KENOSHA, Wis.—The win-loss record might not have been as stellar as last time, but the Jax State bowling team got into a position to win the SFA LadyJack Classic at Sheridan Lanes and did.
The top-ranked Gamecocks defeated Maryville University 4-2 in the championship best-of-seven Baker match to claim the crown.
Jax State was 5-4 in head-to-head play over the first two days of the tournament, but were second in the field in total pinfall at 10,308 behind Nebraska (10,350).
The Gamecocks faced Nebraska Sunday morning in the first championship bracket match and got out to a 3-0 advantage, cruising to a 232-169 win in the first and pulled away late in the second thanks to strikes in the ninth and tenth frames by
Anna Warkel and
Annalise OBryant, respectfully. Nebraska bounced back after dropping the third 211-185 with three straight wins to force a winner-take-all seventh game.
In the seventh, Jax State got six strikes in the first nine frames and picked up three single-pin spares in a 225-200 win to advance to the title match.
Against Maryville, the Gamecocks took the first 162-159 and clinched the second extending a three-pin lead going into the 10
th with a turkey from OBryant to finish off a 217-204 win. Maryville took advantage of three open frames in the third for a 195-163 win. The Gamecocks ran away with the fourth getting consecutive strikes from Warkel, OBryant,
Keira Magsam, and
Erin Klemencic to take advantage of open frames in the fourth and fifth in a 225-140 win.
Maryville had five consecutive strikes to close the fifth with a 215-191 win, and led the sixth game by 21 pins after seven frames. Jax State closed the match with five consecutive strikes of its own to come away with a 206-196 win and a 4-2 victory.
OBryant and Warkel were named to the All-Tournament team. Warkel was third in the tournament in average at 225 and OBryant led the tournament at 230.
The Gamecocks return to action on November 22
nd in Howell, N.J. at the Garden State Classic.
