Bowling Finishes Fourth at Wildcat Challenge

Lawrence, Kan. – The Columbia College women’s bowling team traveled to Lawrence, Kan. to participate in the two-day Wildcat Challenge over the weekend. 

The team bowled 16 baker games plus two team games on Saturday, followed by three team games on Sunday morning. The field was then cut to the top-eight teams for match play.
The Cougars got off to a slow start on Saturday but had a strong finish. After the 16 baker and two team games, the team entered Sunday’s three-team games in eighth-place. 
 
After the three-team games, Columbia moved up one spot to seventh and earned a spot in match play. 
 
Matchplay consisted of two pods with four teams in each pod. Each pod rolled four baker games, with the top two teams moving on to a final four baker games. 
 
Columbia was matched with No. 2-seed Baker, No. 3-seed Midland, and No. 6-seed Hastings. The Cougars finished the baker games with a total pinfall of 820 (196-170-235-219) and placed second in the pod behind Baker. 
 
Columbia was fourth after games one and two. After game three, the Cougars were still fourth but trailed second-place Baker by 40 pins and Ottawa (third-place) by 32 pins. The tournament winner was determined by the total pinfall of the final four baker games. 
 
The Cougars shot their best game of the set in game four but fell short of third-place by 16 pins. Columbia shot (178-148-176-192) in the final set for a total pinfall of 694.
William Penn won the tournament, followed by Ottawa and Baker. 
 
Columbia College Team Result: 
4th out of 11
 
Head Coach Damon Helgevold:
“Outstanding effort this weekend by everyone. We had no business competing for a finals spot, but we buckled down and shot our best baker set of the year and one of our best baker games of the season. We struggled in Baker games on Saturday at times, but I knew we could score well in these games because we do it in practice often. Finally, translating it to the competition lanes was gratifying to see. 
 
 A 4th place finish and 7th place power points finish is such a great weekend considering it was a last-minute addition. Sure, we left a lot of pins out there and won’t get the power points we probably need, but man, I’m so happy and super proud of this effort to battle and ultimately upset a really good team in match play. 
 
 Our energy was phenomenal, and execution today was probably the best it’s been all year. The other nice thing is everyone, all eight ladies, contributed to this effort this weekend. 
 
Now we take this excellent result into a loaded weekend at the Hoosier Classic. It’s one of the best tournaments in the country, and I’m excited to take this team to see how we stack up.”
 
Up Next:
The Cougars competes in the Hoosier Classic on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 19-20, in Indianapolis, Ind. This is the final regular-season tournament for the squad.