Clay, Ison, Schoener bowl over 230 in individual games as SSU men's bowling finishes seventh in OBC Match No. 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The men's bowling program at Shawnee State, behind a top-15 effort from senior bowler Sam Clay, nabbed a seventh-place finish at the season-opening Ohio Bowling Conference Match No. 1 -- as the Bears nabbed 5,148 pins to place seventh out of 17 teams in the event, which was held at the Columbus Bowling Palace in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday.

In bowling a 5,148 pin number, the Bears bettered St. Vincent (Pa.), Baldwin Wallace, Akron, Thomas More, Wright State, Mount Vernon Nazarene, Cincinnati, Tiffin, Capital and Kent State-Trumbull.

Varsity play

Clay, a four-year letterwinner out of Huntington, W. Va., bowled a four-game 824 to average 206 pins per rack en route to a 13th place finish in the 101-bowler field. Clay bowled a terrific 249 in Game 3, which was a team-best, and added in a 210 in Game 1 as well as a 195 in Game 2 to lead the Bears.

Behind Clay, Zach Ison, who bowled in three games Saturday, bowled a 580 to drop 193.3 pins per contest. Ison bowled a strong 237 in Game 4 and a 193 in Game 3, finishing 57th overall -- and fourth among those who bowled three games.

Jaylen Sumler, who also bowled three games, averaged 186.7 pins per showing. The Goldsboro, N.C. product dropped 208 pins in Game 1 and 188 pins in Game 4 en route to a 60th place finish.

In his first collegiate outing, Shawnee State's Rece Allen, who also bowled three games, finished 63rd -- with a best showing of 199 in Game 2 as well as a 180 in Game 3. Blake Landers finished 66th after bowling three games himself, nabbing a 195 in Game 4.

Parker Lauders, who bowled a 214 in Game 4, collected a total of 391 pins dropped and a 195.5 pin average through two games to finish 79th, while Khoury Carroll-Tanner finished 83rd overall to round out the individuals who competed for Shawnee State. Lauders posted the best pin score and average of those who played in two games individually.

In Baker contests, Shawnee State's 216 in Game 3 led all teams. The Bears ultimately finished ninth in Baker play, dropping 1,387 pins as a group.

Junior varsity competition

On the junior varsity side of the coin, the Bears finished sixth out of 13 teams after dropping 4,485 pins as a collective unit. Andrew Schoener posted a strong performance by finishing eighth in the 84-bowler JV field, bowling a 201 in Game 1 and a 238 in Game 3, posting a 191-pin average on the nose.

Just four days removed from finishing his fall golf campaign for Shawnee State, Logan Hughes put on his bowling shoes and proceeded to fire marks of 199 in Game 1 and 190 in Game 2 en route to a 21st place finish, while Brendan Major finished 26th. Isaac Halter, who fired a 207 in Game 1, finished 35th to represent Shawnee State's top-half finishers on the junior varsity side of play.

In Baker play, the SSU junior varsity fired a 204 in the ninth and final Baker game, nabbing the second-best total in Game 9 as a result.

Next Up

Shawnee State will be back in action Saturday, Oct. 19 when the Bears play at the Columbus Bowling Palace once again for what will be the second Ohio Bowling Conference match of the season.