Statesmen Take Second Place at Heart Championship

Des Moines, Iowa–The William Penn women’s bowling team competed in the Heart of America Athletic Conference championship. They came within a few games of capturing the conference title, but fell just short and took second place.

The Statesmen finished their round of 28 Baker games in the middle of the pack among the seven teams, finishing just three pins behind Grand View and entering match play on Sunday as the #3 seed.

WPU opened up match play strong, earning a sweep over Peru State by scores of 163-156, 153-122, 190-171. The Baker Wildcats were up next, and after a back and forth affair, Baker found themselves on top in five games to send themselves to the championship round.

Next up was a faceoff against Grand View in the loser’s bracket semifinal, and after dropping the first game, the navy and gold bounced back with three consecutive victories to advance to the final round for a rematch against Baker.

The Wildcats came out strong, taking the first two games to put themselves within striking distance of the championship. William Penn responded with a game three win, but Baker won game four to take a 3-1 advantage. The Statesmen turned in two strong games to force a game seven, but found themselves at the mercy of a 275 showing from Baker to clinch the championship.

What’s Next: The Statesmen have a couple weeks off before competing in the USBC sectionals. The individual portion will take place on March 11, while team sectionals will happen on March 12 and 13.