Men Finish Season with Programs Best Finish
Cheektowaga, NY
The Reiver men's bowling team completed the 2019-2020 campaign with a solid 4th place finish at the NJCAA national championship held at AMF Airport lanes in Cheektowaga, NY just outside of Buffalo.
All 8 of the Men competed in the Doubles and Singles portion of the event, with scores counting toward the team total.
3 of the doubles pairings finished in the top 15 with freshman Josh Hurlbut and Tim Lincoln leading the way placing 6th. There were closely follow by fellow freshman Andrew Chavarria and eventual all-American Jacob Schuster who finished 8th. Sophomores Devin Wilson and Andrew Gibbs placed 13th giving the men a great start to the day.
Next was singles where 3 Reivers cracked the top 15. Sophomore Bailey Schmitz placed 5th with a 613 series while Josh Hurlbut and Jacob Schuster placed 8th and 15th respectively. After doubles and singles the Reivers sat in 3rd place 276 pins behind leaders and eventual champions Rock Valley.
The first 3 games of traditional team were next. The team was a little sluggish to start and slow to adapt to what the lanes were doing and how they were changing. Having their low game of 788 to start. Games 2 and 3 showed a terrific turnaround with games 938 and 951 to end the day with team in 4th.
Day 2 saw a confident team start the day with a 984 and 1017, led by games of 245 by Bailey Schmitz and 237 by Jacob Schuster. After a 854 in game 3 the Reivers sat in 4th behind Highland CC by 166 pins with only 9 baker games left in the tournament.
The Reviers averaged a season high 195 in those 9 baker games. Unfortunately it was a little too late as Highland CC narrowly stayed in 3rd by a 27 pin margin over the charging Reivers.
The 4th place finish represents the highest finished for the men in the programs short history.
Jacob Schuster finished 5th overall for the championship and named to the NJCAA all-American team. The first honor for the program. Schuster averaged 198.9 for the 12 games.