SALINA, Kan. – Midland University’s bowling teams took part in the NAIA Unaffiliated Group Championships this past weekend. The two-day tournament consisted of qualifying Baker games on Saturday and then bracketed tournament play on Sunday. Both the men’s and women’s teams dominated on day one as both sides placed first in the qualifier standings.
The women placed first with a score of 5,368, which was 321 pins more than the next closest school. The men’s team finished with a score of 5,795, which paced the closest competing school by 626 pins.
On the women’s side, the Warriors’ first-place standing earned them a bye for the first round of the single-elimination tournament on Sunday. Their first match was against Kansas Wesleyan University in the second round. The Warriors won the best of five series, 3-1.
In the championship round, Midland faced Ottawa University. In a tight, best of seven series, the teams battled to a 2-2 tie, and then 3-3. A dominant deciding game performance propelled the Warriors to their second straight conference title, winning the event last year. With the win they also earned an automatic bid to the Inaugural NAIA National Championships in Sterling Heights, Michigan later this month.
The Warriors men’s team also earned a first-round bye and would be pitted against Ottawa University in the second round of the tournament. Similar to the women, the men’s team dropped the first game but then won three consecutive games to win the best of five series, 3-1.
In the finals, Midland met up with the second-seeded Kansas Wesleyan. The Warriors fell into an early hole and were down 3-0 going into the fourth game. Facing elimination, the Warriors battled all the way back to force a winner-take-all game seven.
Unfortunately, the Warriors fell short in the final game and finished as runner-up in the tournament. They will now need one of six at-large berths for the NAIA National Tournament.
Head coach Bill Holbrook had this to say about his team’s efforts, “I am so proud of both teams, not only for how they came out and performed this weekend but for all of their hard work, patience, and resolve during this past few months when nothing has gone according to plan and things are far from normal.”
The bowling teams, which also compete in the USBC Collegiate, will be back on the lanes this weekend at the Jayhawk Collegiate in Lawrence, Kansas. The two-day tournament will be on March 13-14 at Royal Crest Lanes.
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