The eight finalists at the 2025 Intercollegiate Singles Championships are (from left to right) Blake Walsh (Mount Mercy); Amanda Granata (Youngstown State); Conner Lackey (Concordia); Erin Klemencic (Jacksonville State); Nicholas Blagojevic (McKendree); Jenna Lehrer (Monmouth); Gael Egana (Savannah College of Art and Design - Savannah); and Kylee Trexler (Louisiana Tech).

QUALIFYING
MEN'S BRACKET
WOMEN'S BRACKET

LAS VEGAS -  The eight finalists for the 2025 Intercollegiate Singles Championships were determined after quarterfinal-round matches were completed at South Point Bowling Plaza inside the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning.

The ISC semifinals and title matches, which will be one-game matches, will take place Saturday and be taped for broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

On the women’s side, Erin Klemencic of Jacksonville State will face Monmouth’s Jenna Lehrer in one semifinal match while Amanda Granata of Youngstown State and Louisiana Tech’s Kylee Trexler square off in the other.

Men’s semifinal action will feature Conner Lackey of Concordia battling Mount Mercy’s Blake Walsh with the victor moving on to take on the winner of the matchup between Gael Egana of Savannah College of Art and Design - Savannah and McKendree’s Nicholas Blagojevic.

Blagojevic breezed into the semifinals, recording the highest set of the day during a 757-581 quarterfinal victory over Connor Fleming of Oklahoma Christian.

The relatively stress-free win was a welcomed change of pace for Blagojevic, who narrowly defeated Milligan’s Nate Trentler, 643-639, during Round 2 on Tuesday and was forced to survive a roll-off at sectionals to reach the national finals in the first place.

Even though Blagojevic certainly would have loved to have avoided the sectional roll-off, he’s found a way to turn that obstacle into an advantage so far at this year’s ISC national finals.

“After the roll-off at sectionals, I mean, at this point, I’m kind of just free rolling pretty much,” Blagojevic said. “I didn’t think I’d have a chance after the first few games at sectionals, but now we’re all the way here. I’m just going to make the most of it.”

Blagojevic has certainly made the most of his opportunities thus far at South Point. Now, he’s hoping to keep the momentum going just a little bit longer so that he can end his collegiate bowling career with a singles national title.

“I’m a fifth-year senior, so this is sort of my last ride for both singles and team,” Blagojevic said. “It would mean a lot to me if I could win, but I’m just going to try to enjoy the moment on the show and let whatever happens happen.”

Speaking of enjoying the moment, Lackey certainly seemed to do so during his 730-655 quarterfinal win over men’s No. 1 seed Spencer Robarge of Wichita State.

To the spectators following the action at South Point Bowling Plaza on Wednesday morning, Lackey’s win may have seemed like an upset; however, the senior was anything but intimidated coming into his bout against the two-time National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association Most Valuable Player and Storm/International Bowling Media Association Player of the Year.

“I bowled the PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) Players Championship last week, and while I didn’t make the cut, I learned a lot from competing in that environment with some of the best in the world,” Lackey said. “I told myself if I can compete with those guys, I can compete with anyone here.”

But Lackey didn’t just compete, he won, and now he sits just two victories away from becoming the 2025 ISC men’s national champion. According to Lackey, one of the keys to getting over the hump on Saturday will be controlling his emotions.

“Sometimes I like to get a little emotional when I bowl, so I’ll need to keep those emotions contained until everything is done,” Lackey said. “I’ll need to stay in my process during the show and keep everything the same because, for me, routine is key. My coach always tells me you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I’m made for this environment, so hopefully I can walk away with the trophy.” 

But to get to that trophy, Lackey will first have to get past Walsh, Mount Mercy’s freshman phenom who played a big part in helping the Mustangs to the No. 1 spot in the men’s final regular-season rankings.

Walsh earned his spot in the semifinals by taking down Webber International’s Matthew Mesecher, 658-611, during quarterfinal play on Wednesday morning.

Even though Walsh has enjoyed a great deal of success throughout his rookie season at Mount Mercy, moving one step closer to a singles national title was something he had a hard time wrapping his head around in the moments after his Round 3 victory.

“It’s crazy being a freshman and coming all the way from Australia; it’s a long way from home,” Walsh said. “It means a lot to be able to be out here and make it all worth it and make my family proud. I’m still in shock at the moment.”

Walsh’s performance is what has been truly shocking thus far as the talented two-handed righty averaged just under 233 per game over the course of nine games during his 3-0 run to the semifinals.  

While he’d certainly love to continue putting up stellar scores during Saturday’s TV finals, Walsh’s focus will be on something a bit more controllable.

“I don’t want to take opportunities like this for granted because they may never come along again,” Walsh said. “It would be incredible and amazing to bring home the singles title, but my strategy for Saturday is just to enjoy the moment.”

From a scoring standpoint, few players in this year’s men’s field have enjoyed more quality moments than Egana.

While Robarge shot 809 for his first three games en route to a new ISC six-game qualifying record (1,519), it was Egana who put up the highest set of the tournament when he recorded 811 during his Round 2 victory against Wichita State’s Brandon Bonta on Tuesday night.  

The senior’s pace slowed a bit during Wednesday morning’s quarterfinal match against 2024 ISC runner-up Braden Mallasch of Wichita State; nevertheless, Egana emerged victorious once again, coming up on the winning end of a 685-633 final score to secure the final spot in Saturday’s ISC men’s semifinals.

To reach this point, Egana has employed something of an under-promise, over-deliver approach.

“To be honest, I’m kind of surprised because I didn’t expect to go this far,” Egana said. “Even during sectionals, I kind of just came along for the ride to see where it goes. Luckily, I’m here, and now I’m just going to go for it all.”

Anyone who has watched Egana’s performance at South Point this week will tell you that his current position has nothing to do with luck; it’s been due to poise, precision and skill, which are qualities he’ll look to continue employing while trying to bring home the trophy on Saturday.

“I’m going keep the same plan, which is to just keep doing me,” Egana said. “I’m going to keep trying to throw good shots because it would feel good to be holding that trophy and have my family behind me.”

Approximately five hours after the 2025 ISC men’s national champion is crowned on Saturday, Lehrer, Trexler, Granata and Klemenic will take to the lanes to determine this year’s women’s singles champion.

There is a great deal of youth on the women’s side this year as Lehrer, a graduate student, is the only upperclassman to be found among the final four. Trexler and Granata are sophomores, and Klemencic is a freshman.

Although Klemencic is the youngest player in this year’s women’s singles final four, she shot the highest set to get there, shooting 750 during Wednesday’s quarterfinal defeat of Arkansas State’s Kaitlyn Ruszczak, who put up 562 in the losing effort.

Despite being a freshman, Klemencic is no stranger to high-level competition as she’s a current member of Junior Team USA; nevertheless, the opportunity to compete for this year’s women’s singles national title is something she isn’t taking lightly.

“With this being my first year, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, so I’m really excited,” Klemencic said.

According to Klemencic, patience and staying in the moment were the keys to success during the first two days of competition. As such, those items will remain her focus when the lanes come on for women’s semifinal action on Saturday.

“My outlook for the show is going to be the same because if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen,” Klemencic said. “Still, it would be fantastic and really exciting to be able to get that trophy.”

Trexler wants that trophy as well as it would allow her to add another chapter to this year’s redemption story.

“I made it to the top eight last year but lost during the quarterfinals, so I really wanted to make it further this time around,” Trexler said.

On Wednesday, Trexler did just that, taking down North Carolina A&T’s Maya Avilez, 707-683, to erase the sting of last year’s quarterfinal-round loss and move herself just two wins away from becoming the 2025 ISC women’s national champion.

That’s a title that Trexler would thoroughly enjoy claiming, but she knows that she’ll need to keep her emotions in check in order to make that happen.

“I tend to get a little amped up, and when I do that, I thumb the ball, which makes it not really do anything,” Trexler said. “So, I’ll need to control my emotions. It would mean the world to me to win, but I honestly don’t know exactly how that would feel until it happens. I’m not even sure I’ll know when it happens.”

In order to make it happen, Trexler will have to get past Granata, who earned her place in the semifinals courtesy of a 662-612 win over Sacred Heart’s Madilyn Yockel on Wednesday morning.

Even though, like Trexler, Granata is only a sophomore, she has the advantage of having competed on TV before as she was part of the Youngstown State team that brought home the 2025 NCAA bowling championship on April 16.

Granata will look to parlay that experience into another quality performance during Saturday’s ISC women’s broadcast.

“Being on the NCAA TV show last week will definitely help me as I attempt to perform to the best of my ability,” Granata said. “The other girls who have qualified are all super talented, so it’s going to be a challenge for sure.”

But Granata isn’t one to back down from a challenge, so she’s hoping to keep the momentum from last week’s victory going and reach the top of the 2025 women’s singles mountaintop.

“It would be amazing to win, especially with me just being a sophomore and this being the first time I had even competed at sectionals,” Granata said. “It’s going to be a lot more difficult with the one-game match instead of the three-game format during match play, so I just need to make sure every shot I throw counts.”

Lehrer will be trying to make every shot count as well, not only because she wants to win the title but also because Saturday’s show represents her last hurrah as a collegiate bowler.

The Monmouth graduate student reached the semifinals by defeating Arkansas State’s Kaylee Back, 650-626, during quarterfinal-round action on Wednesday morning.

The victory was very special for Lehrer as it marked the first time she’d reached the ISC TV show after falling just short two times prior – she lost in Round 3 in 2023 and during Round 2 in 2021.

“Being here for the third time in four years and finally qualifying is just surreal; it feels amazing,” Lehrer said. “I’m so grateful to be here.” 

Despite her expression of gratitude on Wednesday, Lehrer won’t show up to Saturday’s semifinals just happy to be there; she’ll be looking to win. She knows that, to do so, she’ll just have to continue being herself.

“My approach to the show is going to be to take my time, be on my pace and just keep my focus on me and the lanes because that’s my only opponent,” Lehrer said. “It would mean the absolute world to me to represent my school, my family, my coaches, everyone, just to make them proud. It would help them see that I put the work in and did the best I could.” 

The 24 men and 24 women competing at the Intercollegiate Singles Championships qualified through one of four sectional events held throughout the country in March.

The national event consisted of six qualifying games to determine seeding for the single-elimination match-play bracket. The bracket matches were three games, with total pinfall determining the winner.

The semifinals and finals will be taped on Saturday with the ISC women’s finals airing on CBS Sports Network on Tuesday, April 22 at 7 p.m. Eastern, followed by the ISC men’s finals on April 29 at 8 p.m. Eastern.

The Intercollegiate Team Championships, in which the top 16 men’s and top 16 women’s teams in the nation will compete for the Helmer Cup, starts Thursday at 11 a.m. Eastern at South Point Bowling Plaza.

BowlTV.com will provide live coverage of the ITC leading up to the televised finals.

CLICK HERE for more information on the Intercollegiate Singles Championships.