Men lead qualifying, women fourth at Hoosier Classic

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Mount Mercy men's bowling team led qualifying and the Mustang women's squad was fourth at the Hoosier Classic over the weekend. Both teams advanced to match play at the final Tier 1 tournament of the season for the Mustangs. Zach Andresen, who finished fifth individually, and Nada Abdul Jalil, who was runner-up on the women's side, made the all-tournament teams.

The Mustangs were fourth out of 66 teams in women's qualifying. Pikeville took the top spot with 9,378 pins over six team games and 15 Baker games. Wichita State was second (9,315), SCAD Savannah third (9,210), Mount Mercy fourth (9,061), Oklahoma Christian fifth (8,881), Milligan sixth (8,788), Webber International seventh (8,693), and Saint Xavier eighth (8,672).

In the match play quarterfinals, it was fifth-seeded Oklahoma Christian sneaking past the Mustangs, 2-1. Top-seeded Pikeville defeated eighth-seeded Saint Xavier, 2-0, third-seeded SCAD Savannah beat sixth-seeded Milligan, 2-0, and second-seeded Wichita State advanced, 2-1, over seventh-seeded Webber International.

Semifinal action saw Pikeville falling to Oklahoma Christian, 2-1, and Wichita State moving past SCAD Savannah, 2-1. In the finals, Wichita State came out on top, 3-1.

In men's qualifying, it was Mount Mercy that led a loaded field of 78 teams with a total pinfall of 9,451 after six team games and 15 Baker games. That was nearly 100 pins better than runner-up Wichita State (9,352). The remaining qualifiers were Lawrence Tech (9,159), Trine (9,149), Marian (8,985), Webber International (8,985), Oklahoma Christian (8,919), and Ottawa (8,882).

Eighth-seeded Ottawa defeated top-seeded Mount Mercy in the opening round of match play, 2-1. Fourth-seeded Trine defeated fifth-seeded Webber International, 2-1, third-seeded Lawrence Tech beating sixth-seeded Marian, 2-0, and seventh-seeded Oklahoma Christian edged second-seeded Wichita State, 2-1, in the other quarterfinal matches.

In the semifinals, Ottawa continued their hot streak with a 2-0 sweep of Trine, while Lawrence Tech did the same to Oklahoma Christian. Lawrence Tech rolled to the men's team championship with a 3-1 victory over Ottawa in the finals.

The Mustangs have one event remaining before they hit the postseason trail. They will compete in the Cedar Valley Invitational on Feb. 17-18 in Waterloo.