OMAHA, Neb. – The Missouri Baptist University men's and women's bowling programs started their 2021-22 season on a roll at the Midland University Invitational this past weekend.
Both teams competed in 20 Baker matches and five individual rounds in the tournament. The first day of competition consisted of five Baker matches and three individual rounds while Day Two consisted of five more Baker matches and two more individual rounds.
On Saturday, the men's team ran the table in its Baker matches compiling a perfect 5-0 record and the top spot heading into Day Two. Despite a 2-3 record on Sunday morning, MoBap's strong performance earned them a first-round bye for the Baker match tournament. The Spartans' run in the Baker bracket ended in the semifinals for a tie for third place overall.
Highlighting the individual results from the five individual rounds was a top-20 finish for
Bryce Thurman who averaged 197 pins per game with 222 pins for his best round of the tournament.
Seth Harris finished 39
th bowling on average 182 pins per game with 223 pins for his best round.
Dakoda Phelps and
Grant Smith finished inside of the Top 50 averaging 179 pins and 172 pins, respectively. Rounding out the Spartan men competing were
Zachary Johnson and
Kyle Felbab averaging 168 pins and 137 pins. As a team, men's bowling finished seventh out of 12 teams during the individual games.
The Spartan women battled in their Baker matches putting together a 2-3 record on Day One and a 3-2 record on Day Two to finish 5-5 overall. In the Baker match tournament, the ladies found themselves in a hole early in the first round, but thanks to four consecutive strikes in frames 7-10, the Spartans mounted a comeback against Barton Community College to advance into the semifinals. The Spartans failed to advance to the finals, and like the men, finished in a tie for third place.
Outside of Baker play, the women finished fifth overall out of 11 teams. Leading for Missouri Baptist was upperclassman
Meagan Odum, who finished in the Top 20 averaging 180 pins per game with a high score of 202.
Delana Mentel and
Haley Dunn both finished inside of the Top 30 averaging 179 pins and 172 pins, respectively, while
Miranda Fingerhut finished Top 50 with a 150 average.
Megan Jones and
Alex Cruez split five games between one another. Jones averaged 185 pins through three games and knocked down 213 in her final round. Cruez averaged 170 pins for her two games.
Both teams will be back in action and local to boot with the Lindenwood Lions Classic in St. Charles, Mo. on Oct. 23-24.
