FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. - McKendree University men's bowling entered three teams at its home McKendree Baker Challenge tournament held this past weekend at St. Clair Bowl. The Bearcats' varsity team placed 5-8th in the ten-team bracket while junior varsity team one placed first and junior varsity team two placed 3-4th in the seven-team JV bracket.
The two-day event featured 40 Baker matches on day one and "best of three" bracket play on day two.
McKendree's varsity team included junior Connor Brink, fifth-year senior Daniel Chin, freshman Ethan Gomez, senior Jake Feher, senior Jorge Rodriguez, and junior Nicholas Blagojevic who tallied an 8,154 total pinfall in the Baker matches on day one. The Bearcats averaged 203.9 pins per game and recorded 235 pins in their highest game of the day.
With its pinfall, McKendree was seeded fourth in bracket play, and matched up with fifth-seeded Midland in the first round. Midland took the victory over McKendree 2-0 and would ultimately defeat Newman for the title in the varsity bracket.
In men's junior varsity play, McKendree had two teams in the seven-team pool. JV Team 1 featured junior Alec Blaydes, sophomore Brenden Carney, freshman Caleb Leonard, freshman Darren Zombro, junior Garrett Lee, junior Jeremy Kinealy, junior Kolby Bennett, and junior Kristopher Walter. JV Team 2 included sophomore Andrew Connors, freshman Brenden Meyer, sophomore Darrian Quick, sophomore David Johnson, junior Donovan Vincent, junior Gavin Davidson, junior Kyle Hintz, and freshman Nathaniel Myers.
On day one, McKendree Team 1 posted a pinfall of 7,978 with an average of 199.5 while McKendree Team 2 recorded a 7,504 total pinfall and a 187.6 average. With its totals, Team 1 received a No. 1 seed and Team 2 received a No. 3 seed in bracket play.
McKendree Team 2 was defeated 2-0 by Lindenwood Team 1 in the first round as McKendree Team 1 took a 2-1 victory over Newman Team 2. In the championship, McKendree Team 1 sealed the title with a 2-1 win over the Lions.
Coming up, the Bearcats will be back in action at the Backhaul Direct Hoosier Classic in Indianapolis, Ind. on Feb. 18-19.
