William Penn Rallies to Earn Spot at Nationals
William Penn University Athletics
Addison, Ill.–For the second time in school history, the Statesmen men’s bowling team will be fighting for a national crown after finishing high at the Intercollegiate Team Sectionals Saturday and Sunday.
WPU entered as the fourth-highest ranked program in the field and held its seeding by placing fourth out of 23 teams with 12,817 pins. Top-ranked Robert Morris (Ill.) took the team crown with 13,183 pins.
The top four teams claimed berths to next month’s national championships. Morehead State (Ky.) and Wisconsin-Whitewater will join WPU and RMU at the 16-team national tournament in Baton Rouge, La. on April 19-22.
William Penn will be making its second-ever appearance at the ITC Nationals, having also qualified in 2012-2013 where it finished fifth.
The navy and gold were almost left for dead early after a poor first block had them in 18th place. The squad rebounded extremely well in the second 16-game set, though, posting the highest score in the field with 3,330 pins to jump all the way to seventh. WPU continued its rise, picking up two more slots in the third block to improve to fifth overall before finishing off the rally in the last block. The Statesmen held off rival Grand View by 72 pins for the sectional’s final slot.
William Penn’s lineup included Quincy Bruce (Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, General Accounting), David Decker (Fr., Peyton, Colo., Physical Education), Stian Hoff (Sr., Orkanger, Norway, General Accounting), Ryan Howard (Sr., King, N.C., Industrial Technology), Bret Keimig (Jr., Davenport, Iowa, Physical Education), Curtis Majka (Jr., Elgin, Ill., Mechanical Engineering), Lucas Perdieu (Sr., DeWitt, Iowa, General Accounting), and Nick Walker (So., Zeeland, Mich., Business Management).
The weekend was not just about team play as Friday night also featured individuals looking to advance to nationals. The top nine players in the field advanced to the final site next month, but unfortunately William Penn did not qualify anyone.
Josh Fane (Fr., Brownsville, Wis., Business Management and Accounting) topped WPU in the six-round event with 1,235 pins. Hoff and Braxton Coble (So., Ottumwa, Iowa, Business Management) also eclipsed the 1,200-pin mark with 1,214 and 1,208 pins, respectively.
Rylie Reidel (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Business Management) was next with 1,186 pins, while Bruce (1,160 pins), Perdieu (1,142), Majka (1,124), Logan Mason (So., Knoxville, Iowa, Business Management) (1,058), Decker (1,040), and Keimig (1,006) rolled as well.
