Collegiate Ticker - Sept. 30, 2026
September 30, 2026
The Judson women and Mount Mercy men navigated the Baker bracket at the Hammer Golden Eagle Invite over the weekend to collect their first wins of the 2026-2027 United States Bowling Congress Collegiate season.
Split between centers in Loves Park, Illinois (women), and Rockford, Illinois (men), the 2026 event featured five traditional games and 16 Baker games for qualifying to determine the teams advancing to the bracket. The top four teams in the women’s division (14 varsity teams overall in the field) and top eight in the men’s division (25 varsity teams) punched their tickets to the next round.
All rounds leading up to the title tilt featured a best-of-three Baker format. The championship match was extended to a best-of-five contest.
After qualifying, Mount Mercy paced the women’s field (8,101 total) to earn the top seed for the bracket. Judson was second with 7,722, St. Ambrose placed third with 7,621 and Coe took the final spot with 7,589.
Judson posted a 2-1 victory over St. Ambrose to advance to the finals, while Coe delivered a 2-1 win over Mount Mercy to set the final round.
The first two games of the championship went to Judson (215-183, 212-206), before Coe collected Game 3, 201-188. Judson secured the tournament victory in Game 4, rolling to a 212-180 win to close the set, 3-1. The Eagles ascended to the title in 2026 after finishing as the runner-up in the bracket at the 2025 event.
Culver-Stockton’s Rachel Moore fired 233 in her final game of the traditional block to earn top honors in the women’s individual standings, finishing with a 1,080 total (216 average).
St. Ambrose’s Molly Bramble (1,065), Judson’s Liljana Mihalovich-Finnen (1,053), Mount Mercy’s Kyndallynn Hood (1,039) and Saint Xavier’s Jade Gabor (1,020) joined Moore on the all-tournament team.
St. Ambrose led qualifying on the men’s side, posting 8,418. Calumet (8,305) and Mount Mercy (8,193) were next in the standings. Saint Xavier claimed the final spot in the bracket by 12 pins over Judson, finishing eighth with 7,767.
After two rounds, Mount Mercy and Rock Valley – the No. 5 seed – remained as the only undefeated teams. Mount Mercy dispatched of No. 6 Spoon River (2-1) and Calumet (2-1) on its way to the finals, while Rock Valley recorded wins over No. 4 Wisconsin-Whitewater (2-0) and Saint Xavier (2-1) to advance to the championship match.
Rock Valley dominated in Game 1 (220-147), but Mount Mercy settled in to take the next three games and the title, 3-1. The Mustangs – the runner-up at last season’s Intercollegiate Team Championships – put together wins of 198-171, 199-190 and 182-178 in Games 2, 3 and 4, respectively.
In the men’s individual standings, Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Levi Gabrielse averaged 240 for his five games to record the victory with a 1,200 total in Rockford.
Jacob Bockstie of Mount Mercy finished as the runner-up with 1,155, while Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Nate VanderBeek (1,098), Calumet’s Nathaniel Trentler (1,077) and St. Ambrose’s Lucas Hersrud (1,076) also placed in the top five.
In other collegiate action:
- At the DO Apparel/Brunswick Open in Columbus, Ohio, the top spots went to the Mercyhurst men and Muskingum women. Mercyhurst and Muskingum battled throughout the two-day event in the men’s division, as the Lakers held on by 21 pins to record the victory. On the women’s side, the Fighting Muskies cruised to the win by more than 300 pins.
- At the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Jackson Open in Jackson, Michigan, the Spring Arbor women and men shared the victory with a sweep for the Cougars. The women’s squad earned the win by nearly 140 pins, as the men’s team stayed ahead of Indiana Wesleyan and Lawrence Tech by 13 and 23 pins, respectively.
Indiana Wesleyan’s Camden Malott rolled a perfect game to start the event’s traditional block and earned the individual victory in the men’s division with a three-game series of 740.
Five events are on the schedule for this weekend, including the first Tier I of the young season. The 55th Brunswick Midwest Collegiate Championships will be contested across two centers on Oct. 3-4, with the women’s event being held in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and men’s competition taking place in Clinton Township, Michigan.
For the full schedule of collegiate events, results and more, visit BOWL.com/Collegiate and CollegeBowling.Bowl.com.
Split between centers in Loves Park, Illinois (women), and Rockford, Illinois (men), the 2026 event featured five traditional games and 16 Baker games for qualifying to determine the teams advancing to the bracket. The top four teams in the women’s division (14 varsity teams overall in the field) and top eight in the men’s division (25 varsity teams) punched their tickets to the next round.
All rounds leading up to the title tilt featured a best-of-three Baker format. The championship match was extended to a best-of-five contest.
After qualifying, Mount Mercy paced the women’s field (8,101 total) to earn the top seed for the bracket. Judson was second with 7,722, St. Ambrose placed third with 7,621 and Coe took the final spot with 7,589.
Judson posted a 2-1 victory over St. Ambrose to advance to the finals, while Coe delivered a 2-1 win over Mount Mercy to set the final round.
The first two games of the championship went to Judson (215-183, 212-206), before Coe collected Game 3, 201-188. Judson secured the tournament victory in Game 4, rolling to a 212-180 win to close the set, 3-1. The Eagles ascended to the title in 2026 after finishing as the runner-up in the bracket at the 2025 event.
Culver-Stockton’s Rachel Moore fired 233 in her final game of the traditional block to earn top honors in the women’s individual standings, finishing with a 1,080 total (216 average).
St. Ambrose’s Molly Bramble (1,065), Judson’s Liljana Mihalovich-Finnen (1,053), Mount Mercy’s Kyndallynn Hood (1,039) and Saint Xavier’s Jade Gabor (1,020) joined Moore on the all-tournament team.
St. Ambrose led qualifying on the men’s side, posting 8,418. Calumet (8,305) and Mount Mercy (8,193) were next in the standings. Saint Xavier claimed the final spot in the bracket by 12 pins over Judson, finishing eighth with 7,767.
After two rounds, Mount Mercy and Rock Valley – the No. 5 seed – remained as the only undefeated teams. Mount Mercy dispatched of No. 6 Spoon River (2-1) and Calumet (2-1) on its way to the finals, while Rock Valley recorded wins over No. 4 Wisconsin-Whitewater (2-0) and Saint Xavier (2-1) to advance to the championship match.
Rock Valley dominated in Game 1 (220-147), but Mount Mercy settled in to take the next three games and the title, 3-1. The Mustangs – the runner-up at last season’s Intercollegiate Team Championships – put together wins of 198-171, 199-190 and 182-178 in Games 2, 3 and 4, respectively.
In the men’s individual standings, Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Levi Gabrielse averaged 240 for his five games to record the victory with a 1,200 total in Rockford.
Jacob Bockstie of Mount Mercy finished as the runner-up with 1,155, while Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Nate VanderBeek (1,098), Calumet’s Nathaniel Trentler (1,077) and St. Ambrose’s Lucas Hersrud (1,076) also placed in the top five.
In other collegiate action:
- At the DO Apparel/Brunswick Open in Columbus, Ohio, the top spots went to the Mercyhurst men and Muskingum women. Mercyhurst and Muskingum battled throughout the two-day event in the men’s division, as the Lakers held on by 21 pins to record the victory. On the women’s side, the Fighting Muskies cruised to the win by more than 300 pins.
- At the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Jackson Open in Jackson, Michigan, the Spring Arbor women and men shared the victory with a sweep for the Cougars. The women’s squad earned the win by nearly 140 pins, as the men’s team stayed ahead of Indiana Wesleyan and Lawrence Tech by 13 and 23 pins, respectively.
Indiana Wesleyan’s Camden Malott rolled a perfect game to start the event’s traditional block and earned the individual victory in the men’s division with a three-game series of 740.
Five events are on the schedule for this weekend, including the first Tier I of the young season. The 55th Brunswick Midwest Collegiate Championships will be contested across two centers on Oct. 3-4, with the women’s event being held in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and men’s competition taking place in Clinton Township, Michigan.
For the full schedule of collegiate events, results and more, visit BOWL.com/Collegiate and CollegeBowling.Bowl.com.