SSU men's bowling program finishes fifth at OBC Event No. 4; Clay, Ison, Schoener named as OBC All-Conference bowlers

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The men's bowling program at Shawnee State finished off its Ohio Bowling Conference slate with a top-five finish against its conference brethren, as the Bears dropped 5,493 pins to finish fifth out of 14 teams at the Ohio Bowling Conference's Event No. 4, which was held at the Columbus Bowling Palace in Columbus this past weekend.

Across its 28 Baker games, Shawnee State dropped over 200 pins in 10 of those 28 contests en route to 5,493 pins, a total that was only bettered by Ohio State, Robert Morris (Pa.), Northwestern Ohio and Muskingum. SSU bettered nine men's bowling programs, including Akron, Wright State, Thomas More (Ky.), Rio Grande, Baldwin Wallace, St. Vincent (Pa.), Ohio Northern, Mount Vernon and Tiffin, in the event.

In its Baker contests, Shawnee State dropped the second-most pins in Games 5 (226), 12 (227), 22 (234), 23 (234), and 28 (213), with SSU's 235 pins in Game 24 being the highest of any team in the field.

Shawnee State's junior varsity also competed in the OBC Event No. 4 proceedings, finishing fifth by dropping 4,877 pins. The Bears knocked down 268 pins to finish with the high Baker score in Game 20, while SSU also dropped 224 pins in Games 9 and 11 to finish with the second-most pins dropped in those Baker games.

Following the completion of Thursday's competition, all-conference awards were given out, with Sam Clay earning Second-Team All-OBC honors and Zach Ison obtaining Honorable Mention All-OBC billing. Andy Schoener was also named as a junior varsity all-conference bowler.

Clay, who has enjoyed a career year, is on track to become Shawnee State's record holder in single season bowling average -- as the senior holds a 207.3 average with two top-five, three top-10 and six top-25 finishes in nine events.

The senior from Huntington, W. Va. currently holds the 77th best bowling average among all men's collegiate bowlers in America, and the 56th-highest differential in the nation from his average to the field's average, notching a plus-23.683 margin.

Ison, who was an Honorable Mention All-OBC selection, has nabbed a win, a top-five, a top-10 and four top-25 finishes in nine record events this season en route to a 201.4 mark. The standout sophomore holds a plus-18.067 margin from his average to the field's.

Schoener, a JV all-conference honoree, bowled an impressive 192.9. Schoener has an average that sits nearly 10 pins above the field average in individual events that the sophomore has competed in.

The men's bowling program at Shawnee State will be back in action Saturday morning and afternoon when the Bears compete at the Columbia 300 Hoosier Classic in what will be SSU's final regular season event in Indianapolis, Ind.