BOWLING

The HU bowling program had a full weekend at the Hoosier Classic where they essentially competed in four separate tournaments.

“The Hoosier Classic is the most prestigious regular season tournament of the year, and this was definitely a unique year due to COVID restrictions with the city of Indianapolis and each individual school,” said Coach Mike Shockey. “This year’s tournament was by far the longest format I’ve seen at the collegiate level.

“Between Saturday and Sunday, we bowled ten team games and 50 baker games. This roughly means the teams were in the bowling centers for about ten hours a day competing on some of the toughest shots of the year against some of the best bowling teams in the country.”

The Huntington men were paced by Dylan Crowley who posted a 209 average (1046 total pins) in Saturday’s five team games where his team took 12th out of 18 teams with a total score of 4626. In baker play later that day, HU tallied 4696 pins for 20th out of 23 teams.

On Sunday, Shockey’s crew totaled 4242 pins for 25th place out of 33 teams in the morning before finishing fourth out of nine in baker play with 4715 pins to wrap up the weekend.

“The guys bowled at Expo Bowl and we feel like we played the lanes well and did a good job with adjusting as the lane conditions transitioned throughout each tournament,” said Shockey. “It was our spare shooting that cost us placing higher in each event.

“It was a long grueling weekend and when we’re missing makeable spares, it can feel even longer and more grueling. I am really proud of our guys – we didn’t have the results we were looking for, but they kept fighting and grinding each game. They have a tenacity that will prove to be dangerous now that we are going to be heading into postseason play soon.”

On the women’s side, Jessica Fraser highlighted the weekend by claiming fifth individually in Saturday morning’s five team games to earn All-Tournament honors with her 201 five-game average (1005 total pins). As a team, the Foresters finished third out of 16 teams with a score of 4567.

The evening consisted of 25 baker games and saw Huntington place fifth out of a field of 31 teams with a pin total of 4428. Sunday was the same format with HU taking ninth out of 31 teams with 4487 pins in team play and sixth out of eight teams in baker play with 4090 pins.

“The ladies bowled at Western Bowl and had a roller coaster ride of a weekend,” noted Shockey. “We had moments where everything seemed to be going the right way to make a run at winning, then unexpectedly our shot-making went south, and our spare shooting was even worse.

“Much like the guys, the lack of consistent good spare shooting is what cost us a chance to win multiple tournaments this weekend, but I was still very proud of the ladies. This was the hardest tournament they have every bowled in. Despite poor spare shooting on our part, we were still competitive in three out of the four tourneys this weekend. They girls are a good team. I think they proved to themselves that they can bowl with any team.”

Next up for the Foresters are the WHAC Championships on February 27.