INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Trine University Men's Bowling competed in the first round of postseason play this past weekend at the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Team Championship (ITC) Sectionals. The top 80 teams from across the country are put into four sectional locations to compete for a spot at the ITC National Tournament.
The Thunder finished third at the event to clinch the program's first National Tournament berth. The team consisting of senior Corbin Garris, junior David Retan, sophmores Bryce Ooley and Justin Dresbach and freshmen Boston Briseno, Hayden Hale and Jackson Clark will head to the South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 18-22.
The top four teams in each sectional move on to the ITC National Tournament. The teams bowled 64 baker games (32 on Saturday, 32 Sunday) and total pinfall decides who will move on. After a steady day one, our men's team found themselves inside the top four in third. The momentum continued on Day two, as they bounced between first and second for most of the day, before dropping to fourth with one block to go before the position round.
The team bounced back with the highest four-game set in the country out of any sectional at 1018 (254.4 average) to place second with four games to play. They started the final block with 258 and 221, and wrapped up competition with a third-place finish and the programs first ever trip to the national tournament. The team averaged just over 209 for the entire 64 games. Trine was the lowest ranked team to make it out of sectional competition, beating out several of the top-10 schools in the country.