Collegiate Ticker - Oct. 13, 2021

The Lawrence Tech men and women swept the top spots in bracket competition last weekend at the Orange and Black Classic.

The men's division was hosted by Beaver-Vu Bowl in Beavercreek, Ohio, and the women's field competed at Poelking Lanes South in Dayton, Ohio. The event featured 23 men's varsity teams and 18 women's varsity programs.

Teams bowled five traditional games and 16 Baker games in each division to determine the eight teams advancing to the brackets. Each bracket round featured a best-of-three Baker format.

In the men's division, Lawrence Tech qualified third for the bracket and defeated No. 6 Vincennes (2-1) and No. 2 Belmont Abbey (2-1) to advance to the final against top seed Pikeville. Pikeville earned its spot in the title match by sweeping No. 8 Lourdes and No. 4 Wright State.

Lawrence Tech took the early advantage in the finals, winning Game 1, 194-180. The Blue Devils continued strong in Game 2 and rolled to the victory, 224-161.

Pikeville earned the top seed after finishing qualifying with an 8,403 total. Belmont Abbey qualified second with 8,246, and Lawrence Tech was third with 8,218. Lourdes qualified eighth with 7,787.

In the individual standings, Wright State's Jonathan Ciero rolled 235 in his final game to edge Lawrence Tech's Jervon Webster for the top spot. Ciero finished his five-game set with a 1,134 total (226.8 average), while Webster finished with 1,132.

Midway's Caleb Marshall (1,108), Tusculum's Kevan Taulbee (1,095) and Pikeville's Ryan Taylor (1,092) also finished in the top five.

In the women's division, Lawrence Tech earned the top seed for the bracket and lost only one game on the way to victory. The Blue Devils started their run with a 2-1 win over No. 8 Rio Grande and swept No. 4 Notre Dame-Ohio and No. 7 Wright State in the semifinals and finals, respectively.

In the title match, Lawrence Tech recorded wins of 184-173 and 208-149 against Wright State to claim the bracket win.

Wright State advanced to the title match with wins over No. 2 Pikeville (2-1) and No. 3 Union (2-0).

Lawrence Tech rolled to the top spot in qualifying with a 7,352 total and was followed by Pikeville (6,945) and Union (6,883). Rio Grande finished eighth with 6,585.

The Blue Devils also placed three student-athletes in the top five of the women's individual standings. Victoria Giardina finished at the top of the standings with a 979 total (195.8 average), while Laurin Prebelich (968) and Bailey Gipson (940) finished second and fifth, respectively.

Rio Grande's Caity Moody (952) and Notre Dame-Ohio's Lauren Alexander (943) also recorded top-five finishes.

In other collegiate action:

- At the Grapevine Classic in Erie, Pennsylvania, the Mercyhurst women rolled to the top spot.

- At the Great Lakes Bowling Conference No. 1 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the Wisconsin-Whitewater men recorded a 685-pin victory, while the Marian-Wisconsin women posted the win by 368 pins.

- At the Crossroads League Bowling Conference Tournament in Mount Vernon, Ohio, the Huntington women edged Spring Arbor by six pins for the victory, while the Marian-Indiana men rolled to the top of the standings.

- At the Bud Whitman Memorial in New Castle, Delaware, the Mount St. Mary's women cruised to the top spot.

- At the Eastern Intercollegiate Bowling Tournament No. 1 in Oakland, New Jersey, the William Paterson men and Rochester Institute of Technology women led the way.

- At the Cedar Valley Invitational No. 1 and No. 2 in Waterloo, Iowa, the Mount Mercy women and men swept the top spots.

The second Tier I event of the 2021-2022 United States Bowling Congress Collegiate season will be taking place Oct. 16-17 at the Mid-States Championships in Wichita, Kansas. BowlTV.com will provide broadcast coverage from both centers, including the bracket finals.

For the full schedule of collegiate events, results and more, visit BOWL.com/Collegiate and CollegeBowling.Bowl.com.