Collegiate Ticker - Dec. 22, 2021

The South Point Bowling Plaza was the place to be for more than 70 varsity collegiate bowling programs over a four-day stretch as a pair of Tier I events were contested in Las Vegas.

The Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational kicked off the competition at South Point on Saturday and Sunday, with the Pikeville men and Tennessee Southern women recording the bracket wins.

The Tennessee Southern women completed the sweep at the Collegiate Shoot-Out on Monday and Tuesday and were joined in the winner's circle by the Wichita State men.

The Las Vegas Invitational featured 42 men's varsity programs and 31 women's varsity teams. Qualifying consisted of nine traditional games, with the top 16 men's and top eight women's teams advancing to the bracket. All bracket matches featured a best-of-five Baker format to determine the champion in each division.

In the men's division, Pikeville entered the bracket as the No. 2 seed and defeated No. 15 Grand Canyon (3-2), No. 10 Saint Xavier (3-0) and No. 6 Emmanuel (3-1) to advance to the finals to face No. 9 St. Francis-Illinois.

St. Francis-Illinois' path to the finals included wins over No. 8 Oklahoma Christian (3-1), No. 1 Wichita State (3.5-2.5) and No. 12 William Penn (3-2).

In the men's championship match, Pikeville won the first game, 216-177, but St. Francis-Illinois recorded wins in Games 2 and 3 to take a 2-1 advantage. Pikeville took Game 4, 213-210, and recorded another three-pin win in Game 5, 209-206, to win the bracket, 3-2.

Wichita State earned the top seed with a 9,251 total and was followed by Pikeville (9,142) and Webber International (9,129). St. Francis-Illinois was ninth with 8,908, and Wisconsin-Oshkosh claimed the final spot in the bracket by finishing 16th with 8,585.

Alec Dudley of St. Francis-Illinois put together the top individual performance in the men's division, leading the way with a nine-game total of 2,068, a 229.77 average.

Dudley was joined in the top five by Wichita State's Spencer Robarge (2,000), Oklahoma Christian's Joshua Imhoff (1,996), Nevada-Las Vegas' Andrew Guba (1,959) and Emmanuel's David Hopper (1,952).

On the women's side, Tennessee Southern made its way to the final as the No. 6 seed, defeating No. 3 St. Francis-Illinois (3-0) and No. 7 Oklahoma Christian (3-1).

William Penn qualified as the No. 4 seed and recorded wins over No. 5 Midland (3-2) and No. 8 Saint Xavier (3.5-2.5) to set up the title tilt against Tennessee Southern.

Tennessee Southern won the first two games in the title match (214-162, 213-170), but William Penn captured Game 3, 202-165. Tennessee Southern picked up the victory, 3-1, by winning Game 4, 200-193.

Wichita State led qualifying with a 9,158 total, while Pikeville (8,700) and St. Francis-Illinois (8,456) were second and third, respectively. William Penn was fourth (8,337), Tennessee Southern was sixth (8,242) and Saint Xavier advanced in eighth with 8,195.

William Penn's Gabriella Evans earned top individual honors in the women's division, finishing qualifying with a 1,912 total (212.44 average). Pikeville's Erica Warne was second with 1,897.

The final three student-athletes in the top five of the individual standings represented Wichita State. Juliana Botero was third with 1,896 and was followed by teammates Addie Herzberg (1,879) and Olivia Komorowski (1,827).

The Collegiate Shoot-Out featured 32 women's varsity teams and 42 men's varsity squads. All teams bowled six traditional games and 16 Baker games to determine the eight teams in each division advancing to the following round.

The eight teams were split into two semifinals, with four-game Baker totals determining the two teams advancing to the final from each group. The finals featured the same format, with total pinfall determining the champion.

In the women's division, Tennessee Southern started its move to a second consecutive victory by qualifying in seventh place with an 8,493 total to advance.

After advancing from their semifinal, the Firehawks joined Wichita State, St. Francis-Illinois and Baker in the championship round.

Tennessee Southern held an 11-pin lead over St. Francis-Illinois and a 22-pin advantage over Wichita State after three games. The Firehawks rolled 201 in the final game to maintain their spot at the top, finishing the final block with a 794 total.

St. Francis-Illinois was second with 785, Wichita State was third with 782 and Baker was fourth with 737.

Wichita State also led qualifying at the Collegiate Shoot-Out, finishing with a 9,295 total. St. Francis-Illinois (8,823) and Saint Xavier (8,776) followed in the standings, and Webber finished eighth with an 8,459 total.

Wichita State's Botero claimed a second top-five finish in Las Vegas after pacing the women's field at the Collegiate Shoot-Out, posting a six-game score of 1,322 (220.33).

Baker's Caitlin Lucas was second with 1,309, and Wichita State's Sarah Klassen was third with 1,272. Wichita State's Komorowski collected another top-five finish and placed fourth with 1,247, and Waldorf's Baili Girkin finished fifth with 1,243.

In the men's division, Wichita State advanced to the bonus round by finishing qualifying in second place with a 9,622 total.

The four-team final featured the Shockers, Webber, Concordia and Tennessee Southern.

After three games, Webber held a six-pin lead over Wichita State, while Tennessee Southern still was in the mix, just 20 pins out of the lead.

Wichita State posted 210 in the final game to jump ahead of Webber to record the victory with an 819 total. Webber held onto second with 797, while Tennessee Southern finished third with 796. Concordia was fourth with 777.

Webber led qualifying at the Collegiate Shoot-Out with a 9,830 total. St. Francis-Illinois was third with 9,513, and William Penn earned the final spot in the semifinals with a 9,321 total to finish in eighth place.

The men's program at St. Francis-Illinois collected its second consecutive individual win in Las Vegas, as Theron Mitchell finished at the top of the leaderboard with a 1,445 total, a 240.83 average.

Mitchell was followed in the standings by Tennessee Southern's Hayden Stippich (1,412), San Jose State's Kcirde Santos (1,379), Fresno State's Riely Chin (1,370) and Webber's AJ Wolstenholme (1,356).

For the full schedule of collegiate events, results and more, visit BOWL.com/Collegiate and CollegeBowling.Bowl.com.