By Cameron Stubbs
The Youngstown State University bowling team returned to action last weekend to participate in the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tennessee.
Youngstown State came into the tournament as the ninth-ranked team in the country.
The first day of the tournament saw successful Baker matches as the Penguins won four of their five matchups. Two of these wins came against top 25 teams as No. 18 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and No. 12 Maryville University fell to Youngstown State.
The only loss of the day came against No. 15 Tulane University as the Penguins finished the day in 14th place with a 4,852 total pinfall.
Day Two of the tournament saw more top-25 matchups as the Penguins took down No. 21 Lewis University and No. 24 Monmouth University.
The traditional matches on the day were led by seniors Emma Wrenn and Ellie Drescher and freshman Jade Cote, who all averaged over 200 pins each.
Senior Emma Dockery led the team with a total pinfall of 1,023.
“I didn’t even know i led the team until later at the hotel” Dockery said, “Let’s just try to be the best we can, lets just try to up our RPI so we get a good seed at conference.”
Wrenn feels this is the perfect time to continue this hot streak as a team as the season comes down to a close.
“I think this past weekend was the tipping point,” Wrenn said, “the Conference, Regionals, and potential Nationals, we’re just going to keep our foot on the gas pedal and continue to do what we do.”
The single loss came at the hands of the University of Central Missouri. The total pinfall on Day Two was up from the previous day. Another 4-1 day with the pins falling had the Penguins move up to 11th place in the tournament.
On Day Three, the Penguins matched up against ranked teams in all three of their bracket matches. Wins against No. 22 Lincoln Memorial University and No. 2 University of Nebraska had the Penguins riding high.
The last match against No. 7 Louisiana Tech University was a close loss as the Penguins fell 4.5-3.5.
Overall in the tournament, the Penguins placed 10th, the highest placement in school history.
Up next, the team will head south again this weekend to participate in the Southland Bowling League Championship in Harahan, Louisiana.
Keep track of scores for the three-day tournament on ysusports.com
