SAU men finish season with seventh-place showing at Nationals
The St. Ambrose men's bowling team traveled to Las Vegas, Nev., this past week, and they returned home with a seventh-place national finish.
The Bee men entered the championship tournament ranked No. 5 in the nation in the power rankings. The tournament features the 16 qualifiers from sectional competition held in March.
All 16 teams rolled 24 baker games on Thursday morning, and that was followed by double-elimination match play, in best-of-7 baker game matches. St. Ambrose and Wisconsin-Whitewater found themselves in a tie for eighth and ninth and squared off in the first round of the bracket. The match went seven games, with Whitewater knocking SAU into the contender's bracket.
There, St. Ambrose was able to eliminate Muskingham 4-1. Then, they faced defending national champions Webber International, and SAU ended their season 4-1. That set up the Bees with a match against Trine, which St Ambrose lost 4-1, ending the Bees' season in a tie for seventh place.
Team members included Zach Greim, Kendric Siders, Tommy Burns Jr., Lucas Finley, Lucas Hersrud, Tyler Close, Jay Oliva-Colobong and Nicholas Kidd.
Greim was the teams only senior this season, and the national championship tournament marked his final appearance as a St Ambrose competitor.
This season marked the seventh straight season that the St. Ambrose men have been ranked among the top-eight teams in the nation.