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KANSAS CITY – The University of Ottawa Men’s JV Bowling team took first place this weekend at the first annual Eagle Invitational hosted by the University of Avila. The girls varsity team took second place while the boys varsity team took third place.
The field included 12 teams in the men’s varsity division and 11 women’s varsity programs. All teams pitched five traditional games and 16 Baker games to determine seeding for the single-elimination bracket, based on total pinfall.
Each team on the field advanced to the group. In the men’s group, the top four teams received a bye into the first round. In the women’s division, the top five teams received a bye from the opening round competition.
In the men’s division, Iowa Central Community College set the pace during qualifying to earn the top seed for the bracket, finishing with a total of 7,835. Baker finished second with 7,732, The Braves finished third with 7,710, and Kansas Wesleyan earned the final bye of the first round with 7,548.
Jerry Jennings had the third-best individual score with 1.017, Culver-Stockton’s River VanVeghel finished fourth with 1.015, and Baker’s Zachery Brehm rounded out the top five with 1.007.
Baker topped the top seed during women’s qualifying, finishing with a total of 7,426. Ottawa was second with 7,307, while Iowa Central CC was third with 7,182. Columbia (6,776) and Avila (6,495) earned their final two byes through qualifying and faced each other in the second round.
Avila managed to defeat Columbia before eliminating Baker to advance to the finals. The Braves advanced as well, beating No. 8 College of Saint Mary and the Iowa Central CC to set the stage against Avila.
The Eagles were able to secure the title in their home event, defeating OU in the championship game.
Columbia’s Breanne West finished in second with 960 and was trailed in the standings by Culver-Stockton’s Kassidy Young (943), OU’s Allie Williams (941), and Iowa Central CC’s Madisyn Gerdts (928). Williams was named in the all-tournament first team.
Next: The Braves head to Baldwin City on February 12 for the Wildcat Invitational hosted by Baker University.
