Statesmen Just Miss Championship Round at Glenn Carlson Invitational

Las Vegas, Nev.–The William Penn men’s bowling team had a strong performance at the Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational, finishing in third among 42 competing teams.

Leading the way for the Statesmen was Ryan Dudley (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska, Business Management), who finished in 31st with a pin count of 1,809. Trailing close behind was Rok Kostric (Sr., Koper Slovenia, Sports Management), who placed 33rd with a total pin count of 1,805.

Aleksander Kostric (Sr., Koper, Slovenia, Sports Management) earned a top-50 placing as well, finishing 48th after knocking down 1,752 pins. Jake Cook (Sr., Keokuk, Iowa, Physical Education) and Jayson Miner (Sr., Silvis, Ill., Busines Management), who each only bowled seven of the nine individual qualifying games, still turned in effective performances, averaging 188 and 181 pins per game, respectively.

At the end of the individual rounds, the Statesmen found themselves in 12th place; good enough to qualify for bracket play, but only about 150 pins away from being knocked out with Baker play still to go. The navy and gold held steady during the Baker rounds, entering bracket play as the 12 seed.

William Penn took a 2-1 lead on the #5 seeded Calumet, but Calumet evened up the series at 2-2 to push the opening round to a fifth and final game. The Statesmen turned in a strong final performance, moving on to face #4 University of Tennessee Southern.

After dropping the opening game, William Penn came storming back with three consecutive victories, sending them to the semifinals where they matched up with #9 St. Francis. After St. Francis took the first two games, the navy and gold made things interesting with two straight wins, but unfortunately could not complete their outrageous comeback, losing 279-191 in the final game of the semifinals.

What’s Next: The Statesmen had the quickest of turnarounds and are participating in the Las Vegas Collegiate Shoot-Out. The tournament will conclude tomorrow.