WAVERLY, Iowa – Men's and women's bowling swept the Mid Iowa Bowling Conference (MIBC) championship events this past weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the first time in program history.
Lauren Funk led the way as the top women's finisher overall and Wartburg's lone All-Conference honoree.
The men took first place out of 10 teams with a team score of 5,550, while the women finished first out of eight teams with a score of 4,996. Following Saturday's totals, the men moved into second overall for the final championship standings and the women finished in fourth overall.
Individually, Funk,
JoAnna Olstad and
Louis Shontz earned All-Tournament team honors after placing in the top five individually. Funk and Olstad finished first and third individually on the women's side and Shontz finished fifth on the men's side. The All-Tournament team honor marks the first of Olstad's career.
Top Performers
Coaches Comments
Men's Recap
Following a poor performance the week prior, the men rebounded really well," said assistant coach
Brandon Runk. "We had a very solid week of practices, and it showed this weekend. We didn't get out to the strongest of starts after game 1, shooting a 999. But we finished the traditional games strong, shooting 1054 and 1099 the last two to get to the lead heading into baker. The lanes got a little funky, and we grinded our way to scores of 764, 844, and 799 for our three 4-game sets. This was enough to hold on to the lead and come away with the win!"
"With the win on Saturday, this moved us to the 2
nd seed for our Conference Championships on Sunday," continued Runk. "The format was a bracket final, and we were matched up against the 1 seed, Coe College. We did not get off to the greatest of starts, going down 2-1 in a best of 5 match. The guys showed some serious fight and managed to win, 3-2 and earn a bye into the finals. The next round came and we were matched up against Coe again for the tournament win. Again, we got down 2-1 to them, which was familiar territory. However, this time, Coe shut the door on us and beat us the last game 237-224 to seal the deal and beat us 3-1, and we finished 2
nd for the Conference Championship."
Women's Recap
Saturday, the women started with a 920 and never looked back," said Runk about the women's event. "They had sets of 920, 944, and 965 for their traditional games, going into the baker portion. They grinded out some good sets in baker and were able to lead wire to wire, earning their very first tournament win in program history! It was absolutely incredible to watch their performance. The ladies were led by
Lauren Funk, who earned the win on the individual side, and
JoAnna Olstad, finishing 3
rd AND earning her very first All-Tournament Team appearance!"
"Going into Sunday, the ladies earned the 3 seed for the bracket finals," continued Runk. "Unfortunately, the day did not go as planned. The ladies struggled from front to back and weren't able to get anything going. We ended up finishing 4
th in the Conference."
"It was an unbelievable weekend for the program," said Runk following Sunday's finish. We had a Knights sweep on Saturday (first time in program history), had 3 Knights make the All-Tournament Team, and had 1 Knight (
Lauren Funk) earn All-Conference for the MIBC. We couldn't be prouder of these young men and women. Their drive and determination to be better is inspiring. Looking forward to a great end to the regular season!"
Earlier this Season
Prior to last weekend's conference meet, the Knights competed in four tier one events with 30 or more teams at each event. Team finishes at those events are listed below:
- McKendree Match Games:
- Men: 7th/30 | Women: 13th/22
- Glenn Carlson Invite:
- Men: 23rd/61 | Women: 12th/42
- Collegiate Shootout:
- Men: 16th/61 | Women: 29th/41
- Kegel-ISBPA Midwest Collegiate Classic:
- Men: 52nd/68 | Women: 33rd/55
Next Time Out
The Knights are back in action beginning on Saturday, Jan. 31 for the Cedar Valley Invite in Waterloo, Iowa.
