RESULTS

DAYTON, Ohio – The McKendree women’s team will bowl for the Intercollegiate Team Championships title for the third consecutive year and the Lawrence Tech men’s team will take its first shot at a national title after both teams went undefeated in match play on Friday.

Their opponents, the Robert Morris-Illinois women and Webber International men, each had to beat a defending champion twice in the double-elimination bracket to reach the title match.

The championship matches of the 2019 Intercollegiate Team Championships are set for Saturday at Poelking Lanes South. The women’s title match will take place at 11 a.m. Eastern and the men’s final is at 5:15 p.m. Eastern.

The 2019 Intercollegiate Singles Championships semifinals and finals also are Saturday, with the men’s championship round starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern and the women’s finals at 3:15 p.m. Eastern.

Lawrence Tech, in its second trip to the ITC, reached the finals by topping Calumet – twice. After falling to the Blue Devils, 4-3, Calumet worked its way through the Contenders bracket to force a rematch.

But Lawrence Tech posted games of 288, 228 and 225 to take a 3-0 lead in the second meeting and when junior Kyle McGrath stepped up in the final frame needing 27 pins to put his team in the final, he struck on his first two shots and got nine on the fill ball to clinch the match with a 229-226 victory.

“The feeling is kind of unreal, I think I’m still in shock,” said McGrath, who also will bowl for a singles title on Saturday. “We’ve been working our way up to this, and now that we’re making a run for the national title, I think it helps to put Lawrence Tech on the map not only as a bowling school, but as an engineering school.”

Lawrence Tech will face Webber International, which was swept by defending champion McKendree in the second round of match play and had to come back through the Contenders bracket.

The Warriors handed McKendree its first loss in the bracket, 4-2, to force a deciding game and then rolled to a 4-0 victory over the Bearcats.

“Physically, I feel like this is the best I’ve bowled since I’ve been in college,” said senior Matt Russo, the 2018-2019 National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association’s Most Valuable Player. “To do that at this stage, against these top teams and to come through in the clutch, is something I always wanted to do.”

In earning its third consecutive trip to the ITC title match, the McKendree women’s team rolled to a 4-1 victory over 2019 NCAA champion Stephen F. Austin before taking a 4-3 victory over Delaware State.

Junior Breanna Clemmer, a member of the Bearcats teams that swept the ITC and the NCAA titles in 2017 and were the runners-up in both events in 2018, also will bowl in the ISC finals.

“I have a goal list and being on the singles show, and winning a singles title, is on my list,”  Clemmer said. “I also want to be a national champion again with my girls because that was an amazing feeling.”

The Robert Morris-Illinois women’s trip to the national-title match has taken a bit longer. The team qualified for the ITC for the first time since 2015 and the Eagles were undefeated in match play until running into defending champion Lindenwood.

After a 4-3 loss, Robert Morris-Illinois rebounded with a 4.5-0.5 victory to reach the title match.

“We’ve missed the last three years, and making it here was obviously an accomplishment,” senior Courtney Ermisch said. “But now going to go and try to win a natty … I can’t describe it.”

Saturday’s final rounds of the Intercollegiate Team and Singles Championships will be taped for broadcast on CBS Sports Network. The air dates for the shows (all times Eastern) are: ISC women, April 23 at 11 p.m.; ISC men, April 30 at 8 p.m.; ITC women, May 7 at 8 p.m.; and ITC men, May 14 at 8 p.m.

The 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams qualified for the ITC field by finishing in the top four at one of four sectional events held in March. On Thursday, teams bowled 24 Baker qualifying games to determine seeding for the double-elimination bracket.

BowlTV.com provided live coverage of all qualifying and match-play rounds of the Intercollegiate Team and Singles Championships leading up to the televised finals.

Visit BOWL.com/ITC for more information on the Intercollegiate Team Championships.

INTERCOLLEGIATE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Poelking Lanes South, Dayton, Ohio
Friday’s Match-Play Results
(Double-elimination, best-of-7)

MEN’S DIVISION
Third Round (Contenders bracket)
William Penn def. Wichita State, 4-2
St. Ambrose def. Emmanuel, 4-3
St. Francis-Illinois def. Lindenwood, 4-3
Notre Dame College def. SCAD-Savannah, 4-2

Fourth Round (Contenders bracket)
Webber International def. William Penn, 4-3
St. Ambrose def. Grand Canyon, 4.5-1.5
Rochester Tech def. St. Francis-Illinois, 4-2
Notre Dame College def. William Paterson, 4-1

Fifth Round
McKendree def. Wis.-Whitewater, 4-3
Lawrence Tech def. Calumet, 4-3
(Contenders bracket)
Webber International def. St. Ambrose, 4-2
Notre Dame College def. Rochester Tech, 4-2

Sixth Round
(Contenders bracket)
Webber International def. Wis.-Whitewater, 4-3
Calumet def. Notre Dame College, 4-1

Seventh Round
Lawrence Tech def. Calumet, 4-0 (Calumet eliminated)
Webber International def. McKendree, 4-2

Eighth Round
Webber International def. McKendree, 4-0 (McKendree eliminated)

WOMEN’S DIVISION
Third Round (Contenders bracket)
Delaware State def. Maryland Eastern Shore, 4-2
Mount Mercy def. Alabama-Birmingham, 4-2
Duquesne def. St. Francis-Illinois, 4-1
Wichita State def. St. Ambrose, 4-2

Fourth Round (Contenders bracket)
Delaware State def. Webber International, 4-2
Pikeville def. Mount Mercy, 4-1
Duquesne def. William Penn, 4-3
Wichita State def. Indiana Tech, 4-2

Fifth Round
McKendree def. Stephen F. Austin, 4-1
Robert Morris-Illinois def. Lindenwood, 4.5-3.5
(Contenders bracket)
Delaware State def. Pikeville, 4-2
Duquesne def. Wichita State, 4-3

Sixth Round
(Contenders bracket)
Delaware State def. Stephen F. Austin, 4-1
Lindenwood def. Duquesne, 4-3

Seventh Round
McKendree def. Delaware State, 4-3 (Delaware State eliminated)
Lindenwood def. Robert Morris-Illinois, 4-3

Eighth Round
Robert Morris-Illinois def. Lindenwood, 4.5-0.5 (Lindenwood eliminated)

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
(All times Eastern)
ISC Men’s Semifinals (8:30 pm.)
Daniel Hanson, Robert Morris-Illinois vs. Matt Hibbard, Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Tom Hankey Jr., Webber International vs. Kyle McGrath, Lawrence Tech
ISC Men’s Finals
Semifinal winners

ITC Women’s Finals (11 a.m.)
McKendree vs. Robert Morris-Illinois

ISC Women’s Semifinals (3:15 p.m.)
Breanna Clemmer, McKendree vs. Sierra Kanemoto, Wichita State
Karsyn Lukosius, Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Jordan Newham, Vanderbilt
ISC Women’s Finals
Semifinal winners

ITC Men’s Finals (5:15 p.m.)
Lawrence Tech vs. Webber International

About International Bowling Campus
The International Bowling Campus (IBC) is the headquarters for the bowling industry and directly serves the more than 69 million bowlers in the United States. The IBC houses the resources of the United States Bowling Congress, the governing body and membership organization for the sport; the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America, representing the business interests of bowling centers; IBC Youth Development; Strike Ten Entertainment, the marketing arm for the industry; the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame; the International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association; the International Bowling Media Association; the Bowling News Network; the Billiard and Bowling Institute of America; and the International Training and Research Center.

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