Statesmen Take Pair of Seconds at NAIA West Weekend
Lawrence, Kan.–The William Penn men’s bowling team claimed silver on both days as it competed in a unique format at the NAIA West Weekend Saturday and Sunday.
The weekend was split into two separate events with both days featuring head-to-head battles against other programs. The team with the best match play record on the day was determined the champion.
Saturday’s action was five rounds of individual play with WPU tying for second out of 17 teams with a 4-1 match play record. The navy and gold won the tiebreaker, however, by tallying the highest number of total pins at 4,844. Ottawa (Kan.) won the first day with a 5-0 record.
Sunday’s action was 25 games of Baker play with William Penn again tying for second in the 17-team standings with a 4-1 record. Fortunately, the squad again claimed the tiebreaker with highest pinfall (5,090). Hastings (Neb.) headed the second day with a 5-0 record.
Overall, WPU managed an 8-2 record with 9,934 pins.
The first day’s individual play consisted of 109 bowlers with Matthew Berg of Ottawa leading the standings with a 226.0 average (1,130 pins).
Aidan Piet (So., Meridian, Idaho, Business Management) guided the Statesmen on Saturday as he placed 17th with a 200.2 average (1,001 pins), including three rounds in the 200s.
Bryce Keykal (Sr., Princeton, Minn., Applied Mathematics) was right behind Piet with a 199.4 average, while Conor Fetherston (Jr., Dublin, Ireland, Software Engineering) also started all five rounds with a 178.8 clip.
Noah Kidwell (So., Bettendorf, Iowa, Secondary Education) started just four games, but had the highest average of any Statesmen at 217.8 (all four games in the 200s, high of 235).
Joseph Woods-Weisman (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn., New Media) led the remaining WPU rollers with a 187.3 average in three games. Landon Piet (Fr., Meridian, Idaho, Biology), with a 175.0 average in two games, and Connor Rissi (Sr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Psychology), with a 169 in his lone round, also competed for William Penn.
“Overall, this was a good weekend for us,” Head Coach Cameron Foster said. “We still have some things to work on to prepare for postseason, but I am excited for the direction we are headed.”
Next Up: William Penn wraps up its regular season by traveling to Indianapolis, Ind. on Saturday and Sunday, February 15-16 to compete in the Hoosier Classic.
