Bowling Bears, coaches sweep at MSC
0UPIKE men’s and women’s bowling teams were in Bowling Green, Ky., Feb. 5-7 competing in the Mid-South Conference Championships Tournament, where the Bears walked away with most of the awards.
On the women’s side, First Team All Conference consisted of Katelyn Simpson, Brianna Larson, Shelby Fromm, Karlee Evans, and Kara Crowe. Second Team All Conference consisted of Felecia Proctor, Trista Flowers, Fallon Tallman, and Megan Hedgespeth. Individually, Simpson took home Player of the Year honors, and Evans walked away with Freshman of the Year honors. Head Coach Ron Damron was also named Mid-South Conference Women’s Coach of the Year. Crowe was also honored with the Champions of Character award.
On the men’s side, First Team All Conference was made up of Zach Fylling, Michael Fonseca, and Tanner Seal. Second Team All Conference included Matt Diamond, Lucas Hohnstein, and Francisco Gamero. Individually, Fylling was awarded Player of the Year, and Diamond was awarded Freshman of the Year. Along with Damron, Head Coach Kyle Wilson was named Mid-South Conference Men’s Coach of the Year.
On the tournament side, after going undefeated regular season, both men’s and women’s teams won the Mid-South Conference Championships Tournament in the double elimination format.
In the first round of competition, the women faced Lindsey Wilson College and won (4-1). Next, they went up against University of the Cumberlands and won (4-0). In the third round, the Bears bowled against Campbellsville University and won (4-0) with a close one-pin victory in game four. After winning in the contender’s bracket, UPIKE faced Campbellsville again and came out on top with a (4.5-1.5) victory.
Senior Brianna Larson said, “After going undefeated in MSC regular season the past three years, it is long overdue that we finally won the championship tournament. We have worked so hard as a team to get where we are, and our hard work is paying off. I’ve said from the beginning, this team will do great things, and our upcoming tournaments will test how hard we have been working. It’s a great year to be a Bear.”
On the men’s side, there was little drama after defeating Cumberland University (4-0) in round one, University of the Cumberlands (4-0) in round two, and Union College (4-0) in round three. In the championship match against Union College, who came out of the contender’s bracket, UPIKE ran into some trouble early and lost a disappointing match (0-4). Because of the double elimination format, Union College had to beat the Bears two consecutive matches to take home the trophy. In the final match UPIKE wasted no time taking down Union College for the victory (4-1).
When asked how it feels to win the Mid South Conference tournament two years in a row, senior Francisco Gamero said, “It feels great seeing that all the hard work and dedication is finally paying off. I look forward to the rest of the post season and am confident that this team is going to do great things this year.”