Statesmen Return to NAIA Nationals as At-Large Berth

Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s bowling team will have an opportunity to bring home a Red Banner later this month as it received an at-large bid for the sixth annual NAIA National Championship.

WPU, which earned its sixth bid in program history (five appearances; no event in 2020 due to COVID), collected one of the six at-large spots in the Championship. The event will be held March 19-21 at Royal Scot Lanes in Lansing, Mich.

An additional six squads received automatic berths to fill out the 12-team field. The at-large berths were chosen by a selection committee made up of NAIA coaches and administrators.

A new championship structure debuts this year. The teams have all been seeded with WPU earning the No. 8 seed. The Championship will feature two six-team brackets with squads competing in a double-elimination, mega-match format. The winner of each bracket will advance to the title bout on Saturday, March 21 at 1:30 p.m. (Central)

The Statesmen owned a 1-2 record a year ago to tie for fifth.

For more information on the women’s Championship, go to https://naia.prestosports.com/sports/wbowl/index

Fans can watch matches on Bowl TV, Urban Edge Network, and NAIA Network. All links will be available at https://www.naia.org/watch/index

2025-2026 Qualifiers
Calumet-St. Joseph (Ind.)–Host
Cumberland (Tenn.)–Automatic Qualifier
Lawrence Tech (Mich.)–At Large
Milligan (Tenn.)–At Large
Morningside–Automatic Qualifier
Mount Mercy–Automatic Qualifier
Ottawa (Kan.)–At Large
Pikeville (Ky.)–At Large
St. Francis (Ill.)–Automatic Qualifier
SCAD Savannah (Ga.)–Automatic Qualifier
Spring Arbor (Mich.)–Automatic Qualifier
William Penn–At-Large