Top Qualifiers Upset in Bracket Play at MCC Championships
William Penn University Athletics
Dubuque–The William Penn men’s bowling team did all the groundwork to put itself in position for another league title, but the host program got hot at the right time at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships Saturday and Sunday.
The Statesmen led after the completion of the six regular games (6,064 pins) on Saturday and again after the 16 Baker games on Sunday (3,018 pins), resulting in the team earning the #1 seed for the Match-Play Bracket Tournament with a tally of 9,082 pins.
St. Ambrose was a distant #2 seed with 8,831 pins.
The navy and gold swept #8 seed Waldorf 2-0 (209-175, 209-129) in the quarterfinals, but were eliminated in the semifinals by #4 seed Clarke 2-1 (237-172, 152-211, 158-211). Clarke was eventually declared the MCC Champion by defeating #3 seed Viterbo 2-1 in the title match.
In topping the qualifying rounds, William Penn was named champion of Saturday’s Clarke Invitational, its third crown of the season.
Sean Rangel (Jr., Omaha, Neb., Bellevue East HS) headed all participants in the qualifier with a dominating 224.7 average (1,348 pins), 71 pins ahead of runner-up and teammate Cameron Foster (So., West Jordan, Utah, West Jordan HS), who posted a 212.8 mark.
Brandon Brooks (Sr., Sigourney, Vincennes CC) was also in the top ten, finishing seventh with a 203.7 clip. Drew Balta (So., Walford, Cedar Rapids Prairie HS) also rolled in all six games with a 180.0 average.
Nick Atkinson (Sr., Frostburg, Md., Vincennes CC) owned a five-game average of 180.6, while Alex Hoskins (Fr., Pocatello, Idaho, Century HS) knocked down 234 pins in his lone game.
William Penn also had a JV team in action in the Clarke Invitational and the squad finished sixth out of 12 teams with 8,427 pins.
Piet Schaeffer (So., Livingston, Scotland, The James Young HS) guided the JV in tenth place with a 196.7 average.
Nathan Namanny (Jr., Denison, Denison HS), with a 192.5 mark, and Conan Mackey (Fr., Bray, Ireland, St. Kilian’s School), with a 184.7 clip, and Ethan Noble (So., Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids Washington HS), with a 174.5 average, joined Schaeffer by starting all six games.
Kyle Clark (So., Aurora, Ill., Yorkville HS), with an average of 178.7, and Brandon Barboza (Fr., Brick, N.J., Brick Townshie Memorial HS), with a 169.7 mark, split the final six games with three games apiece.
Next: William Penn travels to Indianapolis, Ind. to compete in the Backhaul Direct Hoosier Classic next Saturday and Sunday.
