By John Ostapowicz
The Youngstown State University women’s bowling team traveled to Deptford, New Jersey, this past weekend to compete in the Northeast Classic at Bowlero Deptford. The three-day tournament kicked off at 10:55 a.m. Friday, Jan. 21 with a strong start to the day.
The team was able to set a new standard for the highest Baker’s match with 1,164 pins. The team’s five-match total of 5,321 pins was also a new school record by more than 100 pins as the previous record was 5,229 pins, which was set back in February 2021.
The high pinfall put Youngstown State in second place in the tournament behind Vanderbilt, with one more day of qualifying.
Women’s bowling head coach Doug Kuberski reflected on last semester and said the team needs to improve its execution, teambuilding and communication skills.
“We took a lot of our notes and reflections from the semester break and did a solid job as a group putting them into our process,” Kuberski said in an interview with ysusports.com
Junior Megan Grams, sophomore Madyson Marx, sophomore Kirsten Moore, freshman Jade Cote and senior Emma Wrenn bowled from start to finish as they topped 1,040 pins in four of their five sets.
The Youngstown State bowling team also captured a victory over No. 12 ranked Duquesne University 1,045-958, as well as a win over 17th-ranked Long Island University 1,075-926.
The Penguins also won against 18th-ranked University of Maryland-Eastern Shore 1,1164-999. In the team’s only loss of the day, it fell to 14th-ranked Delaware State 930-1,107.
On Saturday, Jan. 22, the women’s bowling team was able to earn a pair of wins over top-five ranked opponents to earn a chance to compete for a tournament title Jan. 23.
As a team, the Penguins went 3-2 in head-to-head matches on Saturday as they were able to add 5,075 pins to their record-breaking total from Friday’s matches. The 5,075 pinfall was the second-highest total pinfall for a traditional round in program history.
The women finished just three pins behind Vanderbilt University with a pin total of 10,396 in their 10 qualifying matches.
Individually, Wrenn was the difference maker as she had the second best five-game set of her career with 1,076 pins allowing her to tie for 16th place.
Grams was only 11 pins behind her fellow teammate with 1,065 pins, placing 23rd.
Moore finished 30th with 1,039 pins, Cote placed 58th with 949 pins, and Marx placed 59th with 946 pins.
On Sunday, Jan. 23, the Youngstown State bowling team made school history by defeating top-ranked Sam Houston State University twice to finish third at the Northeast Classic. It was the first time in school history that the Penguins beat the NTCA top-ranked team.
Youngstown State averaged a whopping 217.6 pins, which made school history as the team’s highest tournament average.
Kuberski felt that over the three-day tournament, the team grew closer and worked in sync with each other as well as having fun down the stretch.
The Youngstown State bowling team is on the road Jan. 28-30 at the Prairie View A&M University Invitational at the Training and Research Center in Arlington, Texas.
