lyndsay Ennis, Kirsten Moore, Madyson Marx, Jade Cote and Emma Dockery combining for the perfect game. That 300 game in a 1,189 set, which is the second-highest in school history.
In the traditional format, YSU's top three match scores have all been recorded in Lincoln. The school record set of 1,190 came in 2023 against the Huskers, with Moore, Marx, Cote, Ennis and Megan Grams teaming up. Individually, Nikki Mendez recorded a 289 game at the event in 2020, and Dockery fired a 289 in 2022.
2019-20
- Team finish » 2nd of 8
- Head-to-head record » 9-4
- Top individual finisher » Nikki Mendez (2nd)
2020-21 (Hollywood Bowl)
- Team finish » 5th of 11
- Head-to-head record » 9-3
- Top individual finisher » Emma Wrenn (12th)
2021-22 (Hollywood Bowl)
- Team finish » 4th of 8
- Head-to-head record » 8-4
- Top individual finisher » Jade Cote (10th)
2022-23 (Hollywood Bowl)
- Team finish » 4th of 10
- Head-to-head record » 5-7
- Top individual finisher » Madyson Marx (6th)
Recapping the Flyer Classic
At its last tournament, Youngstown State went 10-3 overall and finished seventh among 26 teams at the Flyer Classic, which was hosted by Lewis on Feb. 6-8. The Penguins went 6-2 against ranked opponents, including wins over then-ranked No. 10 Maryville and No. 12 Wright State. YSU was eighth after qualifying and beat No. 16 Newman and No. 18 Valparaiso in the best-of-seven bracket to move up to seventh.
Amber Mason was YSU's top individual finisher in traditional play in 12th place with a career-high set of 1,065, the second-best total by a Penguin at a tournament this season. Amy Chrzanowski was Youngstown State's top overall scorer at the event with a 19.89 frame average.
A Glimpse at the Guins
- Youngstown State is in a new era this season — one as a program that has won a national championship and one that has seven newcomers and just one returner from last season's title-winning squad on its 2025-26 roster.
- The Penguins are ranked seventh in February's National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll. YSU is seventh in the latest NCAA RPI that was posted on Feb. 8.
- Youngstown State is 43-22 overall this season for a .662 winning percentage, which would be the third-best percentage in program history. YSU is 17-9 in Baker matches, 19-6 in traditional contests and 7-7 in best-of-seven Baker matches.
- YSU is coming off a storybook season in 2024-25 in which six seniors led the Penguins to the 2025 National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship. It was the first national championship ever in a women's sport at Youngstown State and its first in any sport since 1997. YSU has been to the NCAA Tournament in five straight seasons and reached the Final Four three times.
- While the Penguins celebrated their momentous accomplishment, they're ready to turn the page with six freshmen, a junior transfer and returning sophomore Kara Beissel looking to carry on the tradition. Beissel waited her turn behind the veteran lineup last season, but she stepped up in a big way when she was called upon and was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Final Four.
- Beissel's scoring average is 20.09 pins per frame, and she's been the team's top scorer in Baker play with a 20.51 average per frame.
- Amy Chrzanowski, a junior transfer from FDU, is the most-experienced collegiate bowler on the roster. She primarily bowled fourth in the Knights' lineup last season, earning Second Team All-NEC honors and helping FDU to the NCAA Tournament. She placed 15th at two tournaments in the fall, the Chelsea Gilliam Penguin Classic and the Colonial Lanes Classic.
- Freshman Leyna Kratzer has been the team's top individual finisher in all three tournaments in which she's competed. She finished seventh at the Chelsea Gilliam Penguin Classic to open the season, 13th at Destination Orlando and 21st at the Northeast Classic. Kratzer was injured and did not compete at the Colonial Lanes Classic or the Flyer Classic. Kratzer owns the Penguins' top average in traditional play at 212.0.
- This is Youngstown State's 10th season as an intercollegiate program, and Doug Kuberski is entering his seventh full season as head coach. He took over midway through the 2018-19 season, and he has gone on to lead the Penguins to five NCAA tournaments and three Final Four appearances. 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), and he earned his 500th victory at YSU on Oct. 19 against Vanderbilt. Madyson Marx, a First-Team All-American last season and a five-year member of the program, has joined the staff as a graduate assistant, and Mackenzie Olesky is in her third season as an assistant coach.
Up Next
Youngstown State's busy stretch continues next week with the program's first-ever trip to the Stallings Invitational, hosted by North Carolina A&T. The three-day event will be Feb. 27 through March 1 in Greensboro, N.C.
