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Men's and Women's Bowling Close a Historic Season with Program-Best Finishes at Nationals

WAVERLY, Iowa --- Wartburg men's and women's bowling wrapped up a historic 2025-26 season at the Collegiate Club National Tournament, where the women's team took fourth place and the men's team finished sixth place.
 
Both Lauren Funk and Madison Shontz were named first team All-Americans, which marks the first time in program history with multiple All-Americans on the same team.
 
The Knights also had two major award winners; Funk was named the Women's Player of the Year and head coach Alexis Neuer Runk was named Women's Coach of the Year by Collegiate Club Bowling.  
 
How They Got Here
  • Viterbo Invite
    • Men's
      • Qualified 2nd for bracket play after 5 traditional and 16 baker games
      • Defeated UW-Osh Kosh 2-1 in the semifinals
      • Defeated the tournament hosts, Viterbo, 3-0 in the finals to secure the team championship
      • Top Performers: Ryland Prokopec 6th, Tyler Richter 8th and Louis Shontz 12th
    • Women's
      • Qualified 1st for bracket play for just the second time in program history after 5 traditional and 16 baker games
      • After rolling into the finals, Wartburg fell to UW-Madison 3-1 to take second place overall
      • Top Performers: Lauren Funk 2nd (All-Tournament team), JoAnna Olstad 7th, Madison Shontz 9th and Abby Hume 10th
  • USBC Sectionals
    • Men's
      • The Knights battled through a tough sectionals field, but could not break through against the top competition and finished 14th out of 20 teams
    • Women's
      • The team had an up and down performance on day one that kept the Knights in the middle of the pack
      • On Sunday, the Knights got as high as 13th place, but late struggles moved Wartburg to 16th out of 25 teams to close play at sectionals
 
Club Nationals (Rock Island, Ill. | Mar. 28-29)
  • Men's
    • The Knights navigated demanding lane patterns in day one as Wartburg finished pool play with a 3-2 record
    • The pool play performance landed the Knights a first-round bye in Sunday's double elimination bracket
    • On Sunday, the Knights rans into a tough San Jose St. University team that defeated the Knights to move Wartburg into the contenders bracket
    • The Knights defeated Bowling Green St. University before their run ended against Muskingham
  • Women's
    • Everyone stepped up for the Knights during Saturday's pool play, as Wartburg went through pool play with a record of 4-1
    • The Knights earned a first-round bye for Sunday's double elimination bracket
    • Wartburg fell to CU in their matchup on the winners side, but the Knights bounced back by winning their next three matches including wins over UTSA and GVSU
    • The Knights matched up with a familiar opponent in the contenders semifinals as Wartburg fell to Coe College in a back-and-forth matchup
 
Women's Player of the Year: Lauren Funk
All-Americans: Lauren Funk and Madison Shontz (First Team)
Women's Coach of the Year: Alexis Runk
 
2025-26 Season Highlights
  • Lauren Funk's individual tournament win at The Big Ole open marked the first win in program history
  • The men's team earned wins at MIBC #3 and the Viterbo Open this season
  • Funk and Madison Shontz became the first Wartburg duo to earn All-Tournament team honors at The Big Ole Open
  • Funk and Shontz then went on to become the first duo to earn All-American status in the same season
  • First Player of the Year and Coach of the Year award from Collegiate Club Bowling in program history
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