Statesmen Conclude Holiday Trip with Fourth-Place Showing

William Penn University Athletics

Las Vegas, Nev.–Against some of the best competition from mostly Division 1 schools, the William Penn men’s bowling team again found itself near the top of the heap as it competed in the Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational on December 20-21.

The Statesmen placed fourth out of 38 teams in the qualifying, and as the fourth seed, reached the semifinals before being knocked out by eventual champion Wichita State (Kan.).

William Penn tallied 9,301 pins in nine regular games (no Bakers), while Wichita State claimed the qualifying crown with 9,539 pins.

In bracket play, the navy and gold defeated #13 seed Weber State (Utah) 3-0 and then slipped past #9 Pikeville (Ky.) 3.5-2.5 before succumbing to the Shockers 2-0 in the semis.

Brandon Brooks (Sr., Sigourney, Vincennes CC) paced the Statesmen charge by finishing 15th with a 210.0 average (1,890 pins). Sean Rangel (Jr., Omaha, Neb., Bellevue East HS) was just two pins behind him with another top-20 finish (17th) at 209.8.

Alex Hoskins (Fr., Pocatello, Idaho, Century HS) was next with a 205.9 average. The trio rolled all nine games, while Cameron Foster (So., West Jordan, Utah, West Jordan HS) posted a 198.1 mark in eight games.

Nick Atkinson (Sr., Frostburg, Md., Vincennes CC) produced the best results on his team with a 216.6 clip in five games and Drew Balta (So., Walford, Cedar Rapids Prairie HS) knocked down 200.4 pins per game in five competitions.

Next: The Statesmen are off a few weeks before traveling to South Bend, Ind. to compete in the Blue-Gold Classic on January 21-22.