William Penn Places in Top 20 at Leatherneck Classic
Moline, Ill.–The Statesmen men’s bowling team continued its fall campaign with a top-half finish at the ISYL Leatherneck Classic last Saturday and Sunday.
WPU finished 18th out of 45 teams with 8,963 pins, while St. Ambrose topped qualifying with 10,077 pins. Entering as the #5 seed, Indiana Tech upset SAU in the semifinals of match play and then dropped #2 seed Wichita State (Kan.) in the championship match for the trophy.
Spencer Robarge of Wichita State won the individual crown, topping the 426-player field with an average of 242.5 pins in six games (1,455 total pins).
Jayson Miner (Sr., Silvis, Ill., Business Management) fared well in his season debut, guiding the navy and gold by posting a 212.0 average (1,272 pins) with four games over 200 (high of 249).
Jake Cook (Sr., Keokuk, Iowa, Physical Education) also rolled in all six games with an average of 195.2 pins.
Jared Smith (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, General Accounting) averaged 208.0 pins over the span of five rounds, while Connor Rissi (So., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Undecided), at 185.8, and Bryce Keykal (So., Princeton, Minn., Education), at 180.0, both competed four times.
Conor Fetherston (Fr., Dublin, Ireland) tallied a 204.7 clip in three games, and Kody Sapp (Jr., Donnelson, Iowa, Sociology) concluded the varsity scoring at 173.0 (two games).
William Penn’s JV was also in competition and placed eighth out of 17 teams in the JV standings with 8,503 pins. Garraty Richmond (Jr., Ottumwa, Iowa, Digital Communication) headlined the second team with a 196.7 average.
“We saw a lot of glimpses of what we are capable of this weekend,” Head Coach Cameron Foster said. “We started off strong in individual play, but hit some tough pairs we could not rebound from. Conversely, we struggled to get comfortable in Baker play, but finished on a strong note. Our players are putting in a lot of work and it is starting to pay off. We still have some things to work on, but there have been definite signs of improvement. I look forward to watching us continue to grow as a team as we enter into the heart of our season.”
Next Up: The Statesmen travel to Addison, Ill. on December 3-4 to compete in the Warhawk Open.
