Youngstown State's bowling team competes in its final tournament of the regular season this weekend, the Music City Classic in Smyrna, Tenn. The three-day event, which is annually a regular stop for the Penguins, will be hosted by Vanderbilt at the Smyrna Bowling Center.
YSU will stream its 13 matches live on the YSUsports YouTube channel as WiFi signals permit. Results will be posted throughout the weekend on the team's Instagram and Facebook stories and the program's X feed.
Tournament Preview
The Music City Classic not only concludes the regular season for YSU, it also ends a grueling three-week stretch of consecutive tournaments in three different states. The Penguins started with Nebraska's Big Red Invitational from Feb. 20-22 and continued last weekend with North Carolina A&T's Stallings Invitational.
At 34 teams, this will be the second-largest field YSU competes in this season, behind only the Northeast Classic. The Penguins, who were ranked eighth in the February National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll, are one of 16 teams ranked in the top 21 competing at the Smyrna Bowling Center. In fact, sixth-ranked Nebraska is the only team among the top 15 that will not be in attendance. Youngstown State will also be among 10 Conference USA teams competing at Vanderbilt's tournament as teams battle for final positioning for the conference event starting on March 18.
A Look at the Field
Ranked Teams (16 - based on February NTCA Poll): #1 Jacksonville State, #2 Vanderbilt, #3 Arkansas State, #4 Wichita State, #5 Louisiana Tech, #7 Maryville, #8 Youngstown State, #9 Wright State, #10 Sacred Heart, #11 Niagara, #12 North Carolina A&T, #13 McKendree, #14 Sam Houston, #15 Newman, #17 Tulane, #21 UAB
Teams Receiving Votes (6): Carroll, Fairleigh Dickinson, Marian, Maryland Eastern Shore, Oklahoma Christian, Wisconsin-Whitewater
Additional Teams (12): Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Aurora, Belmont Abbey, Carthage, Indianapolis, Jackson State, Lewis, Long Island, Prairie View A&M, Quincy, Western Illinois
Conference USA Teams (10): Arkansas State, Jacksonville State, Louisiana Tech, Sacred Heart, Sam Houston, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Wichita State, Wright State, Youngstown State
Format and Schedule
The three-day Music City Classic will follow the NCAA's standard 13-match format. The 34 teams in the field will bowl in five Baker matches on Friday beginning at 10:40 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 10:30 a.m. Eastern, with total pinfall again determining the winners. The total pins from the first 10 matches of the tournament will determine seeding for bracket play on Sunday, which will consist of three matches beginning at 9:55 a.m. Eastern. The bracket matches will be contested in a best-of-seven Baker format.
Friday at 10:40 a.m. ET — Five Baker matches
Match 1 vs. Prairie View A&M — Lanes 35-36
Match 2 vs. Long Island — Lanes 41-42
Match 3 vs. No. 12 North Carolina A&T — Lanes 5-6
Match 4 vs. No. 10 Sacred Heart — Lanes 21-22
Match 5 vs. No. 11 Niagara — Lanes 27-28
Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET — Five traditional matches
Sunday at 9:55 a.m. ET — Three best-of-seven Baker matches
Recapping the Stallings Invitational
Youngstown State posted its most wins and highest finish at a tournament this season last week at the Stallings Invitational. The Penguins were 12-1 overall and finished second in the field of 21 teams, losing by one pin in game seven of the championship match to Jacksonville State.
YSU won its first 12 matches at the tournament and ran its winning streak to 16 before its loss in the title match. The Penguins beat seven ranked opponents at Triad Lanes in Greensboro, N.C., including a win over No. 6 Nebraska in the semifinals.
Amber Mason was YSU's top individual finisher in 17th place, and Kara Beissel and Liv Baskin finished 19th and 21st, respectively. The Penguins were strong in Baker play throughout the event, averaging 196.2 in qualifying and 211.1 in the best-of-seven Baker format in the bracket. In Baker matches, Kara Beissel averaged an impressive 21.67 pins per frame, while Baskin averaged 20.42 and Gianna Varano averaged 20.20.
YSU's History at the Music City Classic
Youngstown State has bowled at the Music City Classic eight times in its first nine seasons as a program, and it has placed in the top two in each of the last two seasons. The Penguins finished as the runners-up to Jacksonville State in 2023-24, and they beat the Gamecocks in a rematch last season to take home the guitar trophy.
Four Penguins have finished in the top 10 individually at the event. Rachel Darrow placed third in YSU's first appearance in 2016-17, and Kirsten Moore and Madyson Marx were top-five finishers in 2023-24. Moore was the individual champion with a five-game set of 1,170, and Marx was fifth. Marx finished ninth last season and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player for her efforts in guiding the Penguins to the team title.
2016-17 (Columbia 300 Music City Classic)
- Team finish » 20th of 35
- Head-to-head record » 3-9
- Top individual finisher » Rachel Darrow (3rd)
2017-18 (Columbia 300 Music City Classic)
- Team finish » 19th of 32
- Head-to-head record » 8-5
- Top individual finisher » Ashley Kolb (40th)
2018-19 (Columbia Music City Classic)
- Team finish » 11th of 29
- Head-to-head record » 6-6
- Top individual finisher » Nikki Mendez (17th)
2019-20 (Columbia Music City Classic)
- Team finish » 18th of 29
- Head-to-head record » 5-8
- Top individual finisher » Emma Dockery (21st)
2021-22 (Columbia Music City Classic)
- Team finish » 10th of 33
- Head-to-head record » 10-3
- Top individual finisher » Emma Dockery (35th)
2022-23 (Music City Classic)
- Team finish » 8th of 30
- Head-to-head record » 7-6
- Top individual finisher » Madyson Marx (21st)
2023-24 (Music City Classic)
- Team finish » 2nd of 33
- Head-to-head record » 9-3
- Top individual finisher » Kirsten Moore (1st)
2024-25 (Music City Classic)
- Team finish » 1st of 31
- Head-to-head record » 12-1
- Top individual finisher » Madyson Marx (9th)
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 eighth in February's National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll. YSU is seventh in the latest NCAA RPI that was posted on Feb. 8, and it is fourth in the NTCA Power Index on March 3 that measures metrics similarly to the RPI.
- Youngstown State is 63-28 overall this season for a .692 winning percentage, which would be the second-best percentage in program history. YSU is 24-12 in Baker matches, 28-8 in traditional contests and 11-8 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 20.17 pins per frame this season, and she's been the team's top scorer in Baker play with a 20.67 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 fifth to earn all-tournament team honors at the Big Red Invitational on Feb. 22, and she finished 15th at two tournaments in the fall
- Freshman Leyna Kratzer has been the team's top individual finisher in three tournaments. She finished seventh at the Chelsea Gilliam Penguin Classic to open the season, 13th at Destination Orlando and 21st at the Northeast Classic. Kratzer owns the Penguins' top average in traditional play at 207.84.
- 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 will join 11 fellow Conference USA members for the 2026 Conference USA Bowling Championship on March 18 through 22 at Colonial Lanes in Harahan, La.
