Collegiate Ticker - Oct. 12, 2022

The Orange and Black Classic highlighted a busy weekend in the collegiate bowling world, with the Shawnee State women and Northwestern Ohio men emerging victorious through their respective brackets Sunday in Ohio.

The women's event was contested at Poelking Lanes South in Centerville, Ohio, while the men's tournament was held at Beaver-Vu Bowl in Beavercreek, Ohio. The women's division featured 16 varsity programs, and the men's field had 21 varsity teams.

Qualifying consisted of five traditional games and 16 Baker games in each division. The top eight teams advanced to the bracket, which featured a best-of-three Baker format in each round.

Pikeville was the top qualifier in the women's division, finishing with a 7,238 total. Notre Dame-Ohio was second with 7,079, and Northwestern Ohio qualified third with 6,961. Shawnee State secured the No. 7 seed with 6,733, and Alma earned the final spot in the bracket with a 6,589 total.

Shawnee State started its run to the final with a 2-1 upset over Notre Dame-Ohio, which included a roll-off win in Game 1 (49-38) and a 223-156 victory in Game 3. The Bears swept No. 6 Milligan in the semifinals (181-161, 190-142) to set up the title tilt against Pikeville.

Pikeville advanced to the finals with wins over Alma (2-1) and No. 4 Wright State (2-0).

Shawnee State took the lead with a 180-170 win in Game 1 and recorded the bracket victory with a two-pin win in Game 2, 199-197.

In a tightly contested race for the top spot in the women's individual standings, Northwestern Ohio's Haylie Rotz was able to take first place with a 999 total for five games (199.8 average).

Rotz edged Pikeville's Kadie Dicken (995) and Kristina Catoe (987), while Rio Grande's Sydney Dickson (977) and Notre Dame-Ohio's Rachel Foreback (961) wrapped up top-five finishes.

Pikeville also finished as the top qualifier on the men's side, posting an 8,193 total. Northwestern Ohio was next with 7,897, which was followed by Wright State with 7,770. The eighth and final spot in the bracket went to Tusculum with 7,583.

Northwestern Ohio went the distance in its first two bracket matches, recording 2-1 wins over No. 7 Cumberland (182-171, 177-213, 176-155) and Wright State (177-188, 225-188, 202-167) to earn its spot in the championship round against No. 4 Milligan.

Milligan made its way to the final with sweeps over No. 5 Notre Dame-Ohio and top-seeded Pikeville.

Northwestern Ohio jumped ahead with a 199-164 win against Milligan in Game 1, and the Racers claimed the title in Game 2, 152-147.

Pikeville's Bryce Oliver averaged 249 in his final three games (245, 254, 248) at Beaver-Vu Bowl to cruise to top individual honors at the Orange and Black Classic, finishing with a 1,145 total (229 average).

Northwestern Ohio's Matthew Richards was second with 1,110 and joined in the top five by Cumberland's Matthew Charlton (1,076), Milligan's Tristan Crawford (1,074) and Belmont Abbey's Tyler Harris (1,072).

In other collegiate action:

 - At the Bud Whitman Memorial in New Castle, Delaware, the Wilmington women rallied and won the final three games against Molloy to record the tournament victory, 4-2.

- At the Crossroads League - Event 1 in Jackson, Michigan, the Spring Arbor men and women swept the top spots. The men's team jumped ahead early on the way to a 126-pin victory, while the women's team was able to take over the lead in the final Baker game to finish 30 pins ahead of Huntington.

- At the Crossroads League - Event 2 in Jackson, Michigan, the University of the Cumberlands women finished 19 pins ahead of Marian-Indiana to finish at the top of the standings. In the men's division, Marian-Indiana rolled to a 219-pin win.

- At the Great Lakes Bowling Conference - Event 1 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the Wisconsin-Whitewater men and Davenport women coasted to big wins over their respective fields.

- At the Mercyhurst Invite in Erie, Pennsylvania, the Mercyhurst women collected close wins in Game 5 (157-153) and Game 6 (171-170) of the championship match to finish with a 4-2 victory over top-seeded Duquesne. 

- At the Rattler Classic in Pensacola, Florida, the Emmanuel women went undefeated in the bracket and bested Tulane in the title match, 4-2.

- At the Southwest Intercollegiate Bowling Conference (SWIBC) - Event 1 in Dallas, the Drury men held onto a three-pin victory over Houston, while the Louisiana Tech women rolled to the top spot by nearly 400 pins.

- At the SWIBC - Event 2 in Dallas, the Louisiana Tech women completed the weekend sweep, while the Oklahoma Christian men posted a six-pin win over Texas-San Antonio.

- At the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference - Event 1 in Sterling Heights, Michigan, the Lawrence Tech men followed last week's Tier I win at the Midwest Collegiate Championships with a 179-pin victory, while the Indiana Tech women put together the top Baker performance to run away from the field for the win.

The second Tier I of the 2022-2023 season will take place this weekend in Wichita, Kansas, at the Mid-States Championships. Competition from Northrock Lanes (men's division) and West Acres Bowl (women's division) will be broadcast live at BowlTV.com. Select pairs will be available to view with a subscription.

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