SSU men win first-ever event with Greater Pittsburgh Collegiate Classic victory
Over the course of its seven seasons as a program, the Shawnee State bowling programs -- both men and women -- have progressed at a strong pace in terms of their competitiveness amongst additional in-state and NAIA competition.
From producing its first All-American in its fourth season as a program in Chloe Long to seeing Zach Ison drop a 300 game as a freshman bowler, the progress has been truly tremendous to see.
Now, the Shawnee State men's bowling program owns its first-ever event victory as a program in school history.
The Bears, along with NCAA Division III competitor St. Vincent (Pa.), dominated the proceedings at the Greater Pittsburgh Collegiate Classic as the two schools were the only ones in the 11-team field on the men's bowling side of the spectrum to knock down over 7,000 pins -- setting up a mad dash to the finish between the two programs.
However, with 7,364 pins to St. Vincent's 7,301 pins, the Bears were ultimately able to outclaw the Bearcats by a scant 63-pin margin for the history-making achievement, which came at the Greensburg, Pa.-based event Saturday.
Led by three bowlers who finished inside the top-10 -- Shawnee State junior Sam Clay, Shawnee State freshman Zach Ison and Shawnee State sophomore Parker Lauders -- and, counting SSU freshman Jaylen Sumler, four who claimed top-20 overall showings, the Bears cleaned up in fine fashion as none of the aforementioned hurlers finished below 13th place of the 80 bowlers who participated on the men's side of the spectrum.
Shawnee State freshman Blake Landers' 22nd place showing allowed all five bowlers who participated on the SSU side to finish inside the top-third of the overall finishing order -- as none of the five bowlers finished below 23rd in the final rundown.
Clay at the top to stay
Clay, a native of nearby Huntington, W. Va., had the finest showing of them all.
In claiming a four-game 870, Clay never bowled below a 199 in any of his four games, and after bowling that exact total in Game 1, posted marks of 222 in Game 2 and 214 in Game 3 before raising the bar significantly to 235 in Game 4. His 870 pins dropped in individual games amounted to an average of 217.5 -- putting the junior in second place among the 80 bowlers in the final finishing order with only St. Vincent's James Gatto bettering his mark.
Remainder of lineup consistent
Ison and Lauders, however, were splendid in their own right.
On their way to sixth and seventh place finishes, respectively, the duo bowled four-game marks of 804 and 794 to nestle comfortably inside the top-10 finishers overall. Ison knocked down 209, 211, and 214 pins in Games 1 through 3 to highlight his 201-pin final average, while Lauders vaulted into the top-10 finishing order after bowling games of 203 and 213 in Games 3 and 4 -- grabbing a 198.5-pin average.
Sumler's 13th-place finish was highlighted by scores of 211 and 209 in Games 1 and 2 -- which ultimately led to a four-game 779 (194.8 pins per game), while Landers bowled a 206 in Game 4 to raise his final average to 184.3 pins per game after dropping 737 pins in all.
Baker play clinches history
In the four Baker sets, Shawnee State posted set scores of 940, 855, 819, and 766 -- which proved to be huge as the Bears, who had a ever-so-slight four-pin lead (3,984 to 3,980) after the individual games, opened up the lead to get the breathing room necessary to claim the victory as a unit.
Along with edging St. Vincent, the Bears also bettered notable in-state programs in Walsh, Akron, Ohio Northern and Tiffin while also getting the best of North Carolina State. All five of those programs were bested by 634 or more pins during the event itself.
Additional
Shawnee State returns to the lanes Jan. 20 when the Bears compete in the Ohio Bowling Conference's (OBC) Match No. 4, which will be held at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace in Columbus, Ohio.
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