Women's Bowling Places Fourth, Men Finish Sixth at Wildcats' Jayhawk Challenge

LAWRENCE/TOPEKA, Kan. – Baker bowling hosted its first tournament of the 2024-25 season this past weekend with the Jayhawk Challenge where the BU women came away with a fourth-place finish, while the men's team took sixth.

The women started the tournament in fourth at the end of the first day with a total pinfall of 4,341. The Wildcats had three bowlers finish in the top 20 after the five individual games. Sophomore Kaleigh Buckalew led the way finishing 17th, averaging 180. Skyler Holmes followed close behind, averaging 179 to finish 18th and Dylan Holmes finished 20th, averaging 174.

To start the second day of the Jayhawk Challenge, the Wildcats finished with their second-highest set of the day with a 701. Their highest set came in the final baker set shooting a 713. At the end of qualifying, the women finished fourth, ahead of Heart opponent Culver-Stockton who finished fifth. The Wildcats then defeated both Culver-Stockton and Lindenwood in the first two rounds of match play. They then met Columbia College in the finals where they won 2-0 with winning scores of 212-174 and 201-135.

The men started the tournament in sixth at the end of the first day with a total pinfall of 4,670. The Wildcats had two bowlers finish in the top 20. Junior Ken Rowland led the way, averaging 206 to finish in 11th, while Josh King followed behind, averaging an even 200 to finish in 18th.

After a slow start to begin day two, the men bounced back in their second set posting their highest set total of the day with a 759. At the end of qualifying, the men finished in sixth, 83 pins behind Missouri Valley, but ahead of both Culver-Stockton and Central Methodist. Heading into match play, the men met Lindenwood in the first round where they lost 2-0.

"After a hard-fought weekend, I am proud of our teams for sticking to our process and taking advantage of the skills we have been developing in practice," said BU head coach Casey Suchor. "Whole team communication is the most overlooked part of the college game, in my opinion, and our teams are starting to see the benefits. There is lots of work to be done, as there are still many months until postseason, but I am happy with the path that we are on so far."

Both teams will be back in action November 9th and 10th as they travel to Rockford, Ill. to compete in the Leatherneck Classic.

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