Mustang bowlers wrap up season at ITC/ISC

ADDISON, Ill. -- Mount Mercy wrapped up another successful bowling campaign at the Intercollegiate Team Championships and Intercollegiate Singles Championships last weekend at Stardust Bowl.

Both teams had to fight back through the consolation bracket in an attempt to reach the finals. The Mustang women's squad, making their third-straight appearance at nationals, finished 14th in qualifying to draw third-seeded Maryville in the opening round of match play. Mount Mercy edged Maryville, 4-3, before a 4-3 loss to sixth-seeded St. Francis in round two.

That dropped the Mustangs into the consolation bracket where they faced seventh-seeded Lawrence Tech and cruised to a 4-1 win. The season came to a close in the next round, however, as 10th-seeded Sam Houston State defeated Mount Mercy, 4-2. Fifth-seeded Stephen F. Austin went on to win the national championship with a 3-0 sweep of second-seeded Wichita State in the finals.

On the men's side, in their second consecutive nationals berth, ninth-seeded Mount Mercy lost to eighth-seeded Wisconsin-Whitewater, 4-1, in the first round of match play. The Mustangs bounced back with a 4-2 victory over 16th-seeded Texas-Southern in the consolation bracket before bowing out after a 4-2 defeat at the hands of 12th-seeded McKendree. Wisconsin-Whitewater, Mount Mercy's first round opponent, also emerged from the consolation bracket to win the national title with a 3-2 victory over third-seeded Wichita State in the finals.

Mount Mercy standouts Kai Yamada and Elena Carr competed in the Intercollegiate Singles Championships earlier in the week. Yamada qualified 14th with a total pinfall of 1,140 over six games and defeated 19th-seeded Alec Keplinger of Wichita State, 603-559, in the first round of match play. In round two, third-seeded Seth Gass of McKendree ended Yamada's run, 639-612. Second-seeded Brandon Vallone of William Paterson was crowned national champion after a 184-158 victory over top-seeded Nathan Stubler of St. Ambrose in the finals.

Carr tallied 1,068 total pins during six games of qualifying to earn the 22nd seed in match play. In the first round of bracket play, she took on 11th-seeded Chloe Skurzynski of Stephen F. Austin and came up short, 637-522. Skurzynski went on to win the singles title, however, beating ninth-seeded Olivia Farwell of Duquesne, 202-167, in the finals.