Statesmen Squads Earn At-Large Bids to NAIA Nationals

Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s and women’s bowling teams will each get a shot at national crowns as they both earned berths to the first annual NAIA National Championship later this month.

WPU is one of 12 teams on both the men’s and women’s sides to make the national event. Eight programs garnered automatic bids via wins in their respective conference championships, while the navy and gold were one of four squads to collect at-large spots due to their high RPI rankings.

The Championship will take place March 26-28 at Five Star Lanes in Sterling Heights, Mich. The format will consist of Baker play to determine seeding. Teams will then compete in a double-elimination match play tournament to decide the national champion.

The Statesmen join Baker and Grand View as qualifiers in both the men’s and women’s fields. The men qualified second last year, but went 0-2 in bracket competition. The women, meanwhile, ended up fifth in qualifying, but tallied several upsets en route to a 4-2 record and a third-place finish.

Last year’s invitational titles (this is the first year at championship status) were both won by SCAD Savannah (Ga.).

Fans can watch the event online at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/naia/?SPSID=647478&SPID=100444&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=27900

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

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

Men’s Qualifiers
Baker–Automatic Qualifier
Grand View–At-Large
Hastings–At-Large
Indiana Tech–Automatic Qualifier
Lawrence Tech–Automatic Qualifier
Martin Methodist–Automatic Qualifier
Midland–At-Large
Ottawa–Automatic Qualifier
Pikeville–Automatic Qualifier
SCAD Savannah–Automatic Qualifier
St. Francis (Ill.) –Automatic Qualifier
William Penn–At-Large

Women’s Qualifiers
Baker–Automatic Qualifier
Grand View–At-Large
Indiana Tech–Automatic Qualifier
Lawrence Tech–At-Large
Lourdes–At-Large
Madonna–Automatic Qualifier
Martin Methodist–Automatic Qualifier
Midland–Automatic Qualifier
Pikeville–Automatic Qualifier
SCAD Savannah–Automatic Qualifier
St. Francis (Ill.)–Automatic Qualifier
William Penn–At-Large